How long have you been in Spain

[pappajohn]

Our son just flew back to the UK from Portugal for a weeks holiday. He came down end of June, 2019. At passport control in Porto Airport, they said to him he’d gone slightly over on the time allowed, which is six months, how did they know that???

Biometric passport.
It will be logged automatically.

 

[Allanm]

Any evidence of this or is it just hearsay?

No personal evidence but common knowledge in ex pat enclaves that this is happening, if the French are to copy the Spanish Police, then it must mean the Spanish have this in place already.

French police are now taking on the idea of Spanish police and their ANPR will work on British number plates. if you get scanned and the vehicle has been in France for more than 6 months regardless of whether it is taxed or not it will be seized and crushed. UK police are doing the same with foreign cars. eg. You pass through ANPR in January and again in July computer flashes up and if you cannot prove its been back to UK you are in a mess. Also heavy fines to be imposed.

 

[SmithsInFrance]

At the moment it seems you can have unlimited time in your country of residence and your country of citizenship and 90 days in 180 in the rest of Schengen.

Whether this is totally correct remains to be seen.

But I wonder how they will know when I am in my country of residence and when I am anywhere else in Schengen as there is no passport control between them? I suppose from use of cards for payments etc, but more complicated than the passport system of checks - they won't be able to just stop me and know by doing a check on my passport/residency card.

 

[jumartoo]

But I wonder how they will know when I am in my country of residence and when I am anywhere else in Schengen as there is no passport control between them? I suppose from use of cards for payments etc, but more complicated than the passport system of checks - they won't be able to just stop me and know by doing a check on my passport/residency card.

We have the same "problem" when we leave Spain in our motorhome in the summer for three months or so. I expect the onus will be put on us to prove where we've been and for how long if the question is ever asked.

 

[bobandjanie]

From Citizens advice bureau Spain.

Bob.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[My Dog Likes Fishing]

Not sure what airport your going through but its put the passport on the screen to get through every airport I've been through in the last 6 months.

I came here in my MH in August I’ve been flying back and forwards since then most of the time I show my passport and get waved through, how can they possibly tell how long I’ve spent in the country.
How can it be determined how long my MH has been here.

 

[Brains]

They do know, and they always have.

You know as you walk into Customs that when they greet you by name, before they had seen your passport, you know right then you will not be getting out in under an hour.

I've spent lots of hours in lots of places answering questions.
I was never turned away, but you know they have marked your card.

 

[wanderer]

Had my passport scanned today at Almeria airport and every time I have flown to and from Spain

 

[gus-lopez]

I came here in my MH in August I’ve been flying back and forwards since then most of the time I show my passport and get waved through, how can they possibly tell how long I’ve spent in the country.
How can it be determined how long my MH has been here.

The motorhome is aleady illegal having exceeded the 6 month maximum eriod & should either have been removed or 'precintado' (sealed for the following 6 months).
they do not have to'know' .You have to prove you are legally here.

So if there's no entry stamp, they've got no chance of enforcement.

If there should be a stamp & there isn't that is your problem no theirs.

Any evidence of this or is it just hearsay?

Used to be ,& still is, but less so since the crisis & all the itinerant chancers having to go back to the UK. Regular road blocks with policia national , guardia with bikes to catch any runners, along with low loaders to take the over staying tat away. Usual penalty is fined for not having a vehicle legal in country of registration, no insurance & no mot.

But I wonder how they will know when I am in my country of residence and when I am anywhere else in Schengen as there is no passport control between them? I suppose from use of cards for payments etc, but more complicated than the passport system of checks - they won't be able to just stop me and know by doing a check on my passport/residency card.

As above you will have to prove you are legal rather than they prove you aren't. The onus is on us. Same as in the UK .I ensure that I have my ferry tickets to hand if asked.
The rule is the same for all eu countries. 6 months & out it goes for the next 6months. There are a few exceptions, students max 2 years, cross border workers for max of 2 years, cross border vehicle hire & the odd one I nearly had to use , unexpected overstay due to medical emergency.

