Spouse Visa for Schengen Area...Advice needed!

[amynf]

Hello All,

Wondering if anyone has any experience or expertise with the situation I am in.

Six months ago, I overstayed my 90 day allowed visit in the Schengen area by a few days while visiting my (EU national) fiance in Italy. I was stopped in Switzerland while leaving and issued a ban from the Schengen area until 2013.

Since then, my fiance and I have been married.It is our plan for me to join him back in Italy, where we will live. It is my understanding that, since we are married, I should not be denied a Schengen spouse visa unless there are extenuating circumstances, such as my being a threat to national security (I am not). I have gotten this advice online:

"In its judgement of 31 January 2006, the Court of Justice of the European Communities has ruled that a Schengen visa may not be denied to a national of a third country who is the spouse of a EU national on the sole ground that he or she is a person for whom an alert was entered in the Schengen Information System, without first verifying if the presence of this person constituted a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat affecting the fundamental interests of society."

I am making my appointment to apply for my Spouse visa at the Italian Consulate in the coming weeks. I am looking to foresee any problems I might run into because of my overstay ban. Does anyone know if the Italians can, in fact, give me difficulty in my application for this reason?

Any advice is so very appreciated! Thank you!

Amy

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

What is the citizenship of your husband? What is he doing in Italy?

They can certainly "give you difficulty", but overstaying a previous visa by a few days is a relatively minor offense (depending on the results of my questions above).

[amynf]

Thank you for your reply:) My husband has UK citizenship and is a permanent resident of Italy, where he works as a pilot.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

You are good to go. He is exercising his treaty rights in Italy and you have a right to be with him. (If he had been Italian and had never left Italy then you would be reliant on Italian law).

They only thing they might question is why you go married now, and whether this is a marriage of convenience. I doubt they will. But if they do, remain very calm and you can if you want provide them with evidence of your long term relationship.

What citizenship do you have?

[amynf]

That sounds reassuring. I am an American citizen and dated my husband for three years before we got married. I can provide plenty of proof of that via saved emails, photos, plane tickets, etc, so hopefully I have substantial proof that this is not a marriage of convenience in any way! I appreciate your advice:)

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

I guess the only reason you need the visa is because of the Schengen exclusion order. Is there anything stamped in your passport?

You should read through http://eumovement.wordpress.com/2010/08 ... to-travel/ and especially the MRAX court decision.

[amynf]

No, there is nothing stamped in my passport, but I received an official letter from Switzerland detailing the dates of my ban and informing me that my information had been entered into the Schengen Information System, and that the ban would be in effect for all Schengen countries until 2013...

I will read your suggested article now!

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

Better to get the visa.

But my guess is that you could just fly to Italy with your husband on the same plane and get in fine. Or drive there together. Key is that you are traveling with your husband and have your marriage certificate.

[amynf]

I think you are right on the visa. That will be my first objective...if they give me a lot of trouble, I'll show up with marriage certificate in hand with my husband and a handful of documents on the Directive laws and give it our best shot.

Do you happen to know, once I get into Italy and get my residence card and documents: if having these will help me enter and exit, when I need to visit home, without as much of a process every time? Or am I destined to be hassled until the ban is up n 2013?

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

Once you have your visa or your Residence Card, you can come and go as you wish (so long as your husband continues to work and be based in Italy). You should have no hassle, and if you have a problem, be clear and patient and explain and be patient, and get their names! You should also likely travel with a photocopy of your husband's passport and of your marriage certificate.

In fact, if I were you and it was easy, I would get a copy or two more of your marriage certificate. They come in handy in many different ways, and now is likely the cheap and easy time to get them.

My wife and I have a couple of copies of ours. I figure we can give one to each child at some point later in life... One already got absorbed (i.e. has disappeared forever) into the BORG cogs of a foreign government's bureaucracy. Luckily it was not the original that we had both signed...

[amynf]

Really good advice all around. Thank you so much! Have a wonderful week!

[Marcus Samuel]

I don't see any problems to your joining your husband in Italy. He his exercising his rights of travel an work being a EU national and you should be allowed to join him as a non EU spouse of an EU national.

[STin]

Something similar happened to me recently. I was banned from Schengen until Nov. 2013. I, of course, would like to visit my family much before that. Both of my parents are born and married in Greece, I was born in the US. Do I have the same rights as a son (31 years old) as a spouse does assuming I were to travel with either my mother or father? Thanks, everyone. You really do help a lot in these matters.