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EU Visa Code
The Regulation will allow third-country nationals holding a long-stay "D" visa issued by a Member State to move freely in the territory of Member States for 90 days in any 180-day period, under the same conditions as the holder of a residence permit.[/b]
To revert back to the original topic of this thread, in the end the German Embassy issued my husband with a Type C 1 year multiple entry visa valid for max of 90 days entry into Schengen Land. We'd submitted a cover letter citing the new EU Visa code and requesting a longer visa based on this. I'm presuming the fact he was now issued a multiple entry 90 day visa was as a direct result of this new EU Visa code as for the last 3 from the German Embasy they only issued short single entry visas. So, yawh for the new visa code! This will save any hassle with getting other Schengen Visas for the next year at least. Wonder what you have to do to be granted a 5 year multiple entry visaChaper 4, Article 24 states:Without prejudice to Article 12(a), multiple-entry visas shall be issued with a period of validity between six months and five years, where the following conditions are met:
(a) the applicant proves the need or justifies the intention to travel frequently and/or regularly, in particular due to his occupational or family status, such as business persons, civil servants engaged in regular official contacts with Member States and EU institutions, representatives of civil society organisations travelling for the purpose of educational training, seminars and conferences, family members of citizens of the Union, family members of third-country nationals legally residing in Member States and seafarers; and 15.9.2009 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 243/13
(b) the applicant proves his integrity and reliability, in particular the lawful use of previous uniform visas or visas with limited territorial validity, his economic situation in the country of origin and his genuine intention to leave the territory of the Member States before the expiry of the visa applied for.
I wrote again this week asking what was happening with the case and they asked the following questions (answers included):Dear XX,
The documents you refer to are woefully out of date. The latest EU Visa Code concerning issuing of Schengen Visas is available here: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/Lex ... 058:EN:PDF. An introduction to this EU Visa code is available here: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAct ... anguage=en
This EU Code clearly states:
- TITLE I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
Objective and scope
The provisions of this Regulation shall apply to any third country national who must be in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders of the Member States pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 of 15 March 2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement ( 6 ), without prejudice to:
(a) the rights of free movement enjoyed by third-country nationals who are family members of citizens of the Union;
(b) the equivalent rights enjoyed by third-country nationals and their family members, who, under agreements between the Community and its Member States, on the one hand, and these third countries, on the other, enjoy rights of free movement equivalent to those of Union citizens and members of their families.
The usual Schengen rules do not apply to third-country nationals who are family members of citizens of the Union. In this case Directive 2004/38/EC should be adhered to as this should be applied to family members of EU citizens.
It is clear that the German Embassy is applying it's own hybrid set of rules to such applications for Visas.
You should further refer to this document which further clarifies the situation: (Entry procedures in another EU country for their family members who are not Union citizens themselves ) http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/nav/en/c ... html#_ftn3
- Family members holding nationality of certain countries[Article 1. 1 of Regulation (EC) No 539/2001], which are subject to visa obligation, may be required to have an entry visa.
Possession of the valid residence card, referred to in the relevant fact sheet, issued by any Member State, exempts you from the visa obligation not only in the Member State which issued the residence card, but in all Member States.
If you are national of a state that is subject to the visa requirement, you should apply for such a visa in the country where you come from or with which you have a link (e.g. you reside there).
The Member State of destination should grant you every facility to obtain the necessary visa, which shall be issued free of charge as soon as possible and on the basis of an accelerated procedure. In any event, even in the most difficult cases, the visa should be issued no later than a couple of weeks following the date of application.
As your right of entry is derived from your family ties with a Union citizen, all the Member State consular officials can ask you to produce for the visa application is your passport and a document establishing the family ties with a Union citizen, such as marriage or birth certificate and proof of dependence, where applicable.
YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO HAVE AN ENTRY VISA AS YOU ARE NATIONAL OF A STATE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE VISA REQUIREMENT
As before I am complaining about the fact that my husband who is an Indonesian National traveling with me to Germany has been illegally requested to supply documentation in support of his application for an Entry Visa. The German Embassy is operating in contradiction to the EU Directive 2004/38/EC which governs the issuance of such visas to third-country family members of EU Citizens. The German Embassy is legally only allowed to request for proof of the family tie and a current passport.
I then get the most prompt response (same day) I've received throughout the entire process sayingIn order to assist me with looking into your case, could you let me know what is the intended purpose and duration of both you and your husband's visit to Germany?
>> Our intended purpose was tourism and for a period of 4 days. Our visit to Germany is over now and lasted from 25/06/10 until 28/06/10.
