4 ms·
It is such a shame, really. I live in the UK and my wife is Armenian. There have been many times where we would have liked to go to France, or Holland, or Ger
by binarymax 11y ago
It is such a shame, really. I live in the UK and my wife is Armenian. There have been many times where we would have liked to go to France, or Holland, or Germany, for a long weekend. Likely spending hundreds of pounds as tourists. Yet the absurd process and cost for her is just not worth it, so we don't go, and the tourism economy suffers. I will never understand how the visa nonsense got so out of control, and continues to do so. Truly one of the more illogical rules in existence.
--EDIT-- I will add that it wouldn't be so bad if we could go through the process once every couple years or so and get a multiple entry Shengen visa - but that would make too much sense and be too easy, so you need to provide the paperwork, pay the fee, and wait 2 to 4 weeks, every time for a single entry. Crazy bullshit.
- mjburgess 11y agoCan't she become a british citizen? Will that not simplify things?
- jabbernotty 11y agoIt will probably make it more difficult to go to the country where she was born. This is a problem if she wants to go back quickly, for example when someone there is sick.
- icebraining 11y agoBoth countries allow for dual citizenship, so it shouldn't be a factor.
- foldr 11y agoThat's a long and expensive process. There seems to be a common belief that it's more or less automatic once you're married, but that's far from true in most countries, the US and UK included.
- binarymax 11y agoYou say that like we can just roll up to the immigration store and get a passport any time we like. 6 years minimum for her to get citizenship. It's been 3.5
- sombremesa 11y agoThe US is actually worse. I've been here 8 years and I'm not even a little bit closer than I was 8 years ago, to permanent residence let alone citizenship. I have a six figure salary. I should probably just get married.
- germanier 11y agoAre you a British citizen? It is not well known (including by officials and airlines) you have the right that your wife can join you on your travels. As an Armenian citizen she needs a visa but that has to be provided free of charge and under an accelerated procedure (often it takes under 24 hours). You do not need to go through the otherwise required visa agencies and they cannot ask for documents other than passports and the marriage certificates – although they often do if you don't insist. Theoretically it can even be applied for directly at the border but that might be a bit stressful. Here is a handy guide by the EU commission http://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/faq/freetravel/doc/guide_2004_38_ec_en.pdf http://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/faq/freetravel/doc/guide_20... If you are not an EU citizen, yes it's tough. Although they should give out multi-entry visa after she had one once or twice.
- freakz 11y agoUpvote for Armenian wives.