ShanghaiSuprise

Hi Forumites, my first post here are doing some extensive reading.

Here's a challenge for all the Visa and Immigration savvy folks out there.

I am a UK citizen, born and raised, getting married to my partner of 4 years in Shanghai, who is a Chinese Passport holder. If we decide to relocate to the UK, its pretty simple, although the paperwork and visa costs are getting worse these days it seems!

A more difficult question is, what if we want to relocate to Spain (bypassing the UK, except for family visits)?? Currently as a Chinese national, my fiancee requires seperate visas for the UK and Spain.

Staying in the UK for about three years, gaining my spouse British citizenship, before moving to our dream home in Spain, just sounds like a painful process that would best be avoided.

All advice gratefully recieved.

Fred James

Under the new residency rules in Spain, introduced this year, it is very easy for the non EU spouse of an EU citizen to apply for residency in Spain.

This is about the ONLY good thing to come out of the new changes.

I cannot offer any advice about visa requirements but it *might* be easier to get into Spain than the UK.

The reason she requires seperate visas is because the UK is not really in the EU from a border control point of view as they are not a Schengen country.

It is possible to apply for a Schengen visa which gives you the right to travel within the Schengen EU.

I would suggest you talk to the Spanish embassy in Shanghai.