Non-EU partner of an EU citizen living in France - Travelling alone
I'm non-EU, currently living in Marseille with my British partner. We are getting married in the fall. We have a lease together for the place we live in. I currently do not have a French visa or legal status here.
I need to travel to Bilbao for work before we get married, and I'm unsure whether to travel by plane, because I know that at the Marseille airport they randomly enforce immigration passport control even for flights within the EU. If they check my passport, they will see I have overstayed in France and I have no tangible proof of my relationship with my fianceé other than our rent lease and receipts, and by the time of my trip we will have submitted our marriage dossier, so I suppose I will have some proof of that.
Can anyone advise if it's recommended I book a flight? Will immigration detain me? Or give me a fine? Should I not travel at all?
Thanks a lot.
Best Answer
I'm not going to make a recommendation, since that requires weighing the risks against the importance of the trip to Bilbao, but I will say a few words about the risks.
If the alternative to traveling by plane is to travel by train, bus, or car, then you should of course weigh the risk of being checked near the land border against the risk of being checked in the airport. It may actually be higher on trains and buses than in the airport. My experience crossing the French border by train, from Germany, about 15 years ago, may not be particularly relevant, but it does suggest that you are more likely to be checked on a train than in an airport.
You should also consider the documentation requirements that some air carriers have for non-EU citizens (Ryanair is notorious on this site for these requirements; I'm not sure about other carriers). Depending on the carrier, you may be unable to board the plane. I do not know whether these carriers report passengers who lack adequate documents to the authorities.
The consequences of getting caught could be severe. If they decide that your relationship does not entitle you to freedom of movement, they will probably remove you to your country of citizenship, which could mean that you would have to cancel your wedding and plan it for another time or place.
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