E.U States Allowing Visa free Travel-E.U Fam&Residence c

[AncientAlien]

This is the Europe immigration forum.[/quote]





Is it?
Oh! I thought it was the Timbuktu and Lagos Island forum
ModernAlien

[86ti]

Someone in another forum worried whether a UK permanent residence card would entitle to visa free travel because it makes no mention of 'EEA family member'. Considering how careful some embassies describe what conditions must be met let alone the airlines I wonder if that may be a problem. Also, PR is dealt with in Article 20 of the Directive but Article 5(2) only refers to Article 10. I cannot see a direct link between A5 and A20.

[DFDS.]

The immigration officer emphesized that in order to travel to Sweden my European wife should be travelling with me.

I think the rules are quite clear that where a non EEA family member is travelling alone they need to obtain schengen visa for such trip irrespective of any residence permits held. Someone correct me if wrong.

Plum70, this is far from being clear the way i see it. Besides many immigration officials want to exercise thier own rules on visa nationals upon arrival at the ports of entry. I once arrived at Stockholm with a valid family visit visa, & the immigaration officer had to call my family to confirm they were expecting me. Being avisa national, i was the last pax to leave immigration as the rest of the pax on that same flight were all EU citizens. Since then i've never gone through such a simillar expereince on arrival any where in Europe, not even in Stockholm the rest of the times i've been there.Its like member states are relactant to impliment the Directive, or each member state interprets the Directive differently.Where as the major issue in this Directive is all about freemovent. I see no reasons, why member states do put restrictions to the beneficiaries of the Directives even when in posession of a valid EU Residence card, issued by amember state.

[86ti]

I think the rules are quite clear that where a non EEA family member is travelling alone they need to obtain schengen visa for such trip irrespective of any residence permits held. Someone correct me if wrong.

Plum70, this is far from being clear the way i see it.

With respect to travelling alone the Directive is very clear as she pointed out.

[DFDS.]

I think the rules are quite clear that where a non EEA family member is travelling alone they need to obtain schengen visa for such trip irrespective of any residence permits held. Someone correct me if wrong.

Plum70, this is far from being clear the way i see it.

With respect to travelling alone the Directive is very clear as she pointed out.

86ti, it would be very helpfull of you, if you made aquote on this matter from the Directive its self, as it would save members time. I don't remember coming across any such guidelines where the non EU family member has already obtained a RC.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

DFDS, I think you are right. The Directive has nothing to say about family members who are not travelling with the EU citizen. But it does say that member states can not implement rules more restrictive than those in the Directive - they can only choose to be less restrictive.

[susu87]

hello

i read all over the thread,but cant find what im looking for,what about if the non eea family member traveled together to the netherlands,and afterwards the eea member left back to the uk,and the non eea member stayed a bit longer there,would it be a problem on the way leaving,exiting the netherlands...??

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

I doubt there would be any problem. There is no requirement to exactly coordinate travel plans.

Always best for the non-EU to also carry a photocopy of the passport of the EU and a photocopy of the marriage certificate.

[DFDS.]

I doubt there would be any problem. There is no requirement to exactly coordinate travel plans.

Always best for the non-EU to also carry a photocopy of the passport of the EU and a photocopy of the marriage certificate.

I may agree with you Directive 2004/EC!, its very important to carry with you such documents which establishes your relationship with the EU qualified person.It will also save you lots of time and hustles.

[AncientAlien]

I doubt there would be any problem. There is no requirement to exactly coordinate travel plans.

Always best for the non-EU to also carry a photocopy of the passport of the EU and a photocopy of the marriage certificate.

I may agree with you Directive 2004/EC!, its very important to carry with you such documents which establishes your relationship with the EU qualified person.It will also save you lots of time and hustles.

I have just recently returned from a six-day holiday to Latvia. The whole travel process was completely hassle free, although I must add that I was with my spouce who is an EEA citizen (Latvian).

What surprised me most was the fact that my passport was not stamped at any airport although I am sure there will be some electronic records of my journey stored somewhere.

We were not asked for the marriage certificate, maybe because my wife has changed her name on her passport to my family name.

[Ben]

What surprised me most was the fact that my passport was not stamped at any airport although I am sure there will be some electronic records of my journey stored somewhere.

3. The host Member State shall not place an entry or exit stamp in the passport of family members
who are not nationals of a Member State provided that they present the residence card provided for
in Article 10.

We were not asked for the marriage certificate, maybe because my wife has changed her name on her passport to my family name.

Right of entry
1. Without prejudice to the provisions on travel documents applicable to national border controls,
Member States shall grant Union citizens leave to enter their territory with a valid identity card or
passport and shall grant family members who are not nationals of a Member State leave to enter
their territory with a valid passport.
No entry visa or equivalent formality may be imposed on Union citizens.
2. Family members who are not nationals of a Member State shall only be required to have an
entry visa in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 or, where appropriate, with national
law. For the purposes of this Directive, possession of the valid residence card referred to in
Article 10 shall exempt such family members from the visa requirement.

