"Stamping out of Schengen": a Swedish experience

[Fascadale]

I recently sailed from Orust in Sweden to the UK. Orust is a very beautiful and popular cruising area on Sweden's west coast, home to Halberg Rassey, Malo, Vindo, Najad, Sweden Yachts. Many UK vessels cruise there and overwinter there. It lies to the north of Gotenburg airport, about three hours by surface transport.

Our UK passports were stamped into Schengen at Schipol on transfer. In Orust we were advised by the Swedish Border Police that the easiest way to get "stamped out" of Schengen was to return to to Gotenburg airport. Which is what we did.

The Swedish Border Police were extremely friendly and as helpful as possible. At one point they said that if we wished to leave at the weekend they would send a vessel to meet us and stamp out at sea! On the whole they were bemused by the whole performance. I wasn't.

 

[johnalison]

How very tiresome. There was nothing like that when we left there in 2000. Swedes can be very helpful, though.

 

[madabouttheboat]

Seems a bit odd that they would suggest stamping you out of Schengen at the airport, and then you turning around and entering straight back in again to get back to the boat.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Seems a bit odd that they would suggest stamping you out of Schengen at the airport, and then you turning around and entering straight back in again to get back to the boat.

Likely that the default position is one of trust. In the old days, pre common market, I can remember getting exit stamps in an office in a town, before returning to the boat and departing, Lisboa I think, but it was a long time ago now.

 

[capnsensible]

Likely that the default position is one of trust. In the old days, pre common market, I can remember getting exit stamps in an office in a town, before returning to the boat and departing, Lisboa I think, but it was a long time ago now.

It's normal in many ports and harbours dotted around the sailing circuits across the globe. The opening times can often be a pain and rarely a one stop shop. As it goes with the territory of sailing in exotic places, it's best to slap on a polite smile and be patient. I've lost count of the hours I've spent sat about in grubby over hot offices getting paperwork done. ?

 

[Deleted member 36384]

It's normal in many ports and harbours dotted around the sailing circuits across the globe. The opening times can often be a pain and rarely a one stop shop. As it goes with the territory of sailing in exotic places, it's best to slap on a polite smile and be patient. I've lost count of the hours I've spent sat about in grubby over hot offices getting paperwork done. ?

Yes it pays to be respectful and pleasant. I learned the hard way which fortunately just resulted in a round trip to the boat when the agent in Barbados ordered me to get back to my boat and shave and clean myself up. I was blasé and full of youthful exuberance back then, but running off with my tail between my legs it was pretty obvious that I let myself down. Later on I found out that Barbados was very strict on standards of dress outside of the resorts, with lots of small signs with beachwear images crossed out reminding people to leave such clothing at the resort; mid 80's. It was not an issue for me to comply, just a lesson learned, not to take personal appearances for granted when dealing with officials.

 

[Ningaloo]

Maybe the thing to do is ask for the exit stamp on arrival, explaining that you will be exiting from a distant port without an immigration office!

 

[Sea Devil]

The impression I have here in France is that the authorities are going to make entry and departure as easy as possible for UK boats... The marinas/towns want the trade and the cost of implementing all the EU legislation is not worth the bother... It appears that here in Boulogne boats arriving into the marina will result in a immigration Police driving from Calais (30 minutes) to Boulogne to stamp in and the same to stamp out... that was the result of the meeting between the marina staff and Calais Frontier police... I have not heard differently since then and of course there is little or no traffic so it remains to be seen...

 

[Baggywrinkle]

I have both a UK and a German passport and am not subject to Schengen rules, although it could cause me a problem depending on which passport I use for which direction.

If I enter the UK with my German passport it will be stamped and start a 6 month clock running, similarly if I use my UK passport to enter Germany I'll get stamped and be subject to 90/180 Schengen rules ....

Whether I then get flagged in either country for an overstay remains to be seen, I'll just show the other passport which will get me off the hook, but it will be interesting to see how the whole system holds together from an IT perspective.

