schengen visa

[stevewool]

been mentioned many times i know, just looking at spains and france sites for this visa and the fee they charge, i am sure i have seen it on here somewhere that you pay no fee, also living in derbyshire it seems that if i want to go to spain i have to travel to manchester to the consulate there first, anyone done this yet

[Arthur Little]

been mentioned many times i know, just looking at spains and france sites for this visa and the fee they charge, i am sure i have seen it on here somewhere that you pay no fee, also living in derbyshire it seems that if i want to go to spain i have to travel to manchester to the consulate there first, anyone done this yet

You're RIGHT, Steve ... spouses of British nationals are not required to pay a fee - at least not if they're travelling to *France with their respective married partners - Myrna & I have been *there AND Italy, and on NEITHER occasion was there a charge.

[Arthur Little]

Spain ... I'm not sure about. But I cannot envisage the Spanish Consulate being any different.

[stevewool]

thanks Arthur, just a little confussing once you ar on ther sites

[rusty]

Although the fee for the visa is free for a spouse of a British national, some countries now use the services of companies such as VFS to process the application and they do charge a fee, used to be about £24.

[stevewool]

that was my next question,the fee varies from low to very high, and so many companies do it it seems,

[Terpe]

Although the fee for the visa is free for a spouse of a British national, some countries now use the services of companies such as VFS to process the application and they do charge a fee, used to be about £24.

Any Embassy/Consulate that try tricking people into paying an agency for a COMPULSORILY FREE schengen visa for the spouse of an EU citizen is technically breaking EU law, if that spouse is travelling with an EU citizen.

Schengen Visa Handbook:-
http://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/pol...10_1620_en.pdf

Page 92
(From part III which covers family members of EEA nationals.)

3.2. Service fee in case of outsourcing of the collection of applications

As family members should not pay any fee when submitting the application, they cannot be obliged to obtain an appointment via a premium call line or via an external provider whose
services are charged to the applicant. Family members must be allowed to lodge their application directly at the consulate without any costs. However, if family members decide not to make use of their right to lodge their application directly at the consulate but to use the extra services, they should pay for these services.

If an appointment system is nevertheless in place, separate call lines (at ordinary local tariff) to the consulate should be put at the disposal of family members respecting comparable standards to those of "premium lines", i.e. the availability of such lines should be of standards comparable to those in place for other categories of applicants and an appointment must be allocated without delay.


It is possible that Embassies/Consulates either don't follow this or don't follow it correctly. That needs to be taken up directly with the embassy and/or ambassador by recorded delivery with a threat to sue for recovery of the fee if you have to pay it.

There is a fairly recent post on the forum from Blubirdjones where he actually pointed this out to the Embassy concerned. They took immediate action to get his visa issue FREE.