 

[Allanm]

Not wishing to hijack the thread, but as we already live in France, I assume we will be able to travel freely around the Schengen zone because we are already based within it?

I’ve read conflicting reports, so I would suggest this hasn’t been finalised yet and I can’t find any information about residence permit holder having these 90 day restrictions applied.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[gus-lopez]

Had my passport scanned today at Almeria airport and every time I have flown to and from Spain

Yes I must admit the days when you let yourself out of arrivals at Alicante airport are long gone I think

 

[EuroTrotters]

I spend more time on the continent than the UK.

 

[jumar]

We just got waved thru at Dover, there is no real infrastructure to monitor and control. Sure if you've a US passport they will stamp it and that is open to inspection. But I drove over the Norwegian border without stopping twice last year. So if there's no entry stamp, they've got no chance of enforcement.
If they start putting entry stamps in I'm buggered, I generally spend 6-8 months a year in "Europe". I will just have to apply for my Carte de Sejour, which I qualify for having a house in France and being a French tax payer for the last 15 years.

Cannot answer your question, but just like to say that we enjoyed our chat together in Puerto de Mazarron a couple of days ago, you were parked up and I had been fishing and Judith MTB riding.....did the French get their washing dry, and their batteries topped up ? Happy and safe travels while you can...

 

[In a Pickle]

No personal evidence but common knowledge in ex pat enclaves that this is happening, if the French are to copy the Spanish Police, then it must mean the Spanish have this in place already.

French police are now taking on the idea of Spanish police and their ANPR will work on British number plates. if you get scanned and the vehicle has been in France for more than 6 months regardless of whether it is taxed or not it will be seized and crushed. UK police are doing the same with foreign cars. eg. You pass through ANPR in January and again in July computer flashes up and if you cannot prove its been back to UK you are in a mess. Also heavy fines to be imposed.

We have had this happen in the last few weeks in our area of Spain. Regular Police patrols with ANPR cameras, if your vehicle has been here over six months and is still UK registered or is in any other way breaching the law they call the Grua (breakdown vehicle) and it is confiscated.

 

[jumar]

We have had this happen in the last few weeks in our area of Spain. Regular Police patrols with ANPR cameras, if your vehicle has been here over six months and is still UK registered or is in any other way breaching the law they call the Grua (breakdown vehicle) and it is confiscated.

I can confirm this, in our neighborhood of Murcia, not far from the coast, the Police Local have been more active, mainly on Sundays, when there normal duties are less in demand, parking, traffic flow and school crossing duties. Non Spanish vehicles are receiving special attention, some have been lifted from the road, some return but some don't. Regular vehicle checks on Ex-pat cars, still registered on UK plates, are receiving special attention....on the whole you could say that, many years you could get away with it, but a change is in the making, and this is before the final leaving Brexit date.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[bilM]

UK police are doing the same with foreign cars. eg. You pass through ANPR

I don't think so or not at least in Scotland

 

[bobandjanie]

They often stop vehicles, and Sundays seem a good day for them, ? when we went to the market last Sunday they were at it. ?
The 90 day rule has always been the rule, over 90 days you were supposed to register with the police, then 183 days in 12 months.
For many years we over stayed, anything up to 5 months in Spain then Portugal, France, Germany and so on, then back to the UK for 6 weeks, and we knew we was breaking the law, ? it's the same rule for everyone, that's why all these Dutch leave caravans on a nice pitch and go home for 3 months. ? Bob

 

[PeteH]

In his 2016 State of the Union Address, President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker has said the following:

The main reason for the approval of the ETIAS authorization is security. With the increased risk of travelers worldwide, the EU wants to ensure safe travels in its countries. The ETIAS will decrease security concerns substantially through its information and data gathering systems. What this means, is that the ETIAS will detect if a person is a threat in any way to the security of Schengen countries. This will lead to the person being denied entry and avoiding the threat from being present inside EU borders. It will basically deal with a problem before it is even there.
There are many countries who are not in the European Union (EU) whose citizens can enter the EU Schengen Zone without needing a visa. Specifically, there are currently 62 countries who are not in the EU, but are visa free.