(You do not need to produce your marriage certificate.)

[mym]

Yes, the baby was born right on the estimated day of delivery

Wow I've been away a long time!

Congratulations Richard :)

[86ti]

I have just recently returned from a six-day holiday to Latvia. The whole travel process was completely hassle free, although I must add that I was with my spouce who is an EEA citizen (Latvian).

I reported a similar experience earlier in this thread (Sep or Oct 2008). Yes, with Latvia it seems to have been working correctly for a long while now. Through which UK airport did you return?

[Skiingswede1980]

All,

I have posted previously in this thread and am now happy to report that my wife was able to travel with me hassle-free into France without a visa. She has a "Family member of an EEA national Residence Permit" (EEA2) here in the UK and I am a Swedish national.

The IO in France went in to the immigration office with my wife's passport for about 3 minutes, probably to check something with her supervisor, and then came back and apologised for having taken so long and said that it was the first time she had seen one of these residence permits so just needed to check something and then it was a pleasant "Enjoy your stay in France"!

All in all, good news!

A

[Skiingswede1980]

Just to add. We flew with EasyJet from Luton and had no problems at check-in nor at the gate with regards to her not having a visa.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

I have posted previously in this thread and am now happy to report that my wife was able to travel with me hassle-free into France without a visa. She has a "Family member of an EEA national Residence Permit" (EEA2) here in the UK and I am a Swedish national

Thanks for the valuable "real life" feedback. What country's passport was your wife travelling with? Did the French stamp her passport with an entry stamp?

[runie80]

I have gone through the 10 pages in this thread all posted during a period covering 2008 to 2009.

At the end of the thread on page 10 all I can see is that only one person
confirming that he/she was able to excersize the right of "free Travel for E.U Fam"

so Posting the list below of the country names.

Member states of the EU

Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France= yes
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom

I will update this upon getting more information from more knowledgeable members here.

I know there is lot of information available regarding other counteries having the same "free Travel for E.U Fam" as France but has anyone
been able to gain entry on the basis of "free Travel for E.U Fam"

Please post if so and i will update this list

or if anyone hs any better ideas please feel free to share.

Just wanted to seperate between theoury and reality.
as in the first post theoritically its possible for every country but I want to list in this post all countries where its in reality been tested and found to be the case.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

Just wanted to seperate between theoury and reality.
as in the first post theoritically its possible for every country but I want to list in this post all countries where its in reality been tested and found to be the case.

That is a tall order. What is reality? Remember that any border guard can have different knowledge of the rules, so person A may have one experience going into Spain while person B has a very different experience.

[DFDS.]

Just wanted to seperate between theoury and reality.
as in the first post theoritically its possible for every country but I want to list in this post all countries where its in reality been tested and found to be the case.

That is a tall order. What is reality? Remember that any border guard can have different knowledge of the rules, so person A may have one experience going into Spain while person B has a very different experience.

Dear Robert, there are other threads similar to this one, where members have been to Cyprus! On the UK's Swedish Embassy website, its noted that Holders of UK issued RCs do not need visas to tvl to Sweden.No matter whether Trvl is independent, for a maximum of 3 months.

You will have to look at the related threads, as anumber of countries are now taking into force this exercise. I'll as well agree with Directive 2004/38 EU's response.

[runie80]

Thanks for the reply guys.

If you guys think that its not much use as the reasons rightly pointed out above by Directive/2004/38/EC.

I agree that it depends on the person you are going to face when you are going to enter the country.

But much appreciate the info from DFDS as well.

Thanks guys

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

There are no guarantees in life or in European travel, and you may have to deal with friendly well informed border guards, and you may have to deal with grouchy ignorant border guards.

The key is to be informed of your rights, carry information about your rights, carry supplementary documentation (like marriage certificates) in case you need to force your rights to be respected, and have a nice quiet trip.

Once you enter a country without the “equiredâ€

[Skiingswede1980]

Directive/2004/38/EC,

To answer your questions:

1. My wife has a South African passport.
2. Yes, they stamped her passport. I know that technically they shouldn't / don't need to but in my mind it doesn't really make a difference.

[Skiingswede1980]

Further to the above and to provide more "real-life" feedback. My wife has also travelled with me visa-free to Sweden without any hassle whatsoever and that time we flew with Ryanair.

[runie80]

Further to the above and to provide more "real-life" feedback. My wife has also travelled with me visa-free to Sweden without any hassle whatsoever and that time we flew with Ryanair.

Fantastic !!

Thanks for posting this as we are thinking about sweden for holiday.

[charles4u]

Further to the above and to provide more "real-life" feedback. My wife has also travelled with me visa-free to Sweden without any hassle whatsoever and that time we flew with Ryanair.

Fantastic !!

Thanks for posting this as we are thinking about sweden for holiday.

Sweden has no problem at all, I was told the same thing here in Swedish embassy in Romania that family members of an EU can accompany the EU spouse to Sweden with visa..

So far I think the only countries left is UK and Ireland.