Non-Eu spouse schengen visa for Netherlands rejected

[Omi00007]

Hi all,

I am a British citizen and I applied for a Schengen visa for my non-EU spouse for Netherlands on 13/02/2018. We received a rejection on 26/02/2018.

Reason for rejection on the letter:

Sufficient justification for the purpose and circumstances of the intended stay was not provided. You stated in your visa application that you wished to be considered for an entry visa, invoking Directive 2004/38/EC.
You were however unable to provide sufficient evidence that you, as a family member of an EU Citizen will travel with that EU Citizen to a member state or stay in a member state other than the member state of which he/she is a national. Consequently, you are not eligible for this specific entry visa. You are free to ask that your application be assessed against the normal criteria for issuing a short-stay Schengen visa.

You can lodge an objection to this decision. A legal representative, specially authorised person or lawyer can also lodge an objection on your behalf. The notice of objection must be sent to the address below within four weeks of the date on which the decisions was issued:

IND Visadienst
Postbus 2
9560 AA Ter Apel
The Netherlands

The notice of objection must be signed by the person submitting it and contain at least their name and address, the date, a description of the decision to which it relates and the ground for objecting. You are advised to enclose a copy of the decision.

The documents we submitted with the application:

1. Visa Application Form (ticked 'Other' and wrote 'Family member of EU Citizen')
2. Passport of Applicant
3. Copy of EU Citizen's passport (Colour copy)
4. Marriage Certificate (Attested by Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
5. Family Registration Certificate (Attested by Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
6. Hotel Booking in Amsterdam (Fully paid and under both our names)
7. Flight Booking for Amsterdam (Showing both our names and dates of travel)
8. Travel Insurance (Paid for a full year)
9. Letter from Applicant (Stating we will be travelling together)
10. Letter from EU Citizen (Stating we will be travelling together)

We applied for a visa for 8 days and Netherlands was going to be our only destination.

Could experienced members please guide me on how to appeal this rejection?

Many thanks in advance,

Omi

[ayaniqda]

May I ask where you applied from and if you had return tickets? Can you also please share a bit about your circumstances? Where do you live? Do you live with your spouse together? Did she/he have any previous Schengen or UK visa rejections?

[Omi00007]

We applied from Pakistan and yes, we had return tickets. I am not sure how living circumstances are relevant to this but yes we live together. No previous visa rejection(s) for any countries.

[compi]

Try Sweden Embassy in Pakistan, with the same documents. I applied last year, and got it very easily. only difference with my documents were that I also added POC of my spouse.

[Omi00007]

@Compi - Thank you for your reply. I am worried that the rejection from Netherlands might mean we also get an automatic rejection from Sweden. We applied for Netherlands because we really wanted to visit Netherlands for 8 days and not because we thought we will get visa from there easily.

It's just a shame that we supplied more documents than required and still got a silly rejection stating the consular is not satisfied that I will be travelling with my wife even though there is a declaration letter stating the same and flight bookings showing both our names showing we will be travelling together. I don't know what else I could provide to proof this...

[philip28]

this is insane. have you tried calling / emailing the consulate? and also reporting this to solvit? makes no sense whatsoever.

[Omi00007]

this is insane. have you tried calling / emailing the consulate? and also reporting this to solvit? makes no sense whatsoever.

I have reported it to Solvit and only contact I have had with them was to sign a standard information disclosure form and haven't had any reply from them since.

I haven't contacted the consulate, yet. I am currently out of country for work reasons. Also, trying to work out what to put down in our appeal because we have already submitted all we can (declaration and flight booking) and don't know what more I can add to prove that I will be travelling with my spouse.

[philip28]

this is insane. have you tried calling / emailing the consulate? and also reporting this to solvit? makes no sense whatsoever.

I have reported it to Solvit and only contact I have had with them was to sign a standard information disclosure form and haven't had any reply from them since.

I haven't contacted the consulate, yet. I am currently out of country for work reasons. Also, trying to work out what to put down in our appeal because we have already submitted all we can (declaration and flight booking) and don't know what more I can add to prove that I will be travelling with my spouse.

First off, I'm so sorry to hear about your struggle. It's totally unfair and must be really stressful. Also I should mention that I am no expert. However on this board I remember reading somebody having trouble with the German consulate somewhere in Latin America. And Solvit got in touch and solved their problems.

If you contact the consulate and tell them "WTF, I gave you all that's needed, signed, we are travelling together" and also mention reporting them to the Solvit, they might give you a solid response.

