Entry into Schengen for the spouse of an EU citizen?

Seven Spades

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It is my understanding that if you are the spouse of an EU citizen and you are traveling with them then the 90/180 rule does not apply. I believe that airports are conversant with this but has anyone managed an entry via a port?
 

syvictoria

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I would suggest that you carry a copy of the relevant legislation with you (or perhaps a copy of a personal response from Europe Direct who are very helpful Official website of the European Union | European Union ), together with marriage certificate, etc. This should overcome any problems encountered with officials perhaps less familiar with the situation. It's not a new law (except to us Brits), and so it shouldn't really pose a problem anywhere.
 

billskip

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Entry and the first 90 days is not a problem so travel will be ok provided that your spouse/ partner has not already used their allowance.
 

Graham376

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It is my understanding that if you are the spouse of an EU citizen and you are traveling with them then the 90/180 rule does not apply. I believe that airports are conversant with this but has anyone managed an entry via a port?

As you say, 90 days in Schengen doesn't apply but having to register presence if in one country >90 days still applies for both of you.
 

Mistroma

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Graham is correct. I'm just back from Greece and they insisted on stamping my wife's UK passport even though she was travelling with me and I presented my Irish passport.

Short version is:
She is entitled to enter any EU country and be given a Visa if one is required. Proof of marriage is needed and she must accompany you. It is a good idea to get any visa in advance. EU rules state that she must be given one free of charge within a very short time if arriving without a visa. Still best to plan ahead and many countries won't require a visa anyway.

You can both stay in an EU country for 90 days and must register your presence for a longer stay in many countries. Each country can handle registration in their own way and can refuse to accept on variety of grounds (known terrorist, criminal etc. or unable to support themselves financially).

There does seem to be a gap as over 90 days is often treated as a permanent move. It adds complexity if you only want to stay for 6 months and of course nobody actually bothers if they are an EU citizen. You only get caught out if you have non-EU family.

I need to register in Greece but the office wasn't taking appointments until late October, I'll try again in 2022. I'll need medical insurance (bought in Greece), recent marriage licence in Greek, proof of income, photographs (they are very picky about these), plus other items. It will involve at least 3 trips for interviews, fingerprinting and card collection. Each visit is a 3 hour round trip by road.

Of course every country will be different and probably every individual office in places like Greece. Don't expect a trivial process everywhere.


Having my wife's passport stamped led to odd situations when trying to get an appointment elsewhere.
e.g. I was told not to bother but told my wife would need to go to another office instead. Then I was told she could only get a residency card if I got one. I was told that I could get one as they had no idea how long I'd been in Greece. Unfortunately, my wife's passport showed we'd only arrived a few days earlier. Come back in 3 months.:D
 
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Mistroma

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As you say, 90 days in Schengen doesn't apply but having to register presence if in one country >90 days still applies for both of you.
One other possible oddity is that I've only seen reference to staying longer than 90 days. Rules don't seem to mention the return in 180 days for EU citizens. I might have missed something but it seems possible to leave Greece for a day and then return to reset the 90 day clock. However, my wife's passport would be getting lots of stamps and I'd be continually arguing about her right to accompany me.
 

Caladh

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I’m confused about EU citizens - passport holders - having to register their own stay in another EU country after 90 days? Prior to Brexit I never had to do that in Greece as an EU citizen. I thought it was over 180 days that you had to do that.
 

Graham376

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I’m confused about EU citizens - passport holders - having to register their own stay in another EU country after 90 days? Prior to Brexit I never had to do that in Greece as an EU citizen. I thought it was over 180 days that you had to do that.

From one of the EU sites -
During the first 3 months of your stay in your new country, as EU national, you cannot be required to apply for a residence document confirming your right to live there - although in some countries you may have to report your presence upon arrival.

After 3 months in your new country, you may be required to register your residence with the relevant authority (often the town hall or local police station), and to be issued with a registration certificate.
 

Mistroma

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I’m confused about EU citizens - passport holders - having to register their own stay in another EU country after 90 days? Prior to Brexit I never had to do that in Greece as an EU citizen. I thought it was over 180 days that you had to do that.
Nothing has changed in that respect. If you want to spend >90 days and everyone with you has an EU passport then don't bother registering. I'm certain that none of my Irish, German or Swedish friends will bother to register. They should have registered in the past and nothing has changed. I've never heard of anyone being fined for staying longer than 90 days. Passports aren't stamped and there's no obvious indication of arrival date.

Travelling with a non-EU family member has always been different. They are entitled to remain with you but their non-EU passport triggers problems. You would have had the same problem in 2015 if married to someone with a S.African passport.

Your wife holds a non-EU passport and you both have a big target on your backs. Her entry date will be noted and it will be easy to check if she stays longer than 90 days. She can get around this by registering if travelling with you but that means you are also staying >90 days and need to register.

Which country will you be visiting for >90 days? If you are moving around from country to country and the total in each country is under 90 days you will still run into the 90 days in 180 days within Schengen. Technically not a problem but I bet your wife will get hassled at every border crossing.
 

