hi guys,
Thanks for all your help regards to questions being answered in this thread. I am currently married and live in spain with my husband who is an european but would love to come home for the holidays and apply for a visting visa to the United states.
i have been to ghana and dubai before i left for spain and i also run a very good account in Nigeria based on my business in buying and selling.
To point out i also read on this thread that its better to come home to apply in ones own country.
I would like to know what my chances are.thanks
@justwise

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toskybrown:
Thanks oNce again for your prompt response.and yes our marriage is genuine.we have all the facts and proofs.
Thanks vicjustice God bless u.I will here to shall my testimony in jesus name.amen

I just want thank the almighty God.my visa has been granted and I would want to use this opportunity to thank vicjustice and all nairalanders.God bless u all

Vicjustice: Well, to emphasize on this, though you may be legally married, but the onus is on you to prove that your marriage is credible and that your relationship is one that is sustained. If you are able to do this, there is nothing that can stop you from getting a Finnish or a Spanish visa.
Like I explained before: "If you apply for a spouse visa to Finland (your husband's nation) you can not be applying under the EU Treaty Rights, but if you apply for Spain, you will be entitled to the EU Treaty Rights.
Your husband needs to be residing in Finland in order for you to be eligible for Finnish visa howbeit, not under the EU treaty rights

Thanks oNce again for your prompt response.and yes our marriage is genuine.we have all the facts and proofs.
Thanks vicjustice God bless u.I will here to shall my testimony in jesus name.amen

Vicjustice:
From your description, i don't think what you have in your marriage certificate is an apostille because, appostilles are not placed on a page that contains other texts, it is endorsed on a blank free full page (usually on the reverse side) of a document.
Now, haven given a careful consideration on your explanation and taking the purpose of your application into account, it is reasonable for me to suspect that there was (perhaps) a misundertanding between you and the embassy staff: i am of the opinion that the staff said that your document is irrelevant because it lacks apostille otherwise, how would any reasonable embassy staff say that a marriage documents is irrelevant in a spouse visa application?
This is a picture of the Finnish apostille, does your "apostille" look like this?

Yes I have it,it is attached to the extract from the population information system in finland which states that our marriage has been registered.vicjustice, I asked earlier what our chance would be applying at the finland embassy since my husband is from finland?.thanks

Vicjustice: If you intend to use a marriage certificate that is "legalized" by the Finnish authority in another EU country ie, Spain, then the certificate is supposed to be endorsed with Finnish apostille.
An apostille is a specific seal endorsed (by an EU country) on the reverse side of official douments, it comes in either ink stamps or a sticker label used for certification purposes: for foreign use.
Now, apostilles are only endorsed on documents on request by the document owner who intends to use the documents in another EU country, it is not endorsed on nenecessity. Please, check the reverse side of your marriage certificate and confirm that it has the apostille
I would recommend that you re-apply instead of making an appeal over a case that you badly presented, besides, appeal is time consuming.
If you apply for a spouse visa to Finland (ur husband's nation) you can not be applying under the EU Treaty Rights, but if you apply for Spain, you will be entitled to the EU Treaty Rights

Thank you vicjustice for your quick response.our marriage certificate has an apostile on it.its a red stamp at the top corner of our marriage certificate from finland.This is the same document I had with me but the nigerian lady at the reception mentioned that it was not necessary to submit it and I can tell you that we submitted all the necessasry documents its just that "these people" are bent on not wanting me to join my husband.
Is there anyway I can get across to u? I contacting you tru your emil but its not working.I would like to discusss this issue with you one on one.I hope to hear from u soon.thanks a lot!.