Should I ever take my boat to the UK, I will have to use German residence to get temporary admission for the boat - will be interesting how officialdom in the UK feels about offering temporary admission to a UK citizen.

 

[Sea Devil]

I hope to get a French passport to go with my UK one in a couple of years. At the moment visiting my apartment in Spain is impossible for all winter with 90/180 and it remains to be seen how the UK border force will behave! I can sail back to France and just enter on the back of my carte de sejour so tha't easy...
Of course it's difficult for the EU even with the new electronic tracking system to know when I drive out of France to another Schengen country or when I return - Their system only works for Ships and Planes...

 

[Fascadale]

Interesting comments on the Schengen IT systems

When we were stamping our UK passports out of Sweden at Gothenburg airport the (charming) border policeman entered the pp details long hand into a large ledger. The whole process seemed entirely antiquated

It all reminded me of Greek port police and their paperwork

 

[Sea Devil]

Interesting comments on the Schengen IT systems

When we were stamping our UK passports out of Sweden at Gothenburg airport the (charming) border policeman entered the pp details long hand into a large ledger. The whole process seemed entirely antiquated

It all reminded me of Greek port police and their paperwork

A person that worked for Border Force posted here that there is a new EU electronic register which updates every 48 hours but I can imagine not every country has it and I suspect that Sweden is not Schengen although that should not make a difference...

 

[ean_p]

I have both a UK and a German passport and am not subject to Schengen rules, although it could cause me a problem depending on which passport I use for which direction.

If I enter the UK with my German passport it will be stamped and start a 6 month clock running, similarly if I use my UK passport to enter Germany I'll get stamped and be subject to 90/180 Schengen rules ....

Whether I then get flagged in either country for an overstay remains to be seen, I'll just show the other passport which will get me off the hook, but it will be interesting to see how the whole system holds together from an IT perspective.

Should I ever take my boat to the UK, I will have to use German residence to get temporary admission for the boat - will be interesting how officialdom in the UK feels about offering temporary admission to a UK citizen.

Can you use your German citizenship to advantage in the UK Baggy'? I thought that one of the principles of duel nationality was that when in one of the two countries then the person is for all reasons treated as a citizen of that country and his / her other nationality is not counted?

 

[goeasy123]

I have both a UK and a German passport and am not subject to Schengen rules, although it could cause me a problem depending on which passport I use for which direction.

If I enter the UK with my German passport it will be stamped and start a 6 month clock running, similarly if I use my UK passport to enter Germany I'll get stamped and be subject to 90/180 Schengen rules ....

Whether I then get flagged in either country for an overstay remains to be seen, I'll just show the other passport which will get me off the hook, but it will be interesting to see how the whole system holds together from an IT perspective.

Should I ever take my boat to the UK, I will have to use German residence to get temporary admission for the boat - will be interesting how officialdom in the UK feels about offering temporary admission to a UK citizen.

You can only use Temporary Admisssion for the boat in the state (eu or uk) if you are not resident in that state.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

You can only use Temporary Admisssion for the boat in the state (eu or uk) if you are not resident in that state.

My understanding is that in the EU, TA is not state by state, it is EU wide. I could not get TA for my boat in Italy while resident in Germany for example - my boat was in Croatia under TA at the time I checked and sailing to Italy was not possible without paying VAT - when Croatia joined the EU, I used the 8 year rule to get EU goods status on the boat so it is now VAT paid.

As a UK resident you can get TA to the whole of the EU.

As a resident of an EU state, you can get TA to the U.K. but not to another EU state.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Can you use your German citizenship to advantage in the UK Baggy'? I thought that one of the principles of duel nationality was that when in one of the two countries then the person is for all reasons treated as a citizen of that country and his / her other nationality is not counted?

You are treated as a citizen in the country where you hold a passport, but VAT, TA, and RGR are based on residency. I can be a citizen of the U.K. but not resident in the U.K.

German residency will get my boat TA to the U.K. regardless of my U.K. citizenship.