NOTHING to PAY - SCHENGEN VISA (Spouse of an EU Citizen)

[jlags90]

Hi Everyone!

I have applied for a Short Stay Schengen Visa at the French Consulate without having to pay anything. I understand that this SHOULD ALWAYS be the case as a spouse of an EU Citizen but if you go through TLS, you would still need to pay for service fee. I lodged my application on the 25th of March and it was granted the same day. My short stay visa is valid for a year (up to 90 days stay in schengen member states with multiple entries). I would like to share my experience with you guys!

DOCUMENTS NEEDED:

- Completed Short Stay Schengen Visa Form - link is provided below
https://www.tlscontact.com/gb2fr/upl...on_form_en.pdf
*Please note that fields with asterisk should not completed.

- Two identical photographs - see photo guidance below
https://www.tlscontact.com/gb2fr/hel...d=picture_tips

- Original passport + 2 copies - Original BRP + 1 copy

- Original Marriage Certificate + 1 copy

- Original Passport of EU Spouse + 1 copy

BOOKING AN APPOINTMENT

- Call TLS Contact (+44) 845 7300 118 and ask for a direct appointment with the French Consulate not with TLS otherwise you would be asked to pay for an equivalent of 28 euros in GBP service fee.
- Once booked, TLS will call you the day before your appointment which serves as a reminder.

*Please Note: Be aware that the only time you can attend the appointment is at 9:00 am - no other time slots will be available.

ON THE APPOINTMENT DATE

- Arrive before 9:00 as it is first come, first served basis. You might not be allowed in if you are late.

- Do not follow the SW7 2EW post code (published in the French Embassy's Website) if you wish to use google maps or else, it will take you to Imperial College Rd. I have checked google maps and it seems that the post code to use in order to arrive at the place is SW7 2JN. It is just two minutes walk from South Kensington Tube Station.

- Only the person with the appointment can get inside the visa section, and there is no waiting place for back-ups outside.

- During your turn, you will be asked for the documents. Taking of finger prints and photo will follow.

- The Consulate will only take the applicant's original passport, completed application form and the copies of other documents - the other original documents (BRP, my husband's passport, marriage certificate) will be returned to you after verification.

PASSPORT RETRIEVAL

- Most of the time, you will be asked if you will be able to collect your passport from the Consulate the next day. You may arrange for collection schedule with the staff dealing with your application.

- Only you or an immediate family member can collect your passport. Passport collection time is only at 3:00 pm Monday-Thursday. So, if you live far from London, be sure to bear this in mind so you can arrange for transport after collecting your passport.

- Present the receipt given on your appointment date and provide an ID upon collection.

* I chatted with a lady from Myanmar who is also a spouse of an EU Citizen and she said TLS told her to have a direct appointment with the French Consulate because it would be quicker processing (she needs the visa soon because she has already booked a flight departing on the 28th). So this might be a good route to those needing the above-mentioned visa in a hurry.

*Please remember that this service might only be available with the French Consulate. It is worth checking at the Embassy website of your preferred Schengen destination.


Thanks for reading.
Jona

[stevewool]

fantastic news and thanks for sharing your experience too

[Dedworth]

Sound advice should help others. Before my wife and her friend got their Brit passports they used to deal direct with the French Consulate.

[Iani]

Thanks, that's really useful to know

[melovesengland]

wow!!! congrats jay!! hello france!!! well done you. great big help surely for other members here.

[mike1]

good post

[RickyR]

Great post, very detailed. We had a similar experience at the Spanish Embassy here in Oman.

[jlags90]

fantastic news and thanks for sharing your experience too

Thanks steve. Was your wife's visa valid for a year as well?

[jlags90]

Sound advice should help others. Before my wife and her friend got their Brit passports they used to deal direct with the French Consulate.

Yes, probably before they outsourced TLS. It's good to know that there are options depending on the circumstances.

[jlags90]

wow!!! congrats jay!! hello france!!! well done you. great big help surely for other members here.

Hello UK still Novie.

good post

Thanks, that's really useful to know

Thanks Iani and Mike

[jlags90]

Great post, very detailed. We had a similar experience at the Spanish Embassy here in Oman.

Thanks Ricky. Some Consulates might have outsourced but an option like this might still be available so it is worth checking.

[stevewool]

Thanks steve. Was your wife's visa valid for a year as well?

for some reason we have got 4 years on Emmas visa,

[jlags90]

for some reason we have got 4 years on Emmas visa,

That is brilliant. I was expecting 6 months validity but they issued one year. I do not know how their discretion works.

[GraceAdam]

Wow Thank you very much Jona muahh

[jlags90]

Wow Thank you very much Jona muahh

No problem Grace. How about a trip from Dover to Dunkirk in summer?

[Moving Forward]

Great post. Was your marriage certificate authenticated first by the Philippine Embassy? - I remember reading somewhere (on the TLS website I think) that this was a requirement.

