France shcengen visa for wife

[taffet87]

Hi
I am applying for a schengen visa for my wife in Pakistan. She just received her UK spouse visa and is due to travel to UK shortly but will return to Pakistan for a month and hence we are applying her visa from Pakistan via the French embassy.

I am a British and Pakistani (dual) citizen and settled in London.

In terms of documents the French embassy have asked for:

- they are happy to accept a copy of my passport as proof of me being british
- they want the marriage certificate to be certified by the Foregin offfice of Pakistan which is done (its in English already)
- they want proof of accommodation
- they want "justification of itinerary"

I have been in touch with the embassy telling them that proof of accommodation seems to be a breach of EU rules. I can just book refundable / flexible hotel bookings in a decent hotel like holiday inn or marriott so this is easy.

They want justification of itinerary. I have no idea what this means and they have not been helpful . Does anyone have experience of this? Do I need to book flgihts... this will be slightly more problematic.

I can always book refundable eurostar tickets between paris and london but as she is applying from pakistan, I might need to give her tickets from Pakistan to London as well. This will cost me money as we haven't finalised exact dates yet.

Can anyone help based on their knowledge / experience?

The full requirements by the French embassy in Pakistan are listed here: http://www.ambafrance-pk.org/Short-Stay ... conomic-12

Thank you

[gokulatti]

Under EU rules in the application form you only need to fill in sections other than marked *. And you only need to submit proof for the sections you filled. That basically leaves you with passport/ID, Marriage certificate legalized, proof of travel itinerary (important) this means you need to proof the third country national with be travelling with you or joining you. Since she is coming from outside EU, you need to show she will be joining you at the same time you are also there in France. Therefore you basically need your travel itinerary and hers to be matched on her landing date. Hotel accommodation is not required as spouse of EU national are exempted from filling that in. Justification of Itinerary means what is your spouse purpose of visit not YOU refer to field 21. If its, tourism or visiting friends, it makes sense that they would except your wife's itinerary to have a return ticket to Pakistan or anywhere else say UK. If you are going to relocate to France under directive 2004/38, then you need to clearly mention that in " others" basically whatever you fill in you should be in a position to satisfy them.

[taffet87]

thank you. what does proof of travel itinerary mean? Is it just asking a travel agent to make reservations but not actual bookings? What about accommodation? The embassy people seem to be insisting on seeing proof of accommodation.

[gokulatti]

As far as you are concerned it doesn't matter what the embassy people want, it only matters you give documents pertaining to the directive 2004/38, nothing more nothing less. and directive doesn't ask for proof of accommodation for a spouse of EU national travelling or joining the EU national. since she is applying from outside, the task of Immigration officer is to scrutinize as much as possible, its their job. You do not want to give them any reasons whatsoever. I would recommend in case you can't take the tickets now the following, consider a refundable ticket, price reservation + written declaration by you stating once the visa is issued you will take confirm the travel. this is where the embassy has some kinda hold on the application, so you might want to call them and ask what do they accept.