I'm not sure whether that's so obviously wrong. It certainly wouldn't be wrong if you intended to move back to the UK with your wife. You would then be a so-called "Surinder Singh" case...
Have a look at section 2.5.1 in the following document:
http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/ecis/chapter2.pdf?view=Binary

Now, since you are only visiting and don't intend to move back to the UK, I don't know whether this will really apply. On the other hand, as far as I know, European citizens have free movement rights without having to prove that they are exercising treaty rights for three months - and having a Russian wife shouldn't have to stop them. But then again, this is Britain we are talking about... ;-)

But maybe somebody else here can confirm this.
Good luck!
Sebastian

 

True - we still got ours through the mail almost 2 years ago.

Unfortunately, Schengen is oh-so-foreign for the Brits. ;-) That argument is unlikely to work.
Britain insists on Family Permits, although strictly speaking (if I understand the EU Directive properly), this should actually not be a necessary requirement. A non-EEA partner of a European citizen *should* be able to enter even a country like Britain without a visa as long as they can prove by other means that they are indeed that EU person's spouse. But I know of no first-hand experiences from people who have been successful with this. In your case, the additional problem (for the probably rather ignorant immigration officer) is that you are actually British and still want to exercise treaty rights. ;-)

Again, good luck!
Sebastian

 

Hi - I think I'm in the same boat... maybe we can keep each other up to date with any headwaywe make in all of this nonsense...
I'm British, living in Italy, with an Indian husband.

He's had three visa's up to now (for 3 separate weekly trips to family celebrations, over an 8 yr period - it's just so much hassle now that I hardly go home!)

His first visa (the only option I was presented) we paid for and it lasted 6 months. The second was the EEA family one, free and issued for 12 months. The third, the same type, arrived too late for us to travel and was valid for only 6 months. They were all applied for by post, with a mountain of documentation each time (repetitively, as our circumstances were unchanged) meaning he was without his passport for about a month at a time during each application. (Unable to make an emergency visit to his elderly mother should the need arise.)

This time we're obliged to go to Rome, from Venice. We're off there today, and I'm not at all convinced it's going to be smooth going...
The visa's free, but the trip to Rome certainly isn't! I can't believe this visa will only be valid, again, for 6 months and, worse still, that we'll have to repeat the trip each time.

Have spoken to sympathetic people in offices in Italy and the UK but there doesn't seem to be an inexpensive alternative. I think we're in some kind of negative loophole. (Not being taken into consideration.)

We have no intention of living in the UK in the forseeable future, work and own our own home here, yet I feel I'm treated as a criminal by my own government. We enjoy holidays in other European countries without this hassle. It's infuriating.

Seriously, we need to find other people in the same situation and make a bloody big fuss - get ourselves on SKY News or something. I'm furious!

 

Hi iam a 29 year old British National
i have been married to my russian wife for 4 years with proof of a relationship backdating 6 years
i have recently been refused a visa for my wife who has Spanish Residence and has had for some time
all i want to do is visit my parents and family. Ihave a business in Spain and rental contracts over a 6 year period
can anybody help and give any info regarding what visa i need just for a weekend trip

thanks

 

Hi
Thanks for your response

i believe the problem is i dont have any official tax paymets made in spain
i priovided all information in person in Madrid and they refuded to accept it on the ground of my non official employment
However we deposited 5k euros each in seperate accounts and still no joy.
I really am at my whits end my mother and father dont know what to tell my other family members . The government end up alienating peole who try to go through the correct channels.. anypne any further advice.. Surely they legally can not refuse my wife entry ???

 

Hi – I do sympathise with you – I’ve had the same experience (with my Indian husband in Italy) as NRUBDARB – a slow, tedious, stupidly repetitive process for the EU family visa, and extremely unfair in that applications can only be filled in on-line (I’m computer literate, what if someone isn’t?) and while the visa is free, the journey to be photographed and fingerprinted certainly isn’t. (In our case flights to Rome – cheaper than rail or road as it happened – and a hotel for a night). And we have to do it all again in 6 mths time, for what? Maybe a single weekend visit (family celebrations) in the whole 6 mths. Madness.

Regarding why your visa was refused, I suspect you are right.
We certainly had no healthy bank balances to show (quite the opposite with the current mortgage rate etc) – but my husband has a full-time employment contract (same employer for 8 yrs) and while I’m technically self employed I’ve submitted letters (upon their insistence) that show my basic indispensability to long-standing clients (“we’ve employed x regularly for y years and, given her invaluable contribution to our company, intend to continue our collaboration indefinitely”)
So as I say, despite no financial liquidity, we’ve shown we have long standing, regular and ‘official’ (contractual) employment.
I think this is what you need to get sorted - letters or other documents that will suffice as 'official' confirmation of regular employment, irrelevant of the nature of the work or the amount earned, for at least one of you.
You have to acknowledge that the law states that you need to pay taxes on your income once it’s above the minimum level. (How much you declare is then up to you, and good luck to you (!), but you need to declare something or you’re out of the system – visa applications or any other system, 10k or no 10k! In principle, I don’t think this is wrong…)
In theory it won’t matter WHERE you pay your taxes (on our first successful visa application I was working in Italy but being paid into my own registered company in the UK.)
Surely you can come up with something??? ( I don't know how you earn your income so it's hard to make concrete suggestions...)

 

Please concern to the right visa service provider and If you anything else help from us then contact to us.
I am very much happy that your wife is a Russian wife.

Thank You
Russian Women and Russian Brides