FRENCH TOURIST VISA FOR NON-EU

[Killer14bean]

Hi,

I am a British national and my wife has tier 1 dependent visa. My in-laws who are Indian citizen will be traveling to UK from India in June, they have already secured UK visa, however when they are here they would like to visit France. I am aware that they would need a visa for that and i have started the application process, while i was filling the form there was a question asking me if my in-laws have a family member who is national of EU/EEA to which i answered yes by selecting 'non-dependent relative' and completed the necessary details. Once i completed the form it showed visa fee as £0, after doing some investigation i learnt that 'A foreign member of family or a citizen of another Member State of EU/EEA and Switzerland'.

My question is:
- Do my in-laws come under the above visa fee waiver rule?
- If yes, brilliant. If not, do i just select 'No' for the question and move on as normal
- They will be traveling on their own, will that be a problem?
- If yes, what documents i will have to provide to prove the relationship? Marriage Certificate? How would the case worker establish the relationship?

Thanks.

[Wanderer]

For these purposes you are not considered an EEA/EU National, just British only, unless you've lived and worked in another EEA/EU state previously.

[Killer14bean]

Thanks.

Just wondering why would there be an option to select British in the drop down while filling the online form. Quite confusing.

[Caravel88]

Because a British person might have exercised their right of free movement and returned back to Britain. Such persons get to benefit from the EU law.

Thanks.

Just wondering why would there be an option to select British in the drop down while filling the online form. Quite confusing.

[secret.simon]

People, stop muddying the waters.

An EEA citizen is a citizen of an EEA member-state, who is not also the citizen of the member-state in question. Therefore, a British citizen is an EEA citizen in the whole of the EEA other than the UK. Likewise a French citizen is an EEA citizen everywhere in the EEA except France, etc.

I am a British national and my wife has tier 1 dependent visa. My in-laws who are Indian citizen will be traveling to UK from India in June, they have already secured UK visa, however when they are here they would like to visit France. I am aware that they would need a visa for that and i have started the application process

For the purposes of the application for a French visit visa, the OP, a British citizen, is an EEA citizen, as the application is for a visit to France. And in France, a British citizen is still an EEA citizen (until March 2019 anyway).

Family members of an EEA citizen have to meet different criteria than ordinary visitors. And the OP should acquaint themselves with the precise definitions and proofs required for those applications.

It is worth remembering that the OP's wife may also require a Schengen visa.

[Killer14bean]

Thanks Secret Simon for providing further clarity. Totally understand that my inlaws and as a matter of fact my wife would also need schenghen visa to travel.
Again putting my questions forward:
- you talk about that family members of EEA national have to meet different criteria from ordinary visitor.. possible to sign post me to the link or site where I can get more understanding?

- list of documents required to prove the relationship

- am I correct in my understanding that they don’t have to pay for the Visa application?

The Official French website to apply for visa does not give out much, and has confused me even more by displaying at the end of application that the cost of visa would be £0. If there are certain specific rules and filters the site should clearly state that.

[Killer14bean]

Any thoughts anybody?

[Killer14bean]

Any thoughts guys? I need to complete the application and secure the appointment. If i fill my details as a EU/EEA family member the visa application fee works out to be £0. I do not want any hassle for my in-laws when they go to VFS office and made aware by the officials that the application needs amendments. To avoid hassle i am ready to pay, but that would mean not stating information related to me.

Thanks

[gokulatti]

Without trying to confuse you or getting in to the technical aspects of Directive 2004-38, I will try to give you the gist of the requirements,
1. During your visit to france, you are a EEA/EU citizen.
2. Your wife by default is a primary beneficiary of the directive therefore she is allowed to get a free visa to france and also doesn't need to prove accommodation, subsistence etc which are normally required for a regular tourist visa (i.e. family members of eu/eea citizens doesn't need to fill out as well as prove for the sections of the visa application form marked as *)
3. Apart from the primary beneficiary, there are also secondary beneficiaries of a EU citizen, under which your in law CAN fall under but under strict criteria, for example, have you or your spouse support your in laws for atleast a year for their basic needs?, to prove this just a credit of certain xxx funds to their account on a regular basis for atleast a year shall be sufficient, this xxx funds will be calculated on par the national average of the country of their origin. If the answer is NO, they are not entitled to free visa like your spouse under family member of a eu national but fall under the regular visitor visa category and also satisfy with documents the travel, accommodation and finances for the travel.

Hope this was of help.

[Killer14bean]

Thanks for the information.

This helps, however while completing the application what should i do? If i declare my information as EU/EEA national the outcome is a complete form with £0 fee. Am i suppose to hide the fact that i am a British national?

For that i will have to specifically select 'NO' as an option for the question, won't that be classed as a lie?

[gokulatti]

you will have to put in a visa application form for your wife separate which will be 0 quids. then a separate application form for your spouses in laws which should not be 0 quids if they are not the secondary beneficiary. unless they are depends on you or your spouse they are not you family members but rather relatives in the context of the directive.

[Killer14bean]

My wife already has the visa. When i am filling the application for my in-laws there comes a question if applicants has a family member who is national of EU/EEA to which i answered yes by selecting 'non-dependent relative' and in the drop down 'British National'. The outcome is £0, how do i get around this?

[gokulatti]

The visa fee cannot be 0 if they aren't dependent of you or your spouse, If I were you I would just go about selecting No and proceeding normally for the sake of further hiccups of addressing proof for the in laws getting a free visa.