VFS Global Charged Me for a Free EU Family Visa and Delayed My Wife’s Passport

I am a European Union (EU) citizen, and I recently submitted a short-term (Schengen) visa application on behalf of my wife through VFS Global in Izmir, as we planned to travel together to the Netherlands. Since I, an EU citizen, would be accompanying her, the application was submitted under the status of a family member of an EU citizen.

However, we faced multiple unacceptable issues throughout the process—both in terms of legal violations and poor service quality:

First, EU law clearly states that no visa fee should be charged to family members of EU citizens (Directive 2004/38/EC, Article 5(2)). Despite this, VFS Global collected a visa fee from us. We were told it would be refunded, yet no reimbursement has been made to date.

Second, although we provided all necessary documentation, we were still asked for extra, irrelevant paperwork—despite my wife’s eligibility for a simplified process as my family member.

Third, even though we had a confirmed appointment, we were kept waiting for over three hours at the VFS office. When we politely asked why, the staff member casually replied, “I don’t know how this process works,” which is completely unprofessional and unacceptable. If we are going to be made to wait for hours, what is the point of booking an appointment?

To make matters worse, it has now been 24 days since the application, and we still haven’t received my wife’s passport. Our international travel is planned for May 23, 2025, and the delay is putting our entire trip at serious risk.

According to EU law, visas for family members of EU citizens must be:

Free of charge

Processed quickly

Issued with minimal documentation

All of this is clearly stated in EU Directive 2004/38/EC. VFS Global’s handling of our case violates both this law and basic service standards, causing unnecessary financial and emotional stress.

📌 My formal requests are:

Immediate return of my wife’s passport

Full refund of the wrongly collected visa fee

Case reference: NLD/ADB/250425/0023/01

VFS Global, I expect urgent action to resolve this unacceptable delay and legal violation.