# Moving to Bologna with Turkish wife - visa advice needed



## Sais89 (Jun 17, 2015)

Hi,

I am Finnish EU national who lives in Turkey. I recently married a Turkish woman. I was accepted to study at Johns Hopkins SAIS in Bologna, Italy. We will move there this August.

I need to get my wife a visa and residency permit for Italy. From researching online, I understand that she has the right to a free and speedy entry visa because she is my spouse. However, she called the embassy twice and got different answers. They told her that she needs to apply for a tourist visa, provide proof of financial support. We also asked a travel agency and got a similar answer. 

I get the feeling that the people she talked to (who were Turkish), did not know what they were talking about completely. Can anyone offer some advice about what my wife and I should do?

Thank you!


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Yes, she'll need a visa assuming she's a Turkish passport holder. Italy has outsourced its visa processing in Turkey to iDATA. Go to this Web site for all details (including forms) and to make an appointment. (Click on a different language at the top right if desired, though it appears English isn't working quite right.) The visa type she'll need is "family reunion (national)."


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Maybe, but many of the EU countries only require a "tourist" visa (i.e. a 90 day Schengen visa) for the spouse of an EU national to "join" their spouse in residence in the country.

I admit to not knowing the details for Italy, but take a look at the europa.eu page here: Non-EU family members
Cheers,
Bev


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Bevdeforges said:


> Maybe, but many of the EU countries only require a "tourist" visa (i.e. a 90 day Schengen visa) for the spouse of an EU national to "join" their spouse in residence in the country.


There's not actually a visa requirement at all for residence with an EU spouse -- at least not any more than there's a requirement to be born in order to take piano lessons, for example. There is a requirement for a Turkish passport holder to have a visa to travel to Italy _for any purpose whatsoever_.

Given that, I see no point in not telling the truth. The purpose of travel is family (re)unification, so tell the visa agency that.


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