European Visa/residency Question

[Girino]

Actually, if you have a EU PASSPORT, you DECLARE your residency in that country, you don't APPLY FOR it. That is the perk of being a citizen.

Each state has their rules, in Italy they send the policemen to your door to check that you actually live there, which is quite dumb, imho.

You don't need to ask anything for living in the uk on a eu passport, but you will have to register your presence on uk soil somewhere. There are many many EU citizen from poor countries such as Italy and Greece who are flooding the Uk because it is an easy destination for immigrants.
As for your other half, you should ask your EU embassy. Some countries have introduced residency before citizenship (same as here), so I am not sure how you would be taking your partner with you but not in you EU country.

 

[ben]

In the case of France, AFAIK the spouse of any French citizen is entitled to automatically apply for full citizenship - not residency - based on the marriage.

 

[lucha54]

thanks serafina and ben! ben, if we do not go to live in France, do you think this would still work? I have not "declared" French residency (not yet anyway), just a passport holder. Also might not help that neither of us speak French and they can be a bit persnickety about that!!

 

[Girino]

You might want to post your question on some immigration forum such as visajourney or similar, there are many members with a wide range of scenarios. Also, If there is some forum such as for expats of that country, you might want to run your query there, as well.

I used to read a forum called Expats in Italy (I think it was taken down some time ago, anyway) and there were LOADS of US citizen with an Italian passport who wanted to move to Italy, as well as people who were trying to get Italian citizenship iure sanguinis and needed to know what documents to collect in order to do so.

Each EU country has their own rules, so you should really check for that specific country AND for your destination country (if different).

 

[Mindy]

OK let's say we do a civil marriage first (heterosexual) and let's say the country in question in Spain, tentatively. Anyone who has actually gone through this process and can tell me how long it took and what was needed?

Let's assume I can't get any certification of de facto relationship from Argentina...

Lucha, see:
http://www.spainexpat.com/spain/information/eu_residency_in_spain_for_eu_citizens_and_their_family_members/ (article)
or
http://howtoliveinspain.com/ (book)

Let me know if you want to talk about it over coffee.

 

[ben]

if we do not go to live in France, do you think this would still work? I have not "declared" French residency (not yet anyway), just a passport holder.

I'm not an expert on the subject, so take everything here with a grain of salt.
That said, I am doubtful - it's not like in the US, where there are various states where one can reside but only one citizenship (that of the US). Every EU state has its own citizenship laws, and while a Spanish passport holder can live in France per EU rules, he/she would remain a Spanish citizen and not a French one. Accordingly, the spouse's Spanish citizenship would be acquired per the laws of Spain, not those of France. French immigration law would be relevant only to the spouse of a French citizen.

 

[lucha54]

Yeah until we live in France (if ever) my guy would be going for just residency of whatever country we choose to work in first (at this point Spain and UK are on the table). It's just too bad we only want to go for a season to start with and it might take that long to get the paperwork sorted out....

 

[Patagone]

All EU countries must let non EU spouses live and work in the EU. This is EU law. The problem arises in that not all EU countries recognize defacto marriage and also the degree to which they recognize this. Spain and the UK do recognize defacto marriage with some kind of civil partnership document.
I am not sure how to obtain this in Argentina but I think it can be done with some kind of proof of a long term cohabitating relationship.

http://europa.eu/you...rs/index_en.htm

Not all. The Netherlands is the notable exception and won't let any spouse in (outside the 3 months within 6 months tourist visa allowance). You need to go through the expensive and difficult naturalisation procedures first. Officially. I can go live there with my two children when I want, but not with my wife.

That is why the rest of Europe is being used as a backdoor entrance: in any other country you can go with your non-EU spouse, and live there. Once you have been registered for 4-6 months you can get some kind of EU registration. This allows you to move freely within the EU, including, yes, The Netherlands.

 

[Girino]

removed


http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/european_government/eu_law/european_laws.html

 

[Killarney]

That is incorrect. The law and the courts have been very clear and have ruled numerous times on this. . ANY spouse of an EU citizen has full rights to live and work within the EU....anywhere in the EU.
I have been through this whole process myself. EU law supercedes national law. What many EU countries TRY to do is impose some kind of national law to impede you and many just accept this and don't push.
This is illegal however and armed with a simple photocopy of the applicable EU laws on this matter you will be let in even in the Netherlands. (Although no one is planning to go there)
Legally you need nothing more than a marriage licence and I would advise travelling together.

The better option as I stated earlier is to gain entrance first and once inside it is nearly impossible to get you out. Why make a big deal at the border? Just say you are on holidays and once inside get your social security number and you are good to go.

To the original poster. You have mentioned a few times that you did not declare residency nor ever lived there. That does not matter and the burgandy passport gives you the same rights as someone living there since birth. You can work anywhere once you have a social security number. You are a full EU citizen with all the rights that go with this.

The member states talk tough but the law on this matter is clear.