Hello vicjustice, I want to commenend you on the great job u are doing here. Pls I need your advice on my situation.I wrote sometime ago on my family reunion visa I applied for at the spanish embassy(u can check on my previous post).unfortunately I was denied because I didn't submit the translated copy of the document that states that our marriage had been legalized by the finnish authority..
I did have this document when I filed for my visa but the nigerian lady at the reception told me it wassnt required.when I got this refusal, I scanned it to my husband in spain and he immediately called the spanish embassy in lagos and explained to them that it wasn't my fault.they told him that there was nothing they could do and advise us to appeal if we believe the judgment given to us was wrong.
My husband has filed for an appeal to the embassy since the past month and not a word from them.
My husband and I have decided that I would have to go through Finland, his country to get to spain by applying for a family visa at the finnish embassy in abuja.My husband would be sponsoring the whole trip.
Pls vicjustice I need your advice.thanks.

hello peeps, i need your help. i am married to a Finnish citizen based in Spain.we legalized our marriage certificate with the Finnish embassy in abuja and also the necessary documents so i cld join my husband in spain.The spanish embassy in lagos have been so uncooperative since i got married last june.i finally applied for my resident visa on the 18th of January 2012.
I was not called until the 6th of this month and my visa was refused base on not giving them the legalized marriage document from Finland which was not true.The Spanish embassy have not been helpful at all.
My husband has decided that we should go through his home country so i could join him in spain by requesting for a visiting visa at the Finnish embassy .we are presenting our marriage certificate and all the necessary documents but i would want someone to enlighten me on the process and what our chances would be.thanks

Less I forget,copies would do just fine.

Check my previous post on this thread u wld find the list. I think it should be the fourth one before this.I hope it helps.

Yes, including the photocopy of her birthday certificate and her passport photograph, I dnt know if I mentioned it .

Naijaborn yes u can go to the registry to make the prepartion and u just have to make sure ur spouse to be is coming oh .like I said in my earlier post u must present the necessary documents.

Try finish embassy your husband your husband is finish citzen by birth he is just a spanish resident you have more privillage and rights in finish embassy than spanish. Finland is in shengen you can jion your husband from finland the paper work for your spanish resident permit will not be that much, as for spanish embassy in nigeria they got the highest level of burocracy you cant handle it cheers[/quote]
@kennybuda. I can't apply from finland because my husband resides in spain.ONe can only apply from the member state where the spouse u are planning to join resides.THe only thing I could do was legalize my marriage first with the finnish embassy in abuja which was one of the periqusite of the spanish embassy.

I got mine at the feral marriage registry in abuja and I was later told I should have gotten it at the registry in ikoyi instead of going all the way.I got it in abuja for N10,000.

Dara it is advisable u get all ur documents legalized at the same time.all ur documents has to be translated in spanish.how soon re u getting married?. Make sure u have ur birth certificate and affidavit,ur spinster certificate and affidavit before u get married so it would save u a lot of stress when u wanna submit for legalization.Your husband would also have to give u d photocopy of d pages of his passport and resident permit.I think that's all I can remember for now and also make sure u make at least 2 photocopies of each document.u can call me on 08053461936

Thanks a lot dara,nothing of such was mentioned to me.

@naija last born What kind of visa are you applying for?

@ Naija lastborn I don't think its possible because all documents have to be legalized first by the embassy in the the home country of the applicant who is willing to join his or her spouse@

Hello NL, I am married to a finnish who has been residing in spain for a very long time.We got married last june, 2012.we went to the spanish embassy to. Know if I could leave with him and what documents we had to present to the spanish embassy in lagos.
Unfortunately we could not gather enough information from the lady we met at the reception and we asked if the embassy had a website were we could gather the information we needed but it turned out that they didn't have one.we were able to get more information from the security at the gate for some cash.
We were told to get all our documents certified at the ministry of foreign affairs in abuja and translate all the documents to spanish which should be done by a cerified translator in spain.
TO cut the story short the spanish embassy has been so unreliable,I have been sent back several times when ever I go there to submit my documents for legalization just because I have one document missing or the other.
This has been their fault right from day one because they have been unable to provide the neccessary information I needed.I was finally able to submit my documents on the 5th of october, 2012 and I was told to come back on the 5th of december,2012 I was there and I was told to come back again on the 20th of december that my documents were not ready.I was there again and they said I still need to give them a document then after that my papers wld be legalized.
I have given them the document they need and they said i would be called.This has been rather fustrating for my husband and I.He had written to the spanish embassy several times and even got a lawyer who said we shouldn't be going through this stress and that since am married to an EU citizen my visa should be granted to be me immediately so I can come to spain to process my resident permit.
NL I would want to know if this is actually true because we have been apart for a long time.I would want to hear from those would have gone through this experience and also appeciate opinions and suggestions too.Thank you all.

