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Travelling within EU

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  1. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by bibbju:
    Switzerland isn't a member of the EU.
    It is a Schengen agreement country.

  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Claire ex-ax:
    It is a Schengen agreement country.
    Yes but Schengen, EFTA and EU requirements aren't the same hence some minor differences in border controls (amongst other things). I think they just like to keep everyone on their toes. UK is EFTA and EU but not Schengen, Switzerland is EFTA and Schengen but not EU, Norway is EFTA and Schengen but not EU.....Switzerland is the only Schengen member who's not part of EEA....starting to get a bit over complicated but I guess it keeps lots of people in employment.
    Last edited by bibbju; 08-01-2014 at 06:27 PM. Reason: damn spellcheck changing toes to towns

  3. #23

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    Filling in the forms to apply for the Schengen visa to travel from UK to France for a 10 day holiday. Amongst other things I need 3 months payslips, letter from wife's employer, 3 months of bank account statements, letter from school for eldest, marriage cert, birth cert, travel tickets, hotel bookings (bang goes the idea of finding a hotel on the trip back up from the south).

    Don't marry a foreigner if you are British!


  4. #24

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    She's Filipina - she needs a visa to go to the Schengen zone (to go almost anywhere outside SE Asia in fact).

    @hullexile,

    Just make rack rate fully cancellable bookings at random hotels, get the visa, book what you actually want, and cancel the bookings you used to get the visa. This worked fine when the ex-Mrs and I visited Europe.

    If the fees are the same there as they are here then you could save some money by actually making up a completely fake itinerary involving Belgium because Belgium gives Schengen visas to spouses of EU nationals free of charge whereas France charges for them.

    Last edited by Gruntfuttock; 15-02-2014 at 07:49 PM.

  5. #25

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    Will she need to reapply each time she travels or is the visa valid for a few years?


  6. #26

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    Every time in my experience. Schengen visitor/tourist visas are for max 3 (or maybe it's 6) months.

    Being married to someone from a country that requires visas almost everywhere makes travelling very painful, particularly if you hold a passport that lets you go pretty much anywhere with no (or trivial) visa requirements.

    Curiously though, the USA isn't too bad in this respect - if they grant you a visa then it's for 10 years. My ex-wife still holds one that's good for another few years yet - it isn't conditional on her staying married to me or living in HK.

    Last edited by Gruntfuttock; 15-02-2014 at 08:04 PM.

  7. #27

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    It really is an absolute joke.


  8. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by hullexile:
    Filling in the forms to apply for the Schengen visa to travel from UK to France for a 10 day holiday. Amongst other things I need 3 months payslips, letter from wife's employer, 3 months of bank account statements, letter from school for eldest, marriage cert, birth cert, travel tickets, hotel bookings (bang goes the idea of finding a hotel on the trip back up from the south).

    Don't marry a foreigner if you are British!
    Is the issue more that it's difficult for nationals of certain countries to get Schengen visas rather than having a spouse with a British passport?

  9. #29

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    Yes, sort of. I think the issue is that somehow those of us you have been married to people from these countries is that the process isn't somewhat easier as a result. I would be particularly pissed off in hullexile's position in that he's gone through a huge amount of grief to get his wife leave to remain in the UK and yet that doesn't seem to make any difference either.

    INXS likes this.

  10. #30

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    The other thing about Schengen visas, if I recall correctly, once the visa is finished you can't enter another Schengen country for 3 months...or was it 6? I'll look it up.