I don't see why you should bother appealing. The process is likely to take long. You have special rights. Feel free to apply to any embassy BTW.

[Omi00007]

@philip28 Thank you for kind words and support. With regards to the appeal, I understand it will take long time to even get a response from IND, however, I would just like to cover all my basis.

At this moment in time I can only wait patiently for either Solvit or IND to respond. My spouse contacted the Embassy today but after 15mins of waiting over the line the lady on the other side just said she can't discuss application decisions over the phone and we need to appeal in writing to Embassy.

I would like to wait for a couple of weeks and if I don't hear anything, I just might take your advise and apply to another Embassy/Consulate and see what happens.

Thanks again,

Omi

[MAGDA-PL]

Try Sweden Embassy in Pakistan, with the same documents. I applied last year, and got it very easily. only difference with my documents were that I also added POC of my spouse.

im polish and my husband is pakistani i m in pakistan now , if this belgium thing wont work , can you please guide us what exact documents you provided and how long it tookd you , please can you make a list of documents and post it here , which translation are requirred and insurance ?

[Caravel88]

I just read this thread and I am curious. How is everything? What happened?

@philip28 Thank you for kind words and support. With regards to the appeal, I understand it will take long time to even get a response from IND, however, I would just like to cover all my basis.

At this moment in time I can only wait patiently for either Solvit or IND to respond. My spouse contacted the Embassy today but after 15mins of waiting over the line the lady on the other side just said she can't discuss application decisions over the phone and we need to appeal in writing to Embassy.

I would like to wait for a couple of weeks and if I don't hear anything, I just might take your advise and apply to another Embassy/Consulate and see what happens.

Thanks again,

Omi

[Omi00007]

No news, as yet.

SOLVIT won't reply to my emails and won't answer their phone.

Submitted the appeal to IND last week and will probably need to wait for few months to hear back from them.

I just read this thread and I am curious. How is everything? What happened?

@philip28 Thank you for kind words and support. With regards to the appeal, I understand it will take long time to even get a response from IND, however, I would just like to cover all my basis.

At this moment in time I can only wait patiently for either Solvit or IND to respond. My spouse contacted the Embassy today but after 15mins of waiting over the line the lady on the other side just said she can't discuss application decisions over the phone and we need to appeal in writing to Embassy.

I would like to wait for a couple of weeks and if I don't hear anything, I just might take your advise and apply to another Embassy/Consulate and see what happens.

Thanks again,

Omi

[qwert9]

Try Sweden Embassy in Pakistan, with the same documents. I applied last year, and got it very easily. only difference with my documents were that I also added POC of my spouse.

im polish and my husband is pakistani i m in pakistan now , if this belgium thing wont work , can you please guide us what exact documents you provided and how long it tookd you , please can you make a list of documents and post it here , which translation are requirred and insurance ?

Omi i m really sorry to hear what happened with you but it is quite normal go for appeal n solvit,
Magda did you apply in Polish embassy?

[Omi00007]

Good news - We received a call from The Netherlands Embassy in Pakistan earlier today and they have asked us to re-submit the passport, new flight booking, hotel booking and updated Travel Insurance to reflect our new travel dates by Friday (30th March) at the VFS centre in Karachi.

They didn't ask to submit anything else or make an appointment at the VFS Centre. We were advised that it will take another 14 days for the visa to be issued so we should book flights accordingly.

Out of curiosity we asked them whether this was response to our complaint to SOLVIT or our appeal and they said that decision was reviewed because of our appeal.

SOLVIT never replied to any communication since we submitted the complaint, therefore, were totally unhelpful, just like others have mentioned on this forum.

I am pleasantly surprised to see that we posted the appeal letter on Monday 19th March and it was received at the Visa Section, IND in the Netherlands on Wednesday 21st March and we already received a response today. Pretty much within a week's time! even though we had mentally prepared ourselves for the average 3-4 months wait time for a response to our appeal, based on other forum members experience.

Omi

[Caravel88]

A huge contraz Omi00007! That's fantastic news. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Can you tell us about the appeal process? Hope no member ever needs to go through.

Good news - We received a call from The Netherlands Embassy in Pakistan earlier today and they have asked us to re-submit the passport, new flight booking, hotel booking and updated Travel Insurance to reflect our new travel dates by Friday (30th March) at the VFS centre in Karachi.

They didn't ask to submit anything else or make an appointment at the VFS Centre. We were advised that it will take another 14 days for the visa to be issued so we should book flights accordingly.

Out of curiosity we asked them whether this was response to our complaint to SOLVIT or our appeal and they said that decision was reviewed because of our appeal.