Hello NL, I am married to a finnish who has been residing in spain for a very long time.We got married last june, 2012.we went to the spanish embassy to. Know if I could leave with him and what documents we had to present to the spanish embassy in lagos.
Unfortunately we could not gather enough information from the lady we met at the reception and we asked if the embassy had a website were we could gather the information we needed but it turned out that they didn't have one.we were able to get more information from the security at the gate for some cash.
We were told to get all our documents certified at the ministry of foreign affairs in abuja and translate all the documents to spanish which should be done by a cerified translator in spain.
TO cut the story short the spanish embassy has been so unreliable,I have been sent back several times when ever I go there to submit my documents for legalization just because I have one document missing or the other.
This has been their fault right from day one because they have been unable to provide the neccessary information I needed.I was finally able to submit my documents on the 5th of october, 2012 and I was told to come back on the 5th of december,2012 I was there and I was told to come back again on the 20th of december that my documents were not ready.I was there again and they said I still need to give them a document then after that my papers wld be legalized.
I have given them the document they need and they said i would be called.This has been rather fustrating for my husband and I.He had written to the spanish embassy several times and even got a lawyer who said we shouldn't be going through this stress and that since am married to an EU citizen my visa should be granted to be me immediately so I can come to spain to process my resident permit.
NL I would want to know if this is actually true because we have been apart for a long time.I would want to hear from those would have gone through this experience and also appeciate opinions and suggestions too.Thank you all.

[quote author=Naija_lastborn]Please can I asked you few question, did you guys get married here in Nigeria, if YES, please can you share how you go about that?[/quote)I got married at the ikoyi registry and I was asked to pay #60000 since I was getting married to a foreigner.I went there 3weeks before the intended date. I was asked to bring photocopies of our birth ceritficates, data pages of our international passports,my state of origin identification certificate,visa entry into nigeria(my husbands)and our passport photographs.with all these I dnt think u shld hv any problem. I would also appreciate members suggestions and opinions on my own case.thanks.

HI dear,how re u doin? Congratson securing your visa .I wld like to ask you some questions if you don't mind because am also going through the same process.is ur husband a nigerian or an EU citizen?how long did the whole process take?.I would be greatful for your quick response .

The Spanish embassy in Nigeria have been so unreliable.I got married to my husband who is a Finnish but resides in Spain last year June, 2012.We went to the Spanish embassy to know how we could go about securing a visa so i could leave with my husband but they were unable to provide genuine information.At the long run we could only get little information from the security guards in exchange for money.
They said we had to certify our marriage certificate, my birth certificate, affidavit and other necessary documents and also translate all the documents to Spanish by a certified translator in Spain which wil be legalized by the Spanish embassy .
To cut the long story short, i have been to the Spanish embassy to submit my papers for legalization and was sent back several times because my documents were not complete. which i believe its their fault for not providing adequate information for applicants.I finally submitted all my documents on the 5th of October 2012 and t they said it takes 2months for them to legalize one's documents,till now am still yet to hear from them.My husband had sent them numerous emails to know the reason for the delay and they keep saying that they would call back.
My husband has hired a lawyer over there in spain who said my process of coming to spain should not be this tedious since am married to an EU citizen and after my legalized papers are returned back to me(which am waiting for forever!), i should apply for my visa which should be issued to me immediately.The lawyer had written to the embassy concerning this and they replied kept asking questions like if i had legalized my birth certificate and our marriage certificate which is still with them for the same legalization!.
I feel the spanish embassy should be up and doing in the issuing of visas to applicants and also have a website where applicants can have access too.
I pray my papers would be returned back to me so i can apply for my visa.my husband and i have stayed too long apart which is rather annoying.