Help with Schengen visa form for EU spouse

[prince_capri]

Hi all,

I am planning to get married to my Finnish fiance at the end of September. Since my permission to stay in UK expires in early October, I have decided that I would go back to my home country (India), and apply for a Schengen visa to go visit her and her family in Finland for 2/3 months. I presume she will be able to sponsor my application, or her mother can?!?

I have filled in Schengen visa form before many-a-times, but when married to an EU national, I am unsure of a few details.

For example:
(Form: http://www.formin.fi/public/default.asp ... ation_form)

31) Can my wife (to-be) or mother-in-law (to-be) sponsor my application for a tourist visa?
33) Cost of traveling will be covered by me, but living expenses and such by the sponsor, so can we tick both the boxes?
34, 35, 36, 37) I presume these require the detail of my spouse?

Could there be any problems if I was to visit Finland as a tourist after being married to a Finnish national (I wouldn't think so, but thought I would check!)

Thanks!

[86ti]

Could there be any problems if I was to visit Finland as a tourist after being married to a Finnish national (I wouldn't think so, but thought I would check!)

I do not know how the Finnish have it but for a Schengen C visa you have to show that you will leave the country again. As someone married to a Finnish national that could be difficult.

[alikhan28]

31) Can my wife (to-be) or mother-in-law (to-be) sponsor my application for a tourist visa?

I guess she should but why you have not applied for visa inside UK.This was not a difficult thing.

Could there be any problems if I was to visit Finland as a tourist after being married to a Finnish national (I wouldn't think so, but thought I would check!)

No but check spouse visa rules weather you can switch from visit visa to this or not.

Ali

[prince_capri]

I do not know how the Finnish have it but for a Schengen C visa you have to show that you will leave the country again. As someone married to a Finnish national that could be difficult.

Yea, that seems to be the problem here really. I think they will not take too kindly to me being married and then visiting the country where my wife is from.

I guess she should but why you have not applied for visa inside UK.This was not a difficult thing.

It wasn't, but my leave to stay in UK expires in over a month. Schengen visa is not granted to non-EU nationals who have less than 3 months left on their UK visa.

No but check spouse visa rules weather you can switch from visit visa to this or not.

This website states:
http://www.migri.fi/netcomm/content.asp ... guage=EN#1

1. I am married / in a registered partnership with a foreign national who is not an EU citizen or equivalent person. I myself am a Finnish citizen. What kind of a permit does my partner need to enter Finland? What is the permit application procedure? Will my partner be required to submit reasons for moving to Finland and to present evidence of means of livelihood? What kind of a residence permit can my partner be granted?

A family member of a Finnish citizen is allowed to enter Finland without a residence permit applied for in advance. An application for a residence permit must be submitted to the local police of his/her place of residence before the expiry of the said family member’s visa or exemption from visa. The police will decide whether a permit is to be granted. If a first residence permit is being applied for in Finland, the applicant may reside in Finland legally during the processing of the application even if his /her visa or exemption from a visa were to expire.

A marriage certificate must be provided as evidence of marriage, and the marriage must have been registered in Finland. A registration certificate must be submitted concerning registered partnerships. Family members of Finnish citizens are not required to prove that their livelihood is secured, in other words, no clarification is required concerning income or assets.

Family members of Finnish citizens may be granted a continuous residence permit (permit A). A first residence permit is, as a rule, granted for a year.

There are also two ways of applying for a residence permit before entering the country:

* Residence permit applicants can submit their application (OLE_PH2) to a Finnish mission in their home country or the country in which they are legally residing. If there is no Finnish mission in your country of residence, check the location of the nearest mission from the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. The mission forwards the application for decision by the Finnish Immigration Service. Persons residing in Finland should submit the form (PK2+) to the attachment for application.
* A person residing in Finland can, as a sponsor, apply for a residence permit on the basis of family ties for a family member abroad. The sponsor should submit the application (OLE_PK2) to the police department of his or her municipality of residence, which forwards the application for decision by the Finnish Immigration Service. Residence permit applicants should submit the attachment form (PH2+) to a Finnish mission in their home country or the country in which they are legally residing. When a sponsor residing in Finland applies for a permit for a family member, the family member is assumed to reside abroad at the date of the application and during its processing.

So I would think there isn't any problem, but I guess as 86ti pointed out, they might make it difficult for me to go to Finland (especially considering I will just get to India and make my application straight away).

[86ti]

What you have cited above is for residence. What are your actual plans? To live in Finland with your wife? What was your wife doing in the UK? Or to you plan to return to the UK?

[prince_capri]

Hey,

I am planning to apply for residence when I am there, to live with my wife. The problem is that application for residence in my home country will take 6 months. I don't wish to be separated from my wife for that long. So the idea is for me to go there and be with her, while application is being resolved in Finland.

[Edit: I believe that the paragraph that I have linked before states that 'A family member of a Finnish citizen is allowed to enter Finland without a residence permit applied for in advance', so I wondered if Schengen visa is a quicker route for me to be with her.]

My wife was planning to study in UK, but due to her ailing grandmother, she decided to return back to Finland to continue her studies there. I won't be going to UK, I would stay in Finland with her.

[86ti]

For residence you will have to go through the prescribed route. The text mentions a family member’s visa which may well be a national type D visa. Why can't you apply for this one?

[prince_capri]

I presume that by prescribed route you mean applying in the home country?
I don't know what a national type D visa is...but if it cuts time and would allow me to be with my wife sooner, then I would prefer that. Could you shed some more light on it please?

[86ti]

What I mean is that the Finnish authorities most likely have a well defined route to proceed in family reunion cases. In-country application is obviously possible so you have to ask the embassy in your country what kind of visa they would issue to you. The Schengen C application form you are trying to fill out now may not be the right one.

For visa types see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_A ... engen_visa

[prince_capri]

Thanks 86ti.