Paphos People

I am seeking an attorney in Paphos who can help me deal with my wifes entry visa. Preferably experienced in EU legislation. For anyone not familiar with my previous posts, I am British and have been living in the Philippines for the last 5 years. I have been working hard for the last couple of months to secure a 90 day entry visa for my wife to accompany me to Cyprus. I am also presently buying a villa in Peyia for my parents and need to sign papers to finalise the purchase of the property. My wife has obtained an exit clearance from the Philippine Dept. of Foreign Affairs. She has a passport in her married name, and we have a local and National marriage certificate. We attended the Cypriot Consulate in Manila and made an application for her visa and we were told that a visa would be issued to my wife in 15 days. We supplied bank statements, form "assumption of responsability" ,a letter of invitation from my father (a Cypriot resident) who offered to host my wife during her stay. copies of both our passports and marriage certificate. Today we were informed that my wifes visa had been refused.
I have studied the EU legislation regarding the non-EU spouse of an EU citizen and it it states that a non-EU spouse needs only to supply her passport, copy of her husbands passport and copy of the marriage licence in order to obtain a short stay entry visa.
My wife has been refused for 3 reasons.
1. That she did not supply sufficient evidence that she would be able to support herself financially during her stay.
2. That she did not supply evidence that she would be leaving Cyprus within the 90 days.
3. That she was considered an immigration (flight) risk.
As far as I can tell from everything I have read all 3 of these points DO NOT apply to the spouse of an EU citizen. But to single non-EU applicants.
There are ONLY 3 reasons that a spouse can be refused an entry visa. These are specified in EU Directive 2004/38-EC.
1. That it can be proved that the marriage is fraudulant.
2. That the applicant has a contagious (obnoxious) disease.
3. That the applicant is a threat to national security.
It appears to me that the refusal of an entry visa to my wife is in direct contravention of EU law. If anybody can recommend a knowledgable attorney that I can hire to resolve this I would be very grateful. I have e-mailed the Cypriot Dept. of Foreign Affairs who issued the refusal and lodged a complaint. I have also tried to speak with someone, but it is obvious that I need a "greek speaker" as soon as I speak in English they aren't interested.
any help or comments appreciated.

With regards to my earlier post...it has been suggested to me that I bring my wife to Cyprus without an "entry visa". And,that unless immigration at the airport can prove our marriage is fraudulent, (which they can't we have been together since 2008 and have photos etc to prove it)
Immigration would have to issue her a 90 day spousal visa on arrival. Sounds a bit risky to me, it's a long way to go only to be turned away and sent back on the next flight. ???

I will PM you a number of a girl that works for an agency
that deals with visas .. ring her and ask ..

_________________
REACH 1000`s of PAPHOS CUSTOMERS EVERY DAY FOR A FRACTION OF WHAT THE OTHERS CHARGE
----------------------------------------------------------------
Whilst the optimist and the pessimist argued that the whisky glass was either half full
or half empty ? .
I drank it .....
The opportunist..

Thanks...!

Refusal is standard procedure by the Ministry of Foreign Afairs I'm afraid. I had a similar problem in the past and lodged a case with the Ombudsman. However, they couldn't get them to change their mind and were going to build a class action type of case. They admitted that success would take years rather than months. However, you might want to try this route. It is free.

Taking on the authorities seperately might bring success and I wish you well in this. However, be prepared for this to take a very very long time.

The bottom line is that your wife is asian. It is as pure and simple as that.

_________________
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein

How very frustrating and upsetting all this must be for you and your wife especially considering that daily they let in the "guests" of the Jeremy Kyle show and even worse some of them live here!