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I am a British Citizen and passport holder married to an Egyptian citizen with Egyptian passport. We are both holders of the Spanish TIE card. My question is, British citizens are allowed to travel to Spain without a visa so is the reverse true? Can we travel to the Uk for a short holiday without a visa ? We shave been married for almost four years. I know that I don’t need a visa but surely my spouse should be allowed to travel with me ? It seems very unfair that British citizens can travel to the EU visa free, while I, a British citizen cannot travel to the country I was born in accompanied by my spouse without all the hassle and cost of obtaining a visa. Surely our marriage certificate and return tickets is evidence that we have absolutely no intention of staying in the uk and I understood that if traveling with me my spouse should be admitted but I have written to a number of British agencies and cannot get a definitive answer. Can you help me ????

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    Things are never symmetric, and for sure you do not have the "TIE card" of Britain (but you are an UK citizen). And no: your wife needs a visa. There are simplified procedures for married people, but her citizenship matter. And by not living in UK, things are more difficult. Note: if you ask something, avoid to answer yourself with "Surely", etc. Note the first result of first google search gave me: gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse. Do this answer your question?
    – Giacomo Catenazzi
    Dec 2, 2022 at 13:19
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    "British citizens are allowed to travel to Spain without a visa so is the reverse true" - well, yes, Spanish citizens can travel to the UK without a visa, but your spouse isn't a Spanish citizen, so that's irrelevant.
    – StrangerToKindness
    Dec 2, 2022 at 14:34
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    I, a British citizen cannot travel to the country I was born in accompanied by my spouse without all the hassle and cost of obtaining a visa. - yes you can. Your spouse is another story. But, just FYI - there's absolutely no requirement that one would be allowed to the country they were born in without a visa.
    – littleadv
    Dec 2, 2022 at 22:18
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    Have you really not received "a definitive answer", or have you really only received (definitive) answers you don't like? I'm not busting your chops here - I feel your pain. I am the spouse of a UK citizen and would love to be able to visit my in-laws visa-free. We live in the USA (and I'm not American either) so up until recently I've been applying for (and receiving) 6-month visas every time we wanted to visit. We finally bit the bullet and got me a 10-year visa last year, so that at least makes planning travel a little easier.
    – brhans
    Dec 3, 2022 at 1:50
  • I have received conflicting answers and contacted - or attempted to - and paid the fee they asked only to br told that they cannot comment in individual cases. Thank you for your interest
    – Paul Essex
    Dec 3, 2022 at 21:32

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Your spouse, an Egyptian citizen, requires a visa to enter the UK, even for a short visit, and even if accompanied by you, a UK citizen. Source: the UK government's UK Visa Wizard.

All the rest is politics and personal opinion.

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