My (EU citizen) wife (Turkish citizen) was not accepted to apply for Schengen Visa in UAE

This case is ongoing and shows many consulates not aligning with the EU law.

We arrived in the UAE for a visit related to my business activities. I'm a Polish citizen and I wanted to visit France with my wife using 2004/38/EC directive. At VFS (although they were very kind) they refused to accept her application because she's not the resident in UAE. This was later confirmed by the French Consulate and they said they won't make any exception. We also contacted other consulates and got the same response that only residents of the UAE can apply for visa here, and family members of EU citizens who are not UAE residents cannot.

However

We contacted lawyers from Your Europe Advice, and they informed us that such practice (spouse needs to apply only from a country of residence) is against the EU laws and EC Guidelines. I'll quote the most interesting bits from their response.

"Does the fact that your wife is not a resident of the UAE impede that she apply for a (French) Schengen visa from the French Embassy there? (..) The wording "every facility" (in 2004/38/ec directive) includes the obligation for Member States (like France) to accept visa applications even from non-residents, provided the applicant is traveling with or joining their EU family member.

(..) This interpretation is reinforced by European Commission guidance in its Handbook on the rights of EU citizens and their family members , which says: A Member State s consulate should accept visa applications from family members of Union citizens even if the applicants are not residents in the country where the consulate is located, when they accompany or join their EU family member. (..) The French consulate must process her application under the fast-track, free-of-charge regime, regardless of her residency status in the country of application."

We were also advised by YEA that the refusal from French Consulate should be written and we should escalate it to Solvit.

We forwarded this response to the French Consulate and VFS in Abu Dhabi. After showing up in VFS they told us that they already are in touch with the French Consulate and they are aware of our case. We should get the response from them by next Tuesday (in 4 days)

I will update this topic as soon as I get new information.