Non EEA Citizen Joining EU Citizen

[Neilhlm]

I hope someone can help as I thought I knew the answer to the following two questions but keep coming across something which gives me doubt.

(a) I am a UK citizen from birth and my same sex Russian boyfriend and I wish to marry at a UK High Commission in Moldova as neither of us need Visas should our application for a PCP visa to the UK be declined - Plan B if you like. (I can't see why it will be declined but we need to think ahead). However, the UK.gov website is useless for Information and the Embassy in Moldova haven't replied to my emails. Does anyone know the procedure for registering a Civil Partnership in Moldova? It is the part about a residency permit that confuses me - do we need one or can we just be in the country for 7 days (?) before registering? Do we need to get a resident permit and is it possible given we are there to get a CP? If we encounter problems we are willing to travel to another country, like Mexico.

(b) Once we have a CP and I move to Europe, does he, as a Non EEA citizen then have a right to join me. I understand that he has to apply for a Schengen Visa (free of charge) etc. but again I keep seeing a part about a residents permit as part of the supporting documents! I think this was Germany and Spain but maybe all countries? Is this for me as a EU citizen or for him? If him, how can he have it if he lives in Russia? I'm confused? Can anyone explain clearly what we do to get him to join me in a Europe as a family member? What documentation we need.

Thank you to anyone who takes the trouble to reply.

[liksah]

Congratulations on making the decision to get hitched (well, in a way)

I don't know about marriage/partnership in Moldova.

Regarding residence permits in the EU, your partner would need to get a Schengen visa. Then you both enter the country and start the process of residency for him. Usually this involves registering your (common) address with the police, then applying for a residence card at the immigration department and of course providing proof of your partnership.

Yes, he does have the right to join you in EU countries that recognize same sex partnerships. The above is the general procedure - you'll have to look into specific procedures depending on which country you decide to move to.

[chaoclive]

I'm not sure about Moldova either and I think the only people who an tell you are either the Embassy staff themselves or someone who has done this before and, I guess, there won't have been many in Moldova. Keep trying to contact them - there must be emails/ numbers for other departments. Just email/call whoever you can find and they might pass you over to the right place. Try your luck.

Meanwhile, post on this forum: http://uklgig.org.uk. It's for the UK Lesbian/Gay Immigration Group. Someone might know about Moldova.

We got our civil partnership in Vietnam at the British Embassy, the residency requirement there was 10 days and then they had to post the banns in the Embassy to see if anyone objected. Then we went back and did the ceremony.

You're right about the visa thing - I often use the Netherlands for my CPs visa. They are really efficient. We live in China though. The requirements in other places might be different. They require our CP certificate, both our passports (they gave mine back after checking it), a completed application form, flight booking. Last time we applied woe only asked for 2 weeks, but they gave us a whole year. It was issued on the day of application and received by courier the next morning.

Good luck!
C

[Neilhlm]

Thank you both for the replies.

Liksah - with regard to you applying to the Netherlands, if we were intent on staying in a Europe to work does my CP (when we have had the ceremony) apply under the "joining a family heading" part of the application? I believe he doesn't have to fill in about finance then or supply hotel or flight confirmation. However, is it true that It's best I am flying with him - this is not a problem?

Oh, when you got married in Vietnam, did you have to obtain any residency card or just prove that you were in the country for 10 days? Was one of you a UK Citizen? How did you do organise the CPC? Did you have to book an appointment beforehand or did you just turn up at the Embassy? Was there any problems? I appreciate you help.

Thanks again, both

[chaoclive]

I'm sure they would have accepted our application without the flight booking but we had it anyway...it wasn't any extra work.

There is no separate visa for your CP, no matter what he intends to do as, by law, it makes no difference to them what he does there. The reason why he can apply for this visa is related solely to your plans to travel to the Netherlands (or other EEA country). I didn't provide anything related to finance nor hotels but you will need a hotel/somewhere to stay for the first night anyway, right? So, if you have one or know one you would like to stay at, why not just write the details? You could use an app like booking.com which will allow you to have free cancellations etc. It's also very easy to use.

If you have any more specific questions about the materials you need to provide, you could contact the Embassy you will apply at.The NLD Embassy in Beijing are super fast at replying - hope the one you will be dealing with will be too.


