Spousal Visa for UK visit from Ireland

Chimichangas · 13-10-2016 06:49PM #1

Am i right in thinking that there is no fee for wife of EU citizen to get visa to visit other EU countries??

Except a small processing fee possibly. But 100euro+???

Been trying to get a visa for the UK for the wife.I have looked at the relevant UK websites and it is still my understanding that there is no fee for the wife of a EU citizen.
But when going through the visa application, (1) there is no mention of a spousal visa or EEA family visa to choose from (2)so I then choose a <6month tourist visa and at the submission stage, it cant be fully submitted until a 104euro fee is paid. Thats not a processing fee. :mad:

Have tried to contact the UK visa crowd, but all their answers to my queries involve copying and pasting links to web pages, that I have visited a number of times. They cant/wont answer a simple question. :mad:

Does anyone have any experience of this? Anywhere else i can go to get answers?

Am I correct about no visa fee for wife of an eu citizen?

Not sure if this is the right forum so apologies if Im in wrong place...

Dandelion6 · 14-10-2016 07:44AM

If wife of EU citizen has an EU Treaty residence card she shouldn't need a visa to go to other EU countries.

Chimichangas · 14-10-2016 11:04AM

Dandelion6 wrote: »

If wife of EU citizen has an EU Treaty residence card she shouldn't need a visa to go to other EU countries.

In ireland what would be a EU treaty residence card? Or how do you get one? Never heard of it?? Any info on it? Is there some sort of a minimum time period criteria involved?

Edit: FURTHER EDIT:
Just googling this. Have to wonder why no-one thought to mention it before.
Thanks Dandelion 6!
I DID LOOK INTO THIS BEFORE, & I BELIEVE ITS ONLY FOR USE IN ANOTHER EU COUNTRY, NOT YOUR OWN. Thats why i didnt need to remember it.

rizdub · 14-10-2016 11:11AM

there is no visa fees for EU spouse.
you just need to submit the required docs without any fees.

Chimichangas · 14-10-2016 11:21AM

rizdub wrote: »

there is no visa fees for EU spouse.
you just need to submit the required docs without any fees.

Thats what i thought before trying to apply.
You cant submit the online application without paying the fee. Unless there is a specific application for a spouse which i couldnt find, and no one on their customer help desk....:rolleyes: could point out either.

rizdub · 14-10-2016 12:52PM

if i remember correctly, you have to select the correct visa type while filling in the details and payment will not required.
I think visa type or category is 'Others' and then somewhere else you have to specify EU spouse category.

The online application form asks for lot of info and it could take some time to complete it.

Chimichangas · 14-10-2016 01:24PM

rizdub wrote: »

if i remember correctly, you have to select the correct visa type while filling in the details and payment will not required.
I think visa type or category is 'Others' and then somewhere else you have to specify EU spouse category.

The online application form asks for lot of info and it could take some time to complete it.

Unreal how even though i was looking for that option at the time, i couldnt find it.

But now I found Others, then EEA family member. Better than what i had before!

Thanks Rizdub, I'm hoping that is it.

Rickytumtum · 28-08-2019 09:14PM

How did this pan out?

As many posters before me, I'm finding it extremely difficult to figure out what type of visa to get for my Chinese wife (I'm an Irish citizen). We need to go to Northern Ireland for a wedding in November i.e. post Brexit and we're not taking any chances so want to get a visa for her. Looking on the UK gov site is a nightmare and the 2 euro per min phone line is as much use as a kick in the sack.

Has anyone here ever successfully applied for a visa for their non EEA spouse to the UK for free? My options appear to be 1. Family EEA Permit, but after reading the UK regulations I'm not sure if that only applies when you intend to reside or just if you 'have a right to reside' ie. an entitlement to reside and not disqualified in any way, but not necessarily planning on residing; or 2. standard tourist short stay visa....but when I get to the payment stage there is no option other than to pay 100 or so euro....

Can anyone put me out of my misery?

hullaballoo · 29-08-2019 07:42AM

Personally, I'd not bother going to the wedding.

Daisies · 29-08-2019 07:59AM

Rickytumtum wrote: »

How did this pan out?

As many posters before me, I'm finding it extremely difficult to figure out what type of visa to get for my Chinese wife (I'm an Irish citizen). We need to go to Northern Ireland for a wedding in November i.e. post Brexit and we're not taking any chances so want to get a visa for her. Looking on the UK gov site is a nightmare and the 2 euro per min phone line is as much use as a kick in the sack.

Has anyone here ever successfully applied for a visa for their non EEA spouse to the UK for free? My options appear to be 1. Family EEA Permit, but after reading the UK regulations I'm not sure if that only applies when you intend to reside or just if you 'have a right to reside' ie. an entitlement to reside and not disqualified in any way, but not necessarily planning on residing; or 2. standard tourist short stay visa....but when I get to the payment stage there is no option other than to pay 100 or so euro....

Can anyone put me out of my misery?

We applied for the EEA family permit for a short visit and just attached a letter saying we only planned to visit friends and not reside there. If you do the "what Visa do I need" quiz that's what it guided me to. We also had the added complication of having previously applied for an EEA family permit with the intention of residing there but then got jobs in Ireland

Rickytumtum · 29-08-2019 08:23AM

Daisies wrote: »

We applied for the EEA family permit for a short visit and just attached a letter saying we only planned to visit friends and not reside there. If you do the "what Visa do I need" quiz that's what it guided me to. We also had the added complication of having previously applied for an EEA family permit with the intention of residing there but then got jobs in Ireland

I see. Yeah, when I follow the quiz it says the family permit is the way to go, but when I complete the application it asks for a copy of my passport and states that it is British...it may be a mistake but the more I look into it the messier it becomes. Looking at the 2016 regs, it doesn’t really look like the family permit is intended to capture short visits where there’s no intent to reside, but I can’t really see that making someone pay for a short term visa makes sense. That all being said, we don’t want to run the risk of applying for the wrong one, having it rejected and having to deal with explaining the rejection every time we apply to go abroad in future.

Can I ask if you were successful in getting the family permit for the short visit?

Rickytumtum · 30-08-2019 08:53PM

Anyone else here who might have insight?

seagull · 03-09-2019 12:29PM

I suspect the answer right now is that nobody has a clue, not even in the UK civil service. They don't know what way things are going to pan out. Will there be a deal or no deal? Given that they don't know what a deal would look like, they have no idea what visa requirements will look like. What are the consequences if there is no deal? Do all EEA agreements automatically fall away?

dvdman1 · 03-09-2019 12:36PM

https://www.gov.uk/family-permit
Free visas

Spousal Visa for UK visit from Ireland

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