Do spouse of EU citizen & parent of minor German citizens get visa fee waived?

Dear all,

My husband and daughter are both German citizens, and we will be staying at my parents-in-law’s home in Germany for the entire duration of our visit. Based on this, I understood that I should be exempt from the Schengen visa application fee—am I correct in this assumption?

I have applied for a visa before through VFS Global in Beijing and was exempt from paying the fee at that time.

However, when I submitted my application through VFS Global in Perth last month, I was advised that I needed to pay the fee first and then request a refund from the embassy. My visa has now been granted, but I have received the following response from the Austrian Embassy in Canberra (all Schengen visas are approved through the Austrian Embassy in Australia):

• “The freedom of movement of beneficiary third-country nationals (you) is governed by Directive 2004/38/EC. You only exercise this freedom of movement if you travel to a Schengen member country other than Germany.
• In general family members of German citizens are not exempted from the visa fees if you and your husband are travelling to Germany."

Could anyone kindly advise whether this is correct, and how the visa fee exemption is generally applied in such cases?

Many thanks!