Schengen Visa From French Embassy London - Eu Spouse

Does anyone have any experience with getting a short stay visa from the french embassy in London?

My husband (a british citizen) and I (Nigerian with ILR) want to go on a short holiday to Monte Carlo. I've checked the website but I'm still a bit confused about whether or not I need a visa. It says as a spouse of an EEA national you don't need a visa but it also says your permit should have "spouse of an EEA national" stamped on it, which I don't. I've used the online system to book an appointment and the earliest I could get was in August, a few days before we are scheduled to leave. I'd be very grateful if anyone with experience with this could answer a few questions

1. Do I need a visa?
2. Are the visa's granted the same day of the appointment?
3. Are travel insurance, hotel bookings and tickets mandatory? (for EU spouse)
4. Would a postal application sent now be better for a mid August departure?

Thanks

thank you, do you know anything about the insurance and hotel bookings?

last minute.com  get your hiusband to call and book an earlier appointment.  most of the embassies are flexible

Thanks ever so much for the link to the forum, I got everything I needed to know from people who had gone through the process as well.

I actually do need a visa!


thanks for your response, I already have the hotel booking, wish I had used lastminute.com though I saw some better deals, I used expedia. Just didn't know if getting insurance was mandatory for EU spouses, now I know its not.

ok, so here's the gist I've gotten so far from here and the immigration board forum. Thought I'd put it all down in case someone else is in a similar situation. This is strictly for a non EU spouse.

1. I do need a visa but it will be issued free of charge.

Spouses of British citizens require visas because their residence permit does not bear the endorsement " family member of EEA national" as required by the art 10 of the European Council/Parliament Directive 2004/38 CE.

Required documents
- A full national passport or official travel document valid for more than 3 months beyond the validity of the requested visa, with a blank visa page to affix the visa sticker. Your British residency should be stamped onto your passport.

- One application form duly completed and signed by the applicant
- 2 passport-sized photographs.
- You may be requested to provide a self-addressed stamped envelope.
- Your spouse's European Union passport;
- Your original Marriage Certificate with official translation (certified by a consular officer) if not in French or English.
- If your Marriage Certificate has been issued outside the European Union, it must be stamped by the Foreign Office of the issuing country, or its Embassy in the UK

2. I will most probably not receive my visa on the same day because I come from a country where my passport has to be sent for "consultation" with other Schengen countries, lol. This process usually takes between a week and 4 weeks

3. For an EU spouse travel insurance, hotel bookings, tickets or financial status are not required

4. I can't send my application by post based on where I live

The appointment booking system is either by phone or  online. New online appointments become available every Thursday between 3pm and 5pm. This will also cover cancellations so sometimes you can get earlier dates. As at now, the online appointments available are for the end of August.

I'll update the thread after I get the visa.

Thanks again to everyone that took the time to respond