Caladh

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Nothing has changed in that respect. If you want to spend >90 days and everyone with you has an EU passport then don't bother registering. I'm certain that none of my Irish, German or Swedish friends will bother to register. They should have registered in the past and nothing has changed. I've never heard of anyone being fined for staying longer than 90 days. Passports aren't stamped and there's no obvious indication of arrival date.

Travelling with a non-EU family member has always been different. They are entitled to remain with you but their non-EU passport triggers problems. You would have had the same problem in 2015 if married to someone with a S.African passport.

Your wife holds a non-EU passport and you both have a big target on your backs. Her entry date will be noted and it will be easy to check if she stays longer than 90 days. She can get around this by registering if travelling with you but that means you are also staying >90 days and need to register.

Which country will you be visiting for >90 days? If you are moving around from country to country and the total in each country is under 90 days you will still run into the 90 days in 180 days within Schengen. Technically not a problem but I bet your wife will get hassled at every border crossing.
Actually it’s my wife who has the EU Irish passport and I’m the numpty with the Blue passport. However I note your information, so thanks. So glad we did our longer term EU travelling without restrictions some years ago.
 

billskip

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Actually it’s my wife who has the EU Irish passport and I’m the numpty with the Blue passport. However I note your information, so thanks. So glad we did our longer term EU travelling without restrictions some years ago.
You can still do it now, it's no different....you would not have been law abiding back then, but you didn't know that.

This really is a lot of scaremongers trying to justify moaning about changes not to their liking.
 

Kelpie

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You can still do it now, it's no different....you would not have been law abiding back then, but you didn't know that.

This really is a lot of scaremongers trying to justify moaning about changes not to their liking.

Utter rubbish. Things have changed. Get your head out of the sand and admit it.
The need to register presence if staying over 90 days is not new. The inability to actually stay in Schengen more than 90 days unless accompanied by an EU citizen is new, and is a fundamental pain in the fundament for all affected.



We (two UK citizens and one EU) are travelling tomorrow to Spain, by air. I don't know if we will get a choice about stamps in the UK passports, and whether we want them or not.
When we initially arrived in A Coruna we were not stamped, and other UK cruisers said they had been told by immigration that stamps were not needed. But we unexpectedly ended up flying back to the UK for a few weeks, and got stamped out. The lack of entry stamps raised a few eyebrows.
 

Mistroma

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Utter rubbish. Things have changed. Get your head out of the sand and admit it.
The need to register presence if staying over 90 days is not new. The inability to actually stay in Schengen more than 90 days unless accompanied by an EU citizen is new, and is a fundamental pain in the fundament for all affected.



We (two UK citizens and one EU) are travelling tomorrow to Spain, by air. I don't know if we will get a choice about stamps in the UK passports, and whether we want them or not.
When we initially arrived in A Coruna we were not stamped, and other UK cruisers said they had been told by immigration that stamps were not needed. But we unexpectedly ended up flying back to the UK for a few weeks, and got stamped out. The lack of entry stamps raised a few eyebrows.
Greek customs insisted on stamping my wife's UK passport on entry. I pointed out that I was an EU citizen just before they stamped it and said that she was travelling with me and had our marriage certificate in the passport. I was told that they always had to stamp her passport unless she had a residence card. I then said that we were in the process of applying and asked what would happen if we left in 6 months time and wanted to get an exit stamp. We were told that it probably wouldn't be an issue, a shrug and then a stamp in her passport.

Her passport was examined carefully 3 weeks later and stamped when leaving Greece. We had not made any further progress will residency as the relevant department decided not to make more appointments until the end of October. Someone else told me that thing in Lefkas had also stalled for some reason, possible related to staff availability.
 
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Mistroma

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You can still do it now, it's no different....you would not have been law abiding back then, but you didn't know that.

This really is a lot of scaremongers trying to justify moaning about changes not to their liking.
You are correct that the EU hasn't altered the rules.
  1. If I was married to an non-EU citizen then I'd have had the hassle and grief years ago
  2. If we were still both EU citizens then we should register but nobody bothers for a 6 month stay

UK is no longer in the EU and that is the change. Item 1 applies now that my wife isn't an EU citizen I need to register. Ignoring that requirement would probably get quite a big fine unless I own up to also being in Greece for >90 days. That gets her off the hook for exceeding 90 days in 180 days but means we are likely to each get a smaller fine for not registering. We can't be thrown out of Greece for simply failing to register but unlikely to be discovered until we exit Greece.

It is a lot worse for people without an EU passport. I know of one UK passport holder who has had his application for residency refused. Another person did get his after paying 500 euro for medical cover, 1,000 euro for a solicitor and misc. other payments. Friends are in the process of getting their residency and I think their costs are going to in the region of 4,000 - 5,000 euro. That's an estimate based on them having to remain in Greece this winter, renting a property, hiring a car, paying a solicitor and Greek medical cover.

I think that many people were caught out by Covid, unable to return to Greece in 2020 and now having trouble getting residency.
 
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Caladh

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You can still do it now, it's no different....you would not have been law abiding back then, but you didn't know that.

This really is a lot of scaremongers trying to justify moaning about changes not to their liking.
Perhaps you’d like to elucidate on the assertion of “scaremongering” ? I can’t easily do now what I did pre 201.
 
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