Divorcee from EEA national needs visa to France

denzel74 · Post by **denzel74** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:14 pm

Can someone help me please?

I hold a 5 years EEA2 permit and got divorced from my French wife.
Now I need to apply for a visa to go to France and wonder if being divorced can be an obstacle from getting this visa.

Also, I wonder if applying for this visa can affect my situation in the UK (Home Office).

Thanks for your help!!

JA13I · Post by **JA13I** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:15 pm

How long have you been married for?

Post by **John** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:14 pm

..... and how long have you lived in the UK with your spouse?

denzel74 · Post by **denzel74** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:02 am

Hello John and JA13I!

We have been married for four years and a half (4,5 years).
We lived together in the UK for 1 year and 8 months before we got divorced.

Thanks for your reply.

Post by **John** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 9:02 am

In that case you have protected rights under the terms of the EU Directive that came into force on 30.04.06. When you have been in the UK, exercising EU Treaty Rights, for 5 years, make an application for PR .... Permanent Residence. Until then you are perfectly entitled to stay in the UK with your existing Residence Card.

JA13I · Post by **JA13I** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 9:37 am

.... and you can try and make an application to the French embassy for your Schengen visa with a covering letter that states that you are married but have 'retained your right of residence'.

But if they fail to recognise it, you may have to apply for one with all the required documents like all others who are not family members of EU nationals do, as it is a bit of a grey area.

Either way, while the Residence Card by itself should be able to give you the right to travel to France, I would strongly suggest that you do not do so, as if you do get into any trouble in France, you will find the EU help (SOLVIT/EC) very slow to get!

denzel74 · Post by **denzel74** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:44 am

Morning!

Thanks for your reply John!

Thanks to you too JA13I. I would need some clarification though regarding your comments.

Regarding the visa, you write that I should make a cover letter stating that I am married but have retained my rights of residence. However I am not married any more. What did you mean exactly?

Are you advising me not to ask for the Schengen visa at the French Embassy at all?

Thanks for your clarification

JA13I · Post by **JA13I** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 1:50 pm

No! You should get the visa from the French embassy. But when you apply as the family member of an EEA national, you will be required to produce the EEA national's passport. Instead of that, my advice is to make an application with a covering letter stating that you have the 'retained right of residence' which means that if you have been married for more than 3 years out of which one year has been in the UK, you can still be considered as having the right to stay in the UK till you obtain your Permanent Residence (PR)

Since it is not clearly outlined in the EU laws about such a scenario, one of the 2 possible things will happen when you apply for the Schengen visa at the French embassy-

1) They will accept that you have the right of residence and the Absolute Decree should be enough to get you a free Schengen visa, OR

2) They will refuse and ask you to apply as an ordinary resident in the UK with all the other requirements,eg- letter of employment, bank statement, etc and will warrant a payment.

My suggestion is to try and get the free visa and if it fails, then you can take the latter route.

denzel74 · Post by **denzel74** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:17 pm

Hi JA13I,

I just would like to thank you for all the clarifications.

Bless U

Post by **archigabe** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 8:46 pm

while the Residence Card by itself should be able to give you the right to travel to France

U.K or Ireland residence card does not do much good in the Schengen area as they are not part of the agreement...Unless it's an Irish Stamp4Eu Fam, Germany recognizes it as a travel document to travel visa free to Germany.

JA13I · Post by **JA13I** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:09 am

archigabe, while the other residence documents are not valid for entry to the Schengenland, the 'Residence Card of family members of EEA nationals' under the Directive are theoretically valid for it and instances of reported travel with it abound in this board!

While there may be some confusion and cases in which it had not been possible to travel might exist, it still remains a right- something that the UK and the ROI are bound to as well.

Post by **archigabe** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:07 pm

JA13I wrote:archigabe, while the other residence documents are not valid for entry to the Schengenland, the 'Residence Card of family members of EEA nationals' under the Directive are theoretically valid for it and instances of reported travel with it abound in this board!

While there may be some confusion and cases in which it had not been possible to travel might exist, it still remains a right- something that the UK and the ROI are bound to as well.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=11012

JA13I · Post by **JA13I** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:58 am

archigabe, the EC 562/2002 is a totally different issue and is only a part of the documents that will allow travel to Schengenland. The 'Residence Card of family member of EEA national' falls outside it's scope.

I will explain it all when I get the time.

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Divorcee from EEA national needs visa to France

Divorcee from EEA national needs visa to France