Brit sailors in Europe

syscode

syscode

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A few questions about sailing in EU water for UK citizens.
* Does anyone have an idea whether the new UK Government is planning to look at easing visa requirements for brits sailing in EU water?
* How do people with UK passports do manage to remain, say around the med, for longer than 3 months each half a year?
ie -
When I look into possible longer med stays, simply moving to non EU countries like Albania, Turkey, and so on - come to mind. Wondering here whether some people have tips and recommendations. (chatgpt seems clueless about sailing in general, and this question seems to somehow fall in that range.)
Cheers!
 
syscode said:
A few questions about sailing in EU water for UK citizens.
* Does anyone have an idea whether the new UK Government is planning to look at easing visa requirements for brits sailing in EU water?
* How do people with UK passports do manage to remain, say around the med, for longer than 3 months each half a year?
ie -
When I look into possible longer med stays, simply moving to non EU countries like Albania, Turkey, and so on - come to mind. Wondering here whether some people have tips and recommendations. (chatgpt seems clueless about sailing in general, and this question seems to somehow fall in that range.)
Cheers!
Click to expand...

You might get a better response by pudding this on the liveaboard forum. They are all clued up on what you are asking.
 
syscode said:
* Does anyone have an idea whether the new UK Government is planning to look at easing visa requirements for brits sailing in EU water?
* How do people with UK passports do manage to remain, say around the med, for longer than 3 months each half a year?
ie -
Click to expand...
First question - visa requirements are up to the host govt. or the Schengen community as a whole, not the remit of UK govt. unless they are willing to offer reciprocal deals.
Second question 90 days in any 180 days, slightly different to each half of a year.

Resident visa in one Schengen country means you can return there at any time and travel through other countries to get there. Legally time in the other countries is limited to 90/180 days, but depends if your passport is recorded when crossing borders. Experiences reported on the liveaboard forum seem to vary.

Try a search, there have been lots of discussions on this in various threads.
 
With great difficulty. The only state that has longer tourist visas is France and you can effectively get the summer (6 months). however they are very restrictive, For example you have to enter and leave from/to the UK. In the eastern Med you do have Montenegro and Turkey, but Albania has little in the way of facilities. One possibility is to only go there in spring and autumn and lay the boat up for the busy summer months. This is popular in Greece where you can sail April to June, lay up for July and August then return in September.
 
Many of us took up residence before Brexit, allowing unlimited stay in country of residence but still 90/180 elsewhere in Schengen, not 90 in each country.

There are various visas which vary between countries but most require proof of funds for duration of stay plus health insurance. France seems to be favourite. Without a visa, eastern Med seems the best bet for long term stays.

Quite a few folks are successfully keeping their heads down and overstaying but that will become more difficult when the EES database comes on line as all marinas have to pass visitor details to authorities. Overstaying can lead to deportation and fines.
 
Many of the countries that are mentioned as outside shengen and therefore not needing residencia or visas may well have their own procedures to follow regarding staying for extended periods. Worth checking that possibility out before plans are made I would say.
 
greeny said:
Many of the countries that are mentioned as outside shengen and therefore not needing residencia or visas may well have their own procedures to follow regarding staying for extended periods. Worth checking that possibility out before plans are made I would say.
Click to expand...
Many years ago a visitor visa for Turkey was for 90 days, but you could leave the country and return the next day and buy another 90 day visa with an English (but not Scottish) £10 note. Then sometime after 2010 they adopted the 90/180 day rule. Don't know current situation as have not been back for a very long time.
 
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