# Residence permit



## panda23 (Feb 23, 2013)

hi i am british, we just got married yesterday in uk. my wife has a BRP with limited leave to remain, she is keeping her maiden name as with her chinese passport. we want to fly to spain for our honeymoon. i am reading posts that say she needs a schegar visa, and on the spanish visa site says family members can fly with thier other half if thier brp has family/spouse on it, but not if they hold the following passports i.e chinese. Her just says limited leave to remain. think a friend of mine thier wifes says spouse. i am looking at the BRP change circumstances booklet but dont see any mention only if married and change name. So do we need to tell the BRP that we have married and for them to chnage her card to spouse. or shall we just try apply for a visa to spain and have our marriage certificate to hand and our child birth cert to prove we are married on travel., as we are also planning on travelling to china next year also. thanks


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## Zhongshan Billy (May 18, 2014)

British residency – limited or indefinite does not give its holder the right to travel freely across Europe since the United Kingdom is not a member of the Schengen agreement. Therefore, its visas and residency are not acknowledged by the Schengen states.

But spouses of British nationals still have certain advantages when applying for Schengen visas at some consulates. You are advised you to check on the Schengen embassies websites which countries allow this easy option. For example, if a person married to a British citizen applies for a Schengen visa for France, they will not have to produce the whole list of documents ( payslips, hotel booking, insurance, etc) required from other applicants who are not spouses of British nationals. 

However if the same person wishes to apply for a Spanish Schengen visa, they will have to provide the same documents as everybody else. So, the French Schengen visa is the easiest and quickest option for spouses of British passport holders.

Zhongshan Billy


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## panda23 (Feb 23, 2013)

hi thanks for info, i been reading the spanish website, seems they want alot of paper work for a tourist visa, if i am sponsor for her trip and going with her i need letter from my work. and do we book the flights and hotel then go try ask for a visa, sounds risky paying money for trip then try get visa. Can we both go to the embassy with paper work but not booked holiday or must they have booking before they allow travel. seems alot of hassle as my wife has a 10yr/ 120 months discretionary leave visa so not able to get uk citzen for at least 10 yrs. thanks, tho me and the baby have uk passport she has chinese.


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## Zhongshan Billy (May 18, 2014)

That seems a long time to wait for UK Citizenship. My friend's wife received a 2 year leave to remain in the UK and after that they had to go for an interview. Then the citizen proceedure started. After being in the UK 3 years she received her British passport. 

When last in the UK we did go to France for a few days and had no problems. On another trip we flew to Gibraltar and was given entry with no problem. However when we tried to go through the gate to Spain my wife was not permitted without supplying lots of paperwork so we never went into Spain in the end.

Why go to Spain for holiday? There are places like Thailand where she can go with no such hassle.
As I intend to live the rest of my days in China then my knowledge of visa requirements are on the wane.

Zhongshan Billy


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## bean481 (Jun 10, 2014)

A spouse (of a British citizen) with British permanent residence permit is allowed to travel with the spouse within the Schengen zone without visa's, but not alone.


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## panda23 (Feb 23, 2013)

Hello, so what you are saying is that if i go spain or europe and she and the baby come along with me with our birth certificate and marriage certificate, we could just fly from the uk airport to say spain and they would not ask for her visa. All i see on the spanish embassy site says chinese passport holders either need to have a residence permits which says family eea/ eu permit or something which uk permits dont have, and that she needs to apply for a visa.


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## Zhongshan Billy (May 18, 2014)

All I can say was my experience of trying to go through the check point in Gibraltar was they would not let my wife through. Mind you the Spanish border guards there have always been overtly officious!
You may do well to actually go to a Spanish Embassy or Consulate to find the official answer. Either that or change your honeymoon destination.

I know I have been out of the UK for some years but what is a BRP?

Zhongshan Billy


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## bean481 (Jun 10, 2014)

The waters are a little unclear. The EU website indicates that someone with a UK Indefinite Leave to Remain should get a Schengen visa even though a spouse of a British passport holder, BUT the border officials should grant an immediate visa if a valid marriage licence can be produced. See http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/entry-exit/non-eu-family/index_en.htm. Beware that border officials might go beyond their powers and need to be challenged!


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## panda23 (Feb 23, 2013)

my wife does not have indefinite leave to remain only limited leave to remain 30 months, BRP is british residence permit card, bu i read that people issued these in uk do not have a eu eea family memebers on thier cards. i Would go to the spanish embasyy but thats in london and needs appointment and thought i would not want to spend money booking the holiday for 3 of us to mayb find they dont issue the visa . i am looking at portugaul and thier visa requairements dont seem as bad like payslips and employment letters.


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## Zhongshan Billy (May 18, 2014)

Well you could always go by road to Spain. It will be simple to go into France where there are less restrictions. 

As there are no immigration or customs points between France and Spain then there will be no official to cause problems.

There are several companies that do coach trips to Spain.

Zhongshan Billy


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## panda23 (Feb 23, 2013)

yes france is a easy option i have driven there before for £30 boat costs, but the problem with france now is there is alot of immigration problems at the border, its on news every day people everywhere trying to jump in lorrys and cars to uk. will prob find easier eu place for honeymoon, before we go to china for her family visit next yr. just hope going china is even easier, she has chinese passport so i asume needs no visa just me and the baby will need to get visa for that? and bring our marriage certificate for when we come back to uk


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