Citizens of these countries are allowed to go into countries in the Schengen Zone for business or travel purposes for up to 90 days. During these 90 days, these visitors are not allowed to work or study, but can engage in business and tourism activities.

In addition, recent security concerns with terrorism and the migrant crisis have called for a better management of who is entering EU borders. The EU has continuously declared its goal of making travelling within its borders a more secure experience.

To reduce procedures and wait times, as well as address the security concerns, the European Commission (EC) has come up with a solution – ETIAS.

This article will contain all the information you need regarding this new system and whether you qualify for it.

What is ETIAS?
ETIAS stands for European Travel Information and Authorization System. It is a completely electronic system which allows and keeps track of visitors from countries who do not need a visa to enter the Schengen Zone. In a way, it resembles the U.S Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which serves a similar purpose. The legal procedures to pass the ETIAS have started in 2016, and the system is expected to be in place by 2021.

The ETIAS will undergo a detailed security check of each applicant to determine whether they can be allowed to enter any Schengen Zone country. Since citizens of countries who do not need a visa for travel purposes of up to 90 days in the EU do not need to go through a long process of applying for the visa, the ETIAS will make sure that these people are not a security threat. This travel authorization system will gather, keep track of, and update necessary information regarding visitors to determine whether it is safe for them to enter Schengen countries.

The ETIAS, besides being used for business and tourist purposes, will also allow people to visit the Schengen countries for medical and transit reasons. In addition, it will be mandatory for all countries who are Schengen visa-free.

They going to apply this to the Hordes crossing the Med on surf boards?.

 

[PeteH]

They going to apply this to the Hordes crossing the Med on surf boards?.

What make me laugh, Is all these "rules" about how long you are allowed to stay. IMV Flies in the face of the much vaunted "freedom of movement" beloved of the EUSSR. Boot on the other foot, we know we have people in the UK who have been here for YEARS. Have never asked for citizenship. and yet no one hassles them, even when they commit an offence, they rarely get deported?. The police in HULL had a crackdown a few years back on drivers, stop and check licences, tax and especially insurance. In excess of 70% of non UK licence holders had no valid insurance, their vehicles had never been declared, and where being used, still on plates for many EU countries, often in excess of 2years after alleged import. (The foregoing information came from a then serving traffic officer, it was never published. It was regarded as "sensitive".)

 

[Captain Lloyd]

The motorhome is aleady illegal having exceeded the 6 month maximum eriod & should either have been removed or 'precintado' (sealed for the following 6 months).
they do not have to'know' .You have to prove you are legally here.

If there should be a stamp & there isn't that is your problem no theirs.
Used to be ,& still is, but less so since the crisis & all the itinerant chancers having to go back to the UK. Regular road blocks with policia national , guardia with bikes to catch any runners, along with low loaders to take the over staying tat away. Usual penalty is fined for not having a vehicle legal in country of registration, no insurance & no mot.
As above you will have to prove you are legal rather than they prove you aren't. The onus is on us. Same as in the UK .I ensure that I have my ferry tickets to hand if asked.

How do you prove you are legal?

A ferry ticket doesn’t prove anything, it’s easy to book a ferry print out the ticket then cancel the crossing.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[gus-lopez]

Not the ticket the actual boarding pass is what I keep stating day/date/time/boarding lane + dog ,etc.
Credit card receipts,fuel,etc; etc. Sometimes even nothing will suffice to prove it. I proved to the satisfaction of gendarmes+ Customs in a lay by that I was who I said I was , travelling from there to here & why last month obviously to the extent that they didn't even ask to see any form of ID ,licence or even look in the van. Same with the Guardia the next day up in Alhama.

