Does a Stamp 4 visa entitle my spouse to automatic entry to the UK/EU?

hkjohn

Sorry if this question has been asked before but the UKGOV website is useless and i need to know whether I need to get visas for my wife to visit the UK and France early in the new year.

Thanks in advance for your help

RobbieTheRobber

hkjohn wrote: »

Sorry if this question has been asked before but the UKGOV website is useless and i need to know whether I need to get visas for my wife to visit the UK and France early in the new year.

Thanks in advance for your help

No. Stamp 4 does not give spouses of Irish citizens any visa waiver rights on its own in the UK or EU.

However You can apply for a spouse of EU visa if travelling with your wife free of charge. However the last time we needed a visa it was easier to just pay the standard fee and go through the normal visa process. I didn't have to take time off work etc.

Cushie Butterfield

For Stamp4 it depends on what passport she holds.
If she holds one that requires a visa to enter whatever country she’s going to, then she needs a visa. Same for returning to Ireland e.g. if she has a US passport she wouldn’t need a re-entry visa but if it’s a Nigerian passport she’d need one (there is no charge for this).

hkjohn

Cheers guys - she's a Filipina and seems to need paperwork for going down the shops

seagull

Does she just have stamp 4, or does she have EU treaty rights? If she has treaty rights, then she can travel without a visa as long as she is accompanied by the person she got the rights through.

hkjohn

Sorry, not sure what EU treaty rights are. How can you tell?


She's not an EU citizen so as far as I know it's just a vanilla Stamp 4.

GerardKeating

hkjohn wrote: »

Cheers guys - she's a Filipina and seems to need paperwork for going down the shops

Secondly, she needs a re-entry visa to return to Ireland after every trip, but (assuming you are an Irish citizen) this is free for her. her Stamp4 and Re-entry Visa cannot extend beyond the expiry date of her Filipino passport, which (untill recently) was only five years.

Now back to your question, now firstly (in theory) an EU citizen has rights to travel to other EU countries for Business or pleasure and take their spouse with them with no visa requirements or restrictions. The UK is not great on this, and is leaving the EU is 4/5 months so who knows what will happen.

But I know of cases of Filipinos resident in UK or Ireland, whom tend to travel between the UK and Ireland via Belfast, but it would not be risk free and I would not recommand it.

For France, she could just apply for a Schengen Visa, this is free for spouse/family members of EU citizens.

hkjohn

Thanks for taking the time to give me all that info, guys, and especially GK. You've all been hugely helpful.