EU citizen, inviting a non-EU fiancée and wanting to get married, best course of action?

Hello,

I am from an EU country, have been working in Poland for 3 years, have been in a relationship with a non-EU person for 7 years, separated for 2 years due to the pandemic. I had lived with her for 4 years in her country while I stayed there. She visited me on a one-month Schengen travel visa just before the pandemic.

I am currently in the process of getting an invitation letter (invitation for 9 months) so that she may apply for a visa in her country (we wrote to the Polish embassy there and they replied that she can apply which is seen as a preliminary positive based on other people's experiences [those that don't get any reply would just be rejected]) and then ideally stay with me for longer than just the maximum 90 days that any Schengen visa allows.

However, we don't know what's the best course of action.

From what I gathered, even though she may apply for a national visa based on the invitation letter from me (i.e. we are not yet married, but in the national visa application, she can tick the "visiting family/friends" checkbox as the reason - the same as in the case of a Schengen visa), the most likely outcome is that this would not be approved and thus it's best to apply for a Schengen visa.

The issue with Schengen visa is that it allows for a maximum stay of 90 days in 180 days.
We would like to get married and make it possible for her to stay with me in Poland, without having to go back to her home country in the process (mostly due to extremely expensive flight tickets but generally, it would be best if she doesn't need to go back). Is this possible?

It is difficult for me to understand a few things:

If she comes on Schengen visa, registers her temporary residence, we get married - can she (does she have to?) then apply for a national visa here in Poland in order to be able to stay longer than 3 months? Does she need national visa in the first place? (i.e. can't she just come on Schengen visa, we get married, she applies for a residence card and can stay?)

When one has a residence permit, does one still need underlying visa? Is that residence permit issued only up to the visa expiry?

Thanks a lot for any hints

Would it be easier to arrange to get married in the EU country of which you are a citizen?

Hi Atch,

yes we actually plan to do that, even though it may later complicate the legalization of the marriage in Poland (again translating all of mine and her documents into Polish and verifying with Polish authorities, which may take a long time as I heard). And we would probably need that in order to get her a Polish temporary residence permit based on that marriage (or not? would it just be enough to translate the marriage certificate by a sworn translator and that's it? don't know..)

But as I was reading further, I am pretty sure she wouldn't need any visa after that, she would just apply for a temporary residence permit/card based on being married to me and that would allow her to stay for as long as that permit would be valid (and travel around Schengen, and later apply for a new temporary residence permit/card).

And she also wouldn't need to travel back to her home country.
I have found out that a 3rd country person can apply for a temporary residence permit/card even based on an informal relationship (but yes, needs to prove the relationship with sufficient evidence and regular/stable income - and that can't be done by the informal partner, unless they sign some annuity contract, which I have no idea what it is) [attached screenshot]

So it looks pretty positive. Now we just hope she actually gets the visa.

these are some useful links in case someone comes across similar issues
migrant.poznan.uw.gov.pl/en/procedury/i-am-informal-relationship
infoopt.pl/pierwsze-kroki-podstawowe-informacje/
infoopt.pl/legalizacja-pobytu-obywatele-panstw-trzecich/

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As you live in Poland, I'd suggest that you make a trip to Warsaw and go to the immigration office. You'll find that these matters are much easier to sort out in person. Frequently, the requirements/paperwork are less stringent or complex than they appear to be once you can deal face to face with an official. You can be lucky and get a more relaxed one :) It's generally quicker and more effective in Poland to deal with things by going to the office yourself and having a chat. They speak English in the immigration department and they have a special section for EU citizens.