India visa living in Spain non resident

Indiangirl

Can anyone help please?? My cousin is coming to Goa and needs a visa but we have tried applying through VFS Global in UK but it wants a UK address and keeps throwing the application back, however she lives in Spain and of course has a spanish address, but is a non resident of Spain and is not a UK resident either.Can anyone offer advice, we have looked on the Spanish India commission website but it appears you need a residency card? I know this is a strange situation but any ideas plse
Indian girl

nycank

What passport does she hold ? Where is it she pays taxes nd/or have health card and or establish status ? Or is she stateless ?

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Indiangirl

both have a british passport and her husband pays taxes in uk IF he works from here as he is a lorry driver..but sometimes works in spain,but technically i suppose they are pretty 'stateless'!!
Indian girl

federica

If she is living in Spain why is she not a resident there

machadinha

That's very possible for EU citizens, Federica. Residency is a legal category, it doesn't mean where you actually reside, so much. One would need to have gone through the process of obtaining residency; again, this is not necessary to live and work there as a EU citizen. One just needs a work permit, which, as elsewhere in the EU, one is entitled to, given certain conditions.

I have no answer for the OP; except the Indian embassy there (as well as some others, I hear) isn't said to be very easy to deal with, and it's a long way away for anyone not living next door, greatly adding to any potential hassle. I would, however, try to deal with it through them, or through whatever visa services they may have today, if any. Just what they say on their website doesn't tell you all that much of a great deal; I'd try to at least get them on the phone or something.

Good luck with it.

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nycank

On a minimum he needs a "Registro Central de Extranjeros" It's like a foreigner's registration card, and she as a spouse needs a "tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Unión" kind of like a PIO, but not really. once she or he has this said document, they can apply in Spain, or will have to make a trip to motherland

Minimum 3 months living in Espana does require having one of the above cards. But in Spain, many people live undocumented because of large immigrant population from the former colonies in Americas and Africa and eventually get a Extranjeros Card.

machadinha

Okidoki, given NYCank's info just above, I'd rely on him rather than what I just said; mine is based more on hearsay through people I know there, and what little I know of EU rules.

In any case, the more pertinent question would still be of how and where to apply; I'd still try and speak to the Indian embassy directly, or any outsourced visa services of theirs in Spain if applicable, then see what you come up with, as a first step at least. One can always panic later

nycank

All EU residents in Espana require a Registro Central de Extranjeros if living more than 3 months. No big deal. Work permit ensures that you get an Extranjeros carto.

machadinha

Aha. It would still remain to be seen how this translates in terms of residency though (although you indicated above it ought to suffice, and I'll gladly take your word for it).

Anyway, let's just get Indiangirl's cousin to the quickest route to a visa if we can, no I think I won't be of much help beyond this stage. It struck me how

would pretty much seem to translate to British residency, so I wonder if it isn't the visa services there who are giving you an unnecessarily hard time with their address requirement jive. They don't seem to be renowned for their client-friendliness either. (A pity, as I've found the Dutch one to be really good and nice and accessible people. Apparently one doesn't need to be a jerk to do such work.)

(I'd be tempted to agree if all else fails she'd just have to go home to sort it out; but if that address requirement does hold up, it obviously wouldn't resolve a thing. And I suppose one is normally required to have some sort of an address somewhere at least for dealing with this or any other sort of official stuff, yes, or life can get very difficult indeed, alas. But I don't readily see how living and working in another country and all perfectly legal under existing EU legislation should have to bar one from going on a frikking holiday -- you'd hope there might be some provisions for it. And then as a truck driver of all things, yes of course you're gonna be, or at least you might well be, a little itinerant.

Anyway, not that I hold my hopes up about any such moral indignation to put in any weight, and I wouldn't advise to expect it to. Keep it straight and firm yet polite, and/but do try and keep your foot down.)

But, well, I really don't know. Again, call your Spanish Indian peeps and see how far you get. Perhaps a call to the UK embassy in Spain wouldn't hurt either.

Haylo

Embassy websites sometimes say this; in some cases it's correct and they do only ever issue to residents, but in other cases they're just being over zealous and they do actually issue to visitors - the only way to find out is for your cousin to explain the situation and tell them you'd appreciate it if they accepted her application.

Other than that, is your cousin visiting the UK any time soon? If so she could apply for her Indian visa there.

Has she considered joining IndiaMike herself?

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machadinha

Yes; but not if the requirement would turn out be correct that

She'd still have no UK address, whether she went there in person or not. It would seem like a potentially dicey situation indeed; although I agree not to take any official's word at face value that it "can't be done," just like that.

Quite agree on this count. It's certainly worth a try anyway; you stand little to lose. (A problem in Spain really is that if you need to go to Madrid or wherever for it, this can be quite a journey in itself, and it might require several visits, and yada yada.) But get on the phone first, please, by all means.

To issue visas to non-residents is, to my very best knowledge, really at the discretion of the embassy in question (well, of course they'll have to fiat any application anyway, I guess for residents of a given country this will just merit less scrutiny, and will be more of a mere formality); and I see very little reason why this would greatly differ per embassy; (and again and indeed, embassy website info often leaves a lot to be desired); in your case, they may very well be willing to grant it. I don't see any immediate reason why not, really; unless they want to be particularly stubborn about it there.

I'm not saying it will work, but just try it; worst I can see happening is you being referred back to your British visa services, indeed. I see no reason why it would have you end up as a persona non grata or anything.

nycank

Ask and you shall be served
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federica

No idea how difficult it is to obtain a Spanish residency as long as you are eligible (and as an EU citizen, you are) In Germany you fill a form and voila, that's it, you're a resident of that place now (we don't have residency cards, but you have to register).

So maybe getting the residency status first and then applying for the visa in Spain would be the way to go?

machadinha

I imagine it would interfere with your residency of the country you left behind though; these are no light steps to be taken.

Which I guess is why many people seem to prefer to dally over it and to occupy some grey zone, as long as they're entitled to (as such, it isn't all that grey at all), and before they choose to burn all their ships behind them.

nb

Yes, that's funny, thanks Seems to sort of chime in with reports by Dutch embassy personnel I've mentioned before, about how notably with the advance of the internet they seem to get swamped by silly questions they are in absolutely no position to handle, by folks who apparently hadn't the foggiest notion of where they were going in the first place.

Still, I wonder if this particular case wouldn't be somewhat pertinent though. Or, well, they might just politely brush you off. No big deal. But it would seem to fall under what they do, or should, or at least might, cover, doesn't it.

federica

Why burning all ships behind? You're not giving up your nationality or your passport, you're just changing the place (and can easily re-change it again)! In the EU it's almost like moving in your own country. Ok, there's tax, health insurance and that stuff involved, but living long term in another country without keeping a residency (and address) in your native place without the necessary paperwork can cause trouble.

Another idea: can't she use the address of family members/friends in UK for her visa application?