SOLVIT never replied to any communication since we submitted the complaint, therefore, were totally unhelpful, just like others have mentioned on this forum.

I am pleasantly surprised to see that we posted the appeal letter on Monday 19th March and it was received at the Visa Section, IND in the Netherlands on Wednesday 21st March and we already received a response today. Pretty much within a week's time! even though we had mentally prepared ourselves for the average 3-4 months wait time for a response to our appeal, based on other forum members experience.

Omi

[Omi00007]

@Caravel88 Thank you, mate.

Appeal process is really straight forward, we just sent a letter stating that we believe we had provided sufficient evidence and pointed out to the documents we submitted with our original application and also attached copies of the same documents with the appeal letter. I wrote another letter stating that I will be travelling with my spouse to Netherlands and our intended stay is purely for holiday.

At the very end of the letter we asked if the documents provided aren't sufficient then advise us to what documents will be deemed sufficient and we will be happy to provide those.

[FaarzH]

Appeal process is really straight forward, we just sent a letter stating that we believe we had provided sufficient evidence and pointed out to the documents we submitted with our original application and also attached copies of the same documents with the appeal letter. I wrote another letter stating that I will be travelling with my spouse to Netherlands and our intended stay is purely for holiday.

At the very end of the letter we asked if the documents provided aren't sufficient then advise us to what documents will be deemed sufficient and we will be happy to provide those.

when applying for family member of eu why didnt you go with the checklist ? which is described by vfs website ? for family member there is different checklist hotel booking is for tourist purpose please check this website >

http://www.netherlandsvisa-pakistan.com ... ation.html

[Omi00007]

Appeal process is really straight forward, we just sent a letter stating that we believe we had provided sufficient evidence and pointed out to the documents we submitted with our original application and also attached copies of the same documents with the appeal letter. I wrote another letter stating that I will be travelling with my spouse to Netherlands and our intended stay is purely for holiday.

At the very end of the letter we asked if the documents provided aren't sufficient then advise us to what documents will be deemed sufficient and we will be happy to provide those.

when applying for family member of eu why didnt you go with the checklist ? which is described by vfs website ? for family member there is different checklist hotel booking is for tourist purpose please check this website >

http://www.netherlandsvisa-pakistan.com ... ation.html

With all due respect, I am not sure what your point is here or if you understand the whole situation.

After reading experiences of the members in similar situation, we provided the documents that had the best chance of getting an approval and yet we were still refused. I am sure you know this better than anyone else given your recent personal experiences.

[MAGDA-PL]

when applying for family member of eu why didnt you go with the checklist ? which is described by vfs website ? for family member there is different checklist hotel booking is for tourist purpose please check this website >

http://www.netherlandsvisa-pakistan.com ... ation.html

i guess this visa is for permanent settlement like ur going to stay there for 3 months or more

[Omi00007]

when applying for family member of eu why didnt you go with the checklist ? which is described by vfs website ? for family member there is different checklist hotel booking is for tourist purpose please check this website >

http://www.netherlandsvisa-pakistan.com ... ation.html

i guess this visa is for permanent settlement like ur going to stay there for 3 months or more

Probably but I never applied or intended to go to Netherlands for more than 8 days of holiday. Either way I am just glad they have reviewed the decision and have asked us to submit the passport again with new reservations.

Let's see how long the visa is valid for once it's finally been issued in next couple of weeks.

[barshad]

How long they took for the decision of your application? (your first application not the appeal)

Thank you

[Omi00007]

How long they took for the decision of your application? (your first application not the appeal)

Thank you

It took them 14 days in total from the day they received the application at the Embassy in Islamabad. The application was submitted at VFS centre on 13th February and the passport was ready for collection on 28th February.

[MAGDA-PL]

Let's see how long the visa is valid for once it's finally been issued in next couple of weeks.

keep us updated , thanks !

[Mdf74813]

Hi Omi,
It will be a great help if you reply.
As you submitted papers stating that you will travel with your wife, does the visa has any remarks like " to accompany - your wife name" ?
Reason I am asking, will you be abe to use the visa to travel just by yourself if you want in future?
Thanks in advance

[Omi00007]

Hi Omi,
It will be a great help if you reply.
As you submitted papers stating that you will travel with your wife, does the visa has any remarks like " to accompany - your wife name" ?
Reason I am asking, will you be abe to use the visa to travel just by yourself if you want in future?
Thanks in advance

Mdf74813 the visa is yet to be issued, so I'll let you know what it says once we have it.