We didn't get 'married' per se, we had a CP and there was no requirement whatsoever to get a 'residency card'. They take the dates on the passport stamps as proof of entry. They will check but that's to be expected. I used to be British - not any longer. I emailed the Embassy in advance and the staff were lovely. They put me in touch with the right person and we organized a lot by email. You have to make sure that the correct people are going to be in the Embassy on the day when you want to go to give notice to register. Never plan at 'just turning up' when it comes to something as big as a CP (or marriage now). It was SUPER simple. My partner provided a certificate of no impediment from the Chinese authorities. I didn't get anything (maybe it was cos I was British?). We also decided where to register our CP (i.e. which UK jurisdiction it was lodged in, so that we could get a certificate through the GRO). The only surprise was the cost of the CP Certificate. I can't remember exactly how much it was but it cost something around 60GBP (I think). However, you can get the same thing at the GRO for so much cheaper. Although this wasn't a big deal.

Note that after you give notice to marry/CP, you will have to come back after (I think it was) 14 days after the time for people to object has elapsed. For us, this meant returning to China so he could go back to work and then flying back again in a few weeks.

Our ceremony was very simple. I had an Irish friend and another Vietnamese friend as our witnesses. They both knew about our relationship for ages. They just turned up, provided their passports as proof of ID and signed our CP certificate. We also could have had wine/a photographer (the Embassy could organize it) but we didn't as we had a big party in Beijing.

The staff in Vietnam were super - I can't recommend them more. If you want their contact details (if you are planning to go to Vietnam to CP) drop me a PM.

Any more questions?

[Neilhlm]

Chaoclive,

Thank you so much for your reply, it is so appreciative.

I tried to PM you but for some reason, I can't either because I'm not allowed or I'm being stupid? Anyway, I would love to stay in contact regardless of what happens.

We have just sent off the UK Proposed Civil Partner Visa application and have our appointment to submit all documentation in two weeks time so for now I'm hoping this will all turn out good. However, should it get refused then we have decided that the CP in Vietnam is what we will do next and then he can join me in Europe.

However, I am still very interested in getting all the information I can about what to do, just in case, as I would not want to have to rush things at the last minute. Would you please send me any contact details, links and forms that we would need in order to get the CP done in Hanoi. Any documentation necessary etc. I've tried the website but I find it very difficult to get anything from it as it sends me to a generic UK.Gov site.

As my partner is Russian he can only get a 15 day Visa free entry, hence if we want to stay and get everything done it would mean either (a) Overstaying, (b) Flying back to Russia and then back again on 11 hour flights and we both hate to fly or (c) Maybe exiting to a border country which is probably the best option. However, do you know if we do this then he can come back after the 14 day notice period on his free Visa provided we can prove he exited Vietnam?

As to the two witnesses, can they be arranged in Vietnam as we certainly couldn't asks family as it will be a 13 hour flight and it's a lot to ask.

Any other info would be greatly appreciative. My email address, if you want it is evans_raymond@hotmail.co.uk

[chaoclive]

Probably cos you don't have enough posts yet. New members are restricted.

RE: the visa: Hope it goes well! Let us know what they say.

We went to Ho Chi Minh City to get our CP. HOWEVER, it seems that Ho Chi Minh city does not perform CPs any more! Such a pity - they were super! See here: https://www.gov.uk/government/world-loc ... in-vietnam. Oh well, they still have it in Hanoi - https://britishembassyhanoi.clickbook.n ... 3IJ3dxoGoQ. There is a contact number there. I'd advising calling them in advance - don't forget to ask for an email address. The person I dealt with in HCMC only deals with HCMC so she won't know about Hanoi. Also see here: https://www.gov.uk/government/world/org ... assy-hanoi.

I guess he should be able to apply for another visa, that's what we did - it was no issue for my Chinese civil partner. You should contact the Embassy of Vietnam where you will apply to ask - I don't know about the rules of RUS passport holders and wouldn't like to provide you with the wrong advice. We had two visas each for Vietnam in the period of a month and a half (we didn't go back directly after the 14 days). Please note that British citizens also needed a visa for Vietnam at the time of my CP! Getting one was a totally simple process at the Vietnamese Embassy in Beijing. Think it cost about 45GBP per visa - not sure though, it was in 2011. Again, talk to the Embassy where you are going to apply if in doubt.

My 2 witnesses were friends one who came over for the CP and one who is Vietnamese and in HCMC at the time. They used to be able to organize witnesses (for a price!) but NOT any more (it stopped before I went there). You need to think about that! Again, talk to the Embassy in Hanoi to see if there is anything else that you can do. I guess your family members wouldn't mind too much. A CP is a big deal. There are also probably places to get a CP closer to home? Is there anywhere else he can enter? I know they have them in the Philippines too - not that that's much closer.

You will find some general discussion on CPs overseas here: http://sawatdeenetwork.com/forum/global ... 17629.html.

Again, http://uklgig.org.uk might be a useful point of contact.