[jlags90]

Great post. Was your marriage certificate authenticated first by the Philippine Embassy? - I remember reading somewhere (on the TLS website I think) that this was a requirement.

Thanks Moving forward I got married in the UK so there was no need for authentication. I think it is for the case of marriages performed overseas, and they require for official translation in French/English as well.

[rhaichard]

hi Jlags want to know if did u also have payslips, bank statements , travel insurance and travel itinerary when u applied for ur schengen visa


and do we need to have aunthenticated marriage contract ? because we're married in the philippines

thanks

[jlags90]

hi Jlags want to know if did u also have payslips, bank statements , travel insurance and travel itinerary when u applied for ur schengen visa


and do we need to have aunthenticated marriage contract ? because we're married in the philippines

thanks

Hi Rhaichard, apologies if it took me too long to reply. The documents they required were those posted on #1. Proof of how you are going to finance your trip and insurance is not needed since you will be travelling with your spouse who is an EU citizen. We already had our itineraries before I applied for the visa but we didn't submit it coz it is not necessary. I think you will have to have the Philippine Embassy authenticate your marriage certificate. Good Luck.

[anadyomene]

Great! Thanks for sharing!

[Moving Forward]

Just an update to this thread.

I need to arrange a Schengen visa for my spouse.

I was wanting to book a direct appointment with the French Embassy and called TLS Contact to arrange this today. However, there are only 7 slots available at the French Embassy each day and the earliest we can get is for the 10th July. It seems time of year dictates whether its faster to go through TLS Contact or deal direct with the embassy. The next available appointment at TLS Contact is early June and it should be processed within a few weeks.

[jlags90]

Just an update to this thread.

I need to arrange a Schengen visa for my spouse.

I was wanting to book a direct appointment with the French Embassy and called TLS Contact to arrange this today. However, there are only 7 slots available at the French Embassy each day and the earliest we can get is for the 10th July. It seems time of year dictates whether its faster to go through TLS Contact or deal direct with the embassy. The next available appointment at TLS Contact is early June and it should be processed within a few weeks.

Thanks for the info Moving Forward. Summer is probably the busiest time for visa processing. It is always good to explore the available options, whichever suites you best. When I went for my visa appointment, I noticed that they only opened 1 window out of 4 to process the visa application. They could always cater more people if they want but they prefer not to.

[Terpe]

Here's the EU regulation in plain English:-

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.

The visas must be issued as soon as possible and on the basis of an accelerated procedure and the procedures put in place by Member States (with or without outsourcing) must allow to distinguish between the rights of a third country national who is a family member of an EU citizen and other third country nationals. The former must be treated more favourably than the latter.

Processing times for a visa application lodged by a third-country national who is a family member of an EU citizen covered by the Directive going beyond 15 days should be exceptional and duly justified.

[stevewool]

we went the TLS way and we got it within 2 days

[Terpe]

we went the TLS way and we got it within 2 days

You did good Steve and got lucky. Well done.

I just don't think it's right that someone should wait until July 10th just for an appointment when EU directives state 15 days is the max and the fee is not required.

Maybe, like you, that member will also get the visa within 2 days also.....
but within 2 days of a July 10th appointment is still not good enough IMO

[jlags90]

The ironic thing about booking a direct appointment to the French Consulate is, you need to call TLS to book it (which is pretty expensive). I was lucky to get my visa the next day without pay.

[tone]

Thank you so much for posting this - very useful!
I want to take my wife and son to Greece end of June for a week, and I notice on the Greek consulate page here
http://www.vfsglobal.com/greece/unit...yourvisas.html

They mention charges for visa -
"The Consulate of Greece, London will accept applications from residents of the United Kingdom only.

Processed applications can also be returned by DX Secure mail courier at an additional cost of 8.90 per passport.

Applicants have the option of paying their visa fees by Credit/Debit card ( at the Visa Application Centre) or Postal Orders in the name of "Greece Visa Application Centre". Fees in Cash will also be accepted at the London Centre. Cheques will not be accepted."

I am also wondering should we get the visa after we book a holiday or before? I'd usually prefer to get before but I note they want sight of travel itenaries etc?


Any further advice would be welcome.

Tone

[Terpe]

.......I am also wondering should we get the visa after we book a holiday or before? I'd usually prefer to get before but I note they want sight of travel itenaries etc?......Tone

There's two ways to approach it. Either using EU regs & directives or via an agent.
There's plenty of threads for review.

Technically, my post #23 states the EU regulation.

If you look at a typical Visa application form you'll note that there's no requirement for you to answer those questions marked with * on the form (employment,resources,itinerary, Medical Insurances etc.) The entire form is only three pages long.

[stevewool]

Just as Terpe says, you don't need any booking, insurance, travel dates at all

[tone]

Thanks Chaps - will do some research!

Tone