 

[Coolcats]

Seems a bit rediculous, us having to show passports, etc.
when hundreds of thousands of migrants can just meander round Europe willy nilly, without having to produce documents. Typical EU Beaurocracy

52% voted to stop freedom of movement and that included their own so no one can complain who voted to 'leave'

 

[Rapido925M]

I keep seeing this "freedom of movement" but surely that refers to the right of EU citizens to move, live AND work in other territories? 52% of those who voted possibly didn't want foreigners coming here without any limits [Brexit meant different things to different people], occupying "our" houses and taking "our" jobs. They possibly didn't worry about Brits going abroad and doing the same thing.

I'm pretty sure that very few of them thought about people being limited to "only" 90 days of holiday.

I'm also pretty sure that Boris and his mates will not have holidays exceeding 90 days in the Schengen Area as a high priority, so just accept that 90 days is what you will get for the next few years at least.

Perhaps next April we will get reports of Funsters who've been in Spain for 100 days without any problem. But by August it may become folk saying they've been fined €1000 and banned from returning for 5years. If that happens I wonder who will be sympathetic?

Gordon

 

[Coolcats]

I keep seeing this "freedom of movement" but surely that refers to the right of EU citizens to move, live AND work in other territories? 52% of those who voted possibly didn't want foreigners coming here without any limits [Brexit meant different things to different people], occupying "our" houses and taking "our" jobs. They possibly didn't worry about Brits going abroad and doing the same thing.

I'm pretty sure that very few of them thought about people being limited to "only" 90 days of holiday.

I'm also pretty sure that Boris and his mates will not have holidays exceeding 90 days in the Schengen Area as a high priority, so just accept that 90 days is what you will get for the next few years at least.

Perhaps next April we will get reports of Funsters who've been in Spain for 100 days without any problem. But by August it may become folk saying they've been fined €1000 and banned from returning for 5years. If that happens I wonder who will be sympathetic?

Gordon

This does make me chuckle, it was made abundantly clear what it meant, Freedom of movement is a systemic catch all unidirectional issue no freedom of movement......end of, no one can complain if they voted for Brexit.

 

[Speve]

This does make me chuckle, it was made abundantly clear what it meant, Freedom of movement is a systemic catch all unidirectional issue no freedom of movement......end of, no one can complain if they voted for Brexit.

The new Schengen rules would happened with or without Brexit so don’t keep banging on about it just accept it you obviously voted stay?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[nicholsong]

The new Schengen rules would happened with or without Brexit so don’t keep banging on about it just accept it you obviously voted stay?

They are not NEW Schengen rules .

All non-EU Citizens, e.g Aus, US etc. have been limited to 90 days in Schengen.

What is changing is that after 31st Dec 2020 UK Citizens join that group unless other provisions are made.

All EU Citizens have been limited to 90 days in another EU country before they are required to Register being there, but are not forbidden to stay, but may be subject local laws abbout applying for Residency.

Geoff

 

[Speve]

They are not NEW Schengen rules .

All non-EU Citizens, e.g Aus, US etc. have been limited to 90 days in Schengen.

What is changing is that after 31st Dec 2020 UK Citizens join that group unless other provisions are made.

All EU Citizens have been limited to 90 days in another EU country before they are required to Register being there, but are not forbidden to stay, but may be subject local laws abbout applying for Residency.

Geoff

Here’s Avery useful link:

What Are the Consequences of Overstaying in the Schengen Area?

Getting a Schengen Visa is never easy. There are a lot of documents you will need to collect and requirements you must meet. There is the interview and then the wait for visa processing. However, once you get the visa, you feel rewarded and convinced everything was worth it. To many, the 90-day...

www.schengenvisainfo.com

 

[Speve]

I think most of us that travel were aware of travel restrictions should we leave and have accepted the fact and will take what we can get.
However Brexit is about to happen and after December 31st who knows what we will be able to do? I just wish folk Who voted stay would accept that and stop taking every opportunity to make mischief and say we told you so, as they don’t know any more than us until the whole deal is finally done? Let’s just wait and see and try to be sociable with everyone leave or stay???