Have you received any update regarding your husband's Schengen visa application from the German Embassy?
>>Yes, he was granted a Schengen Visa which allowed him to travel into Germany.
Could you also let me know have you made a complaint to the German Embassy regarding your husbands current Schengen visa application?
>>No I have not
If so have you received a response from the German Embassy?
>>No I have not.
WTF? What a bunch of bloody incompetents. Do they just sit around and wait till the EU citizen has gotten some sort of resolution and then wash their hands of the case? What is the bloody point?!!! I dont think they even read my complaint letter at all. I have written back:I note that your husband received his Schengen visa and travelled to Germany with you. In view of this the Irish SOLVIT Centre will not pursue the matter further.
For future reference you may wish to take the matter up with the German Embassy.
Has anyone had any better luck using Signpost or any other EU organisations? I think SOLVIT are just wasting my time.Dear XX,
I am now extremely annoyed that it has taken nearly a month of inaction on SOLVIT's part on this matter and now to receive such an inadequate and irrelevant response from SOLVIT.
My complaint was very clear from the beginning in disputing the German Embassy's insistence on producing certain items of documentation when applying for a Schengen Visa. As I have very clearly and repeatedly outlined, it is illegal according to EU regulations for them to ask for such documentation. The fact that my husband has been granted a Schengen Visa has nothing to do with complaint. My husband was forced to submit items of documentation to support his application which are clearly not allowed be asked for according to EU Directive
Can you please re-read my Complaint as it still stands and is in no way invalidated by the fact that the German Embassy issued the Schengen Visa. The fact is that if my husband had followed EU rules and had only submitted the required documentation (Passport & Marriage Certificate), then he would have been refused a visa by the German Embassy. Their Visa Guidelines are also very clear on this matter. Had we waited on SOLVIT to intervene we would have missed our trip to Germany. We submitted to the German Embassy's illegal request for documentation and want SOLVIT to investigate this complaint to stop the German Embassy from asking for such documentation in the future.
Some EU case law___________
Enquiry posted on
27/11/2008
Enquiry
57320: The Irish Consulate demand extensive supporting documents for spouse of EEA nationals to join/accompany their spouse to Ireland
http://www.embassyofireland.cn/Ireland/ ... Spouse.php
This does not seem to comply with EU case Law and rights derived from 2004/38, Is this true ?? Please Clarify.
According to entry procedures derived from 2004/38
http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/nav/en/c ... html#_ftn3
As your right of entry is derived from your family ties with a Union citizen, all the Member State consular officials can ask you to produce for the visa application is your passport and a document establishing the family ties with a Union citizen, such as marriage or birth certificate and proof of dependence, where applicable.
Reply
Article 5 of Directive 2004/38 provides that Member States shall grant non-EEA family members who are travelling with or to join their EEA family member in the EU every facility to obtain the necessary visa to enter the Member State. Such visas shall be issued free of charge as soon as possible and on the basis of an accelerated procedure.
Certainly, the information required by the Irish Consulate appears to go beyond what is reasonable and appears to defeat the purpose of the Directive.
The Directive does not prescribe the documentation required to grant a visa but since the documentation required by the Irish Consulate for a visa goes beyond what would be required for a five year residence card, the requirements seem excessive.
To try to reduce the documentary requirements of the Irish Consulate, you may wish to refer the matter to SOLVIT which is an EU network established to resolve problems caused by misapplication of EU law by public bodies. The website address for SOLVIT is www.ec.europa.eu/solvit/
Further steps
The Citizen's Signpost Service has examined your enquiry and considers that the matter could be referred to SOLVIT.
SOLVIT is a free-of-charge network that seeks to solve problems caused by the misapplication of EU rules by public authorities in another member state.
Disclaimer
The advice given by the Signpost Service legal experts is an independent advice and shall not be considered to be the opinion of the European Commission. As such it will not in anyway bind the Commission.
The Citizen Signpost Service has suggested referring your case to SOLVIT on the basis of the available information. The SOLVIT network will re-assess your case and decide whether it will handle your complaint. Once submitted to SOLVIT, the Citizen Signpost Service cannot be held responsible for the further treatment of your complaint.
Note: To post another enquiry, please visit the Signpost Service Web Site or contact EUROPE DIRECT.
In 2004/38/EC the wording has been updated. But its the same list. passport and marriage certC-157/03 OPINION OF ADVOCATE GENERAL STIX-HACKL wrote:
1. The requirement for an immigration visa
26. That national of a non-Member State should not be required to show any
independent reason for entering into the territory. His right, as a matter of
Community law, is derived from the right enjoyed by the Community national, so
that to require that person to fulfill formal conditions prior to entry into
national territory constitutes not only a restriction on his (derived) right but
also a restriction on the principal right of the Community national.
