EU married to non EU

She will need a visa, but once here you can apply for her to become resident. Does she have a shebgen visa already?  Where are you living now?

Ps what is her nationality? Some non eu citizens can enter malta without a visa for 90 days

She is from the Phillipines but does actually have a permanent residence card from Sweden.

So I was wondering if that card, a marriage certificate, and her passport will be enough?

" a valid residence permit issued by an EU Member State applying the Schengen provisions can permit a non-EU national to travel to other Member States in the Schengen area without a visa."

She will enter as a tourist - her marital status is irrelevant. Once in Malta you can then apply your EU status to get her residency as a dependent.

Ah I see......No need to worry then :-) Thanks a lot :-D

Hopefully someone can confirm my understanding

this is my belief too GnG

Hi sjippe,

as George already said Sweden and Malta are both Schengen countries and normally there are no passport or visa/residence permit checks.

If someone is legally in one country through a visa or residencey they are allowed to travel to any of the other Schengen countries for a period of up to 3 months.

That will give you more than enough time to apply for residency in Malta.

Cheers
Ricky

Hi Guys,

Thanks a lot :-D

I was just a bit worried since we had a LOT of trouble crossing borders in the past :-D Seems like many countries have no idea how to deal with her passport and the residence card she has. some of the borders we have crossed in the past took us several hours, and several phonecalls because they didnt understand (or wouldnt) that we are married.

Some borders only see her green passport, and freaks out ha ha

So I just dont wanna be stuck at the airport in Malta having the same problems again :-)

We have some good friends, one czech rep and the other south african.. they are married and live in czech rep..they have no problems coming into malta with their schengen visa. they travel and live here regularly as they have a property here

Funny you mention it.....when we moved to Czech Republic, all they asked us about was: Are you married? then they saw the marriage certificate....and that was it! No problems at all :-D
But I think the problem is that the residence card from Sweden is NOT printed in the passport, but is a small white card stating you have a permanent right to stay in Sweden for xxx years.
I know that in Denmark this information is actually printed in the passport.
So perhaps that is the reason why many borders looks a bit "weird" when there is nothing in the passport, and they get handed over a small white card :-D

" is a small white card stating you have a permanent right to stay in Sweden for xxx years." - thats what Malta issues now (well its cream rather than white) - used to be a stamp in the passport for non-EU married to EU, but no longer - I thought all EU countries were moving to that

Hi sjippe,

the EC Regulation about uniform residence permits 1030/2002 states in Article 1 that both options are possible - sticker or separate document. So you probably right with your suspicion about the separate document!

Article 1
1. Residence permits issued by Member States to third country
nationals shall be drawn up in a uniform format and
provide sufficient space for the information set out in the
Annex hereto. The uniform format may be used as a sticker or
a stand-alone document. Each Member State may add in the
relevant space of the uniform format information of importance
regarding the nature of the permit and the legal status of
the person concerned, in particular information as to whether
or not the person is permitted to work.


When you apply for residency in Malta (within 3 months) and are granted residency your wife will get a sticker ! So the sticker-less time should end -))) Or if George is right then a cream card -)))

As long as you cross Schengen borders which are without passport checks you should be fine. When you arrive at Malta airport from a Schengen destinations there are no passport checks. They do watch out for potential drug carriers though !

Cheers
Ricky

My wife was given a card earlier this year, and told no more sticker in passport

Hi George ,

thanks for the info . That sounds as if the new standard will be a stand-alone residence card.

Cheers
Ricky

Ah......Then I´m much more relaxed ha ha We are planning on taking a flight straight from Copenhagen to Malta.....So there shouldnt be any problems there.

I will probably go there on my own first just to get a feeling of the island, and get an impression.

I got little time to read all the replies on this page but I can tell you this - You as a European citizen are allowed to take your SPOUSE anywhere in the Schegen countries WITHOUT ANY OTHER VISA, granted she still has time available from her intial entry or a different permit normally given to relatives without too much difficulty, because your immediate family is AUTOMATICALLY given the same opportunities as you. ( ability to work, live, etc )

The only thing is she must be there with you ... as in residing together but eventually you need to take the necessary steps to obtain new local identification cards and that should be just as easy when supplying proof of marriage.

Please remember to take the information to your embassy or consulate with you but consider reviewing business hours because it could only be open during the week.

Thanks for all the replies and advice :-D

The ticket has been booked, so no way going back now ha ha

However I got a hold of the Maltese Embassy in Copenhagen, and the lady there told me that if we are married all we needed to do was apply within 3 months.

So I feel like a lucky man right now......I almost gave up finding work there as it seemed quite impossible unless you are already living there.

Hi, I found this blog very helpful, I am British and like sjippe I to am married to a Filipino lady and we live in London. she has indefinite leave to remain visa  stamped into her Philippines passport.We are thinking on moving to Malta as I can transfer with my company.Does the same rules apply for us? regards,Adrian