Latvia as an intermediate country before arrival in Denmark

[mages]

My Brazilian wife and I (Dane) are currently staying in Brazil.
We are strongly considering applying for family reunification first in Latvia and living there for approximately 5 months before we move to Denmark and apply for family reunification via EU rules in Denmark.

Latvia is on track because of the low cost of living, the fact that it is easy to find an apartment and that I already have a small network of acquaintances in Riga. The low cost of living also gives us opportunities to take some holidays in the surrounding Baltic countries, which I like very much and would like to show my new wife.

Is there anyone here who has used Latvia as a stopover and can tell us a bit about which disadvantages and/or rules we should be aware of?
Does anyone know anything about the shipping time in Latvia? Is 5 months realistic?
How much vacation can we take?
Should we contact the authorities before arrival or can she arrive on a tourist visa and after arrival apply for family reunification?

All information or opinions are useful and welcome.

[Kim P. Nyberg]

Thank you for all your questions. I will try to answer some of them from a legal point.

1. You can use any EU/EEA country of your own choice. The rules are the same (EU Directive 2004/38 apply) in all these 30 countries. However, how the national authorities handle cases, can vary from country to country.

2. Five months is absolutely realistic. A Court ruling from the EFTA Court stated a number of years ago, that three months continously for your own part is sufficient, but the documentation for real and effective stay are more important than the length. For your Brazilian spouse, 2-3 weeks will do. She also have to document real and effective stay in the host country. In the section "Nyt fra ÆUG" here on forum, I have put up a comprehensive list of Step-by-step's and Understand the rules where you can read more information (both in English and in Danish) on how to go forward.

3. For the first two years, you can be on vacation outside the host country for up to 6 months within 12 months. Goes for both of you.

4. Exercising your Treaty right to free movement within the EU/EEA area, is a right. It is not a privilege. So both you and your spouse have the right to enter the host country without pre-announcement and settle there. From arrival, your spouse have on her three months to apply for a Latvian EU residence card. It is up to each Member State to decide, if there is a symbolic fee on the application or if is free of charge.