I am German citizen living and working in Sweden where I met my girlfriend who is from the Philippines. Together we applied for her residence card with the local migration agency in Sweden (Migrationsverket) at the beginning of the year so she can stay with me even after her original visa was expired. We're living together in the same apartment just like married partners but are not married.

Sadly last week she got the tragic news that her dad died unexpectedly in the Philippines. She wanted to go home to be with her family. However the decision to go home was not as easy as it may seem because with our pending application it was not clear to us if she'd be able to re-enter Sweden without problem once she felt like returning home to me.

We then spoke with the migration agency about our case and they gave us a print-out confirmation that our application is registered and pending and advised us to talk to the Norwegian embassy in the Philippines about a tourist/Schengen visa.

On their website I read about the Directive 2004/38/EC which seems to apply to us with me as a German living in Sweden. But is it possible to base our Schengen visa application on that directive even if we are not married (yet)? And how can we proof that we are in a relationship? According to their website this is required for us in order to apply.

My girlfriend went home last weekend just because for us it was the highest priority that she can be with her family during times like these. I hope that there is an relatively easy way to bring her back to me in a couple of weeks.

Thank you so much for any kind of help!

I am German citizen living and working in Sweden where I met my girlfriend, who is from the Philippines. Together we applied for her residence card with the local migration agency in Sweden (Migrationsverket) at the beginning of the year so she can stay with me even after her original visa had expired. We're living together in the same apartment just like married partners but are not married.

Sadly last week she got the tragic news that her dad died unexpectedly in the Philippines. She wanted to go home to be with her family. However the decision to go home was not as easy as it may seem, because with our pending application it was not clear to us if she'd be able to re-enter Sweden without problem once she felt like returning home to me.

We then spoke with the migration agency about our case and they gave us a printout confirmation that our application is registered and pending and advised us to talk to the Norwegian embassy in the Philippines about a tourist/Schengen visa.

On their website I read about the Directive 2004/38/EC, which seems to apply to us with me as a German living in Sweden. But is it possible to base our Schengen visa application on that directive even if we are not married (yet)? And how can we prove that we are in a relationship? According to their website this is required for us in order to apply.

My girlfriend went home last weekend because for us it was the highest priority that she could be with her family during times like these. I hope that there is a relatively easy way to bring her back to me in a couple of weeks.

Thank you so much for any kind of help!