31. It is therefore apparent from the provisions of the directives on the
entry of members of the family, as interpreted by the Court, that entry
formalities must be restricted to the expressly specified documents and that any
further immigration procedure is not permissible.
=================================================
II – Legal framework
A – Community law
1. Provisions relating to entry and residence
Article 4 of Directive 68/360
3) For the issue of a Residence Permit for a National of a Member State of the EEC, Member States may require only the production of the following documents by the worker: by the members of the worker’s family:
(c) the document with which they entered the territory;
(d) a document issued by the competent authority of the State of origin or the State whence they came, proving their relationship;
2004/38/EC wrote: Article 10 of Directive 2004/38/EC
Issue of residence cards
2. For the residence card to be issued, Member States shall require presentation of the following
documents:
(a) a valid passport;
(b) a document attesting to the existence of a family relationship or of a registered partnership;
I don't like the look of this
COMMISSION DECISION of 19.3.2010
establishing the Handbook for the processing of visa applications and the modification
of issued visas
(Only the Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek,
Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian,
Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish texts are authentic)
PART III:SPECIFIC RULES RELATING TO APPLICANTS WHO ARE FAMILY
MEMBERS OF EU CITIZENS OR SWISS CITIZENS
3. SPECIFIC DEROGATIONS FROM THE GENERAL RULES OF THE VISA CODE
This point provides for operational instructions concerning the specific derogations from the
general rules of the Visa Code that are to be applied when it has been ascertained that the visa
applicant falls under the Directive and that there is no exemption from the visa requirement.
3.6. Supporting documents
In order to prove that the applicant has the right to be issued with an entry visa under the
Directive, he must establish that he is a beneficiary of the Directive. This is done by
presenting documents relevant for the purposes of the three questions referred to above, i.e.
proving that:
• there is an EU citizen from whom the visa applicant can derive any rights;
• the visa applicant is a family member (e.g. a marriage certificate, birth certificate,
proof of dependency, serious health grounds, durability of partnerships …) and his
identity (passport); and
• the visa applicant accompanies or joins an EU citizen (e.g. a proof that the EU
citizen already resides in the host Member State or a confirmation that the EU
citizen will travel to the host Member State).
It is an established principle of EU law in the area of free movement that visa applicants have
the right of choice of the documentary evidence by which they wish to prove that they are
covered by the Directive (i.e. of the family link, dependency …). Member States may,
however, ask for specific documents (e.g. a marriage certificate as the means of proving the
existence of marriage), but should not refuse other means of proof.
Additional documents may not be required regarding the purpose of travel and means of
subsistence (e.g. proof of accommodation, proof of cost of travelling), which is reflected in
the exemption for family members of EU citizens from filling in the following fields of the
visa application form:
Field 19: "current occupation";
Field 20:"employer and employer's address and telephone number. For students, name and
address of educational establishment";
Field 31: "surname and first name of the inviting person(s) in the Member State(s). If not
applicable, name of hotel(s) or temporary accommodation(s) in the Member State(s);
Field 32: "Name and address of inviting company/organisation";
Field 33: "Cost of travelling and living during the applicant's stay".
A Member State may require that the relevant documents are translated, notarised or legalised
where the original document is drawn up in a language that is not understood by the
authorities of the Member State concerned or if there are doubts as to the authenticity of the
document.
Sure, you are right and it may have worked for some but the problem is a) would you be able to board the airplane, ship, etc.? Without a "visa" most likely not. It may work better on land borders or where immigration officers operate in the destination country, like at ferry ports or the Eurostar in London or Paris. b) Does the border police know about the regulations? Crossing the border may turn into a major hassle or even worse. Make at least sure that your documents are in an "acceptable" state.mcovet wrote:... I thought if you are accompanying or joining your EEA spouse you wouldn't need the bloody thing in the first place?
All you need is just to turn up at the border with a valid id and marriage certif+ the spouse, who would be exercising his/her right of free movement in the first 3 months anyway (self-sufficiency, working etc. thereafter).
To prevent non-EEA from entering with the EEA would be a breach of the fundamental right and hamper the desire of the EEA nationals to move freely withing Member States, thus going against the spirit and the letter of the Treaty of Rome, isn't it so?
I have heard stories of people simply turning up at a border with the spouse and being let through WITHOUT the Article 10 style residence card?