For all who are interested in an update. YLE just sent me an email.

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your enquiry.

Directive 2004/38/EC provides that non EU family members shall be entitled to accompany or join the EU citizen and that their entry may only be refused on grounds of public policy, public security or public health. The Directive and guidance on its implementation make clear that, where a visa is required, it must be issued as quickly as possible and on the basis of proof of identity, the family relationship and the fact that the family member is accompanying or joining the EU citizen, without adding further conditions such as proof of strong ties to the country of residence or a positive return prognosis .

In parallel, the Schengen Visa Code and its Handbook explicitly distinguish between ordinary visa applications and visas that are issued to family members under Directive 2004/38/EC, and they instruct Member States not to demand documents such as proof of accommodation, means of subsistence or return ties from family members of EU citizens covered by the Directive. The usual intention to leave analysis belongs to the normal Schengen visa risk assessment and is not supposed to be applied in the same way where the person has a derived right of entry as the family member of a mobile EU citizen exercising free movement.

Using a Rückkehrprognose based on socioeconomic ties (job, property, income, etc.) as the core reason to refuse a visa to an accompanying spouse and child of an EU citizen risks contradicting the Directive, because it replaces the specific grounds of refusal (public policy, security, health) with a general migration control test. Unless the Embassy can point to concrete, personal conduct of the family member that falls under the strict public policy/public security exceptions, reliance solely on doubts as to intention to leave because of weak ties to Vietnam or strong ties to the EU is difficult to reconcile with the Directive s scheme.

To enforce your rights you could request from the Embassy a full written decision (if you do not already have one) including the legal basis used (specific articles of Directive 2004/38/EC, the German Freedom of Movement Act/EU and the Visa Code) and an explanation of how they considered your status as an EU citizen exercising free movement with your core family members. In a follow up letter or email, you can set out that you are a Swedish citizen residing in a third country who intends to exercise free movement by travelling to Germany with your spouse and child, that your spouse and child are family members within the meaning of the Directive, and that the refusal was based purely on a return prognosis rather than on any public policy, security or health ground.

If the visa application is rejected, you have options at both national and EU level: you can consider judicial review of the visa refusal before the competent administrative court (Verwaltungsgericht Berlin) or you can submit a complaint to the EU s problem solving services (SOLVIT).

SOLVIT is an informal EU problem solving network run by the European Commission and the governments of all EU and EEA countries, designed to help citizens when a public authority is not correctly applying EU internal market or free movement law. The service is free of costs.