FRANCE EMBASSY PAKISTAN ISLAMABAD EXPERINCE

[khanmzk]

Recently i contacted the french embassy in pakistan islamabad over the phone to get the information
about visa requirements for NON-EU Spouse of EU national to get entry or schengen visa.they were very rude over the phone and very unprofessional as expected but i pushed them to speak out and i was not rude or loud .anyways they gave me a wrong list of requirements which do not apply on EU national spouse.i told them my
wife is british and she want to exercise her freedom of movement right under directive 2004/38/ec.they totaly
denied and said if you need visa you have to bring all this

1.06 months of pay slips
2.accomodation proof
3.return ticket
4.european health insurance
5.employer letter
and the list goes on.........

but what is this

http://www.ambafrance-pk.org/Short-Stay ... conomic-12

on there webiste in the requirements section its clearly written that spouse of EU national or family member do not need bank statements and even on the application form for short term visit visa it clearly says field marked with * shall not be filled by the family memebers of EU EEA OR CH citizens while exercising their right to free movement..and top of everything on there website the requirements for family members for EU national does not say anything about bank statements.i do not have any problem to produce
accomodation proof and itinerary details but the biggest problem is bank statemets of 06 months.i am really worried about this becuase i have booked an appointment with them coming up in couple of weeks
my understanding is that i need a solid proof from solveit or european commusion to present infront of them before i go for appointment anybody have same experince can share please many thanks

[syomfa]

What I have learnt so far is, that different embassies and countries apply this rule differently.

My mother just applied to Spanish embassy under the same directive. The application was accepted at VFS Global office in Islamabad very easily and they ONLY asked for the documents that are required according to the directive.

I would suggest two things:

1) Try applying for Schengen visas for countries whose applications are dealt with
by VFS Global. Their staff is well trained and know the EU directive rules and
will only ask for the relevant documents.

2) Provide the French embassy with whatever they ask for (no matter how low
your bank statement is), be ready for a rejection, and then you will have a right
to send appeal to court in France - courts usually do justice under this directive
and give you visa.

[syomfa]

Third suggestion:

Some times there are employees in the embassy which are not aware of the rules - so you can show up there, take a print out of the directive itself (and some other EU documents - plenty are available on internet). And try to convince them on the spot. This worked for me in the past (on the phone)

[toofan]

when you speak with embassy staff tell them you want to apply visa under DIRECTIVES 2004 all schengen visa forms have sections for eu family members.