do i have to check out of the EU

[chuckr]

Greetings all -- quick question please -- we are in spain and in mid september will be headed to tunisia to winter over -- we just made our reservations and are working on a timeline to get there
do we have to have our passports stamped out of the eu when we leave -- if so is it better in spain or sardina?

thanks to all and cheers

chuck patty and svsoulmates
in La Lina

 

[macd]

Presumably you'll be clearing the boat out of the EU, and yourselves along with it?

 

[chuckr]

yep

 

[macd]

yep

In that cased I imagine they'd do bods and boat at the same time.
The EU is often pretty sloppy about checking out, but many other countries are pedantic about checking in with papers showing you & boat have checked out of somewhere else first. Without them you could be in for some grief. Afraid I've no idea if Tunisia is amongst them.

 

[syfuga]

With only one visit some time ago, the Tunisian authorities were much more interested in my whisky stocks than anything else. But a US vessel might be viewed differently and it is some years with a new regime in place now. We sailed from Sardinia (no formalities at all in Italy!)

 

[charles_reed]

I went from Pantelleria to Bizerte. No problems about checking out - in fact utter disinterest - but blue-ensign boat.

A few pieces of advice - you are entering the Arab world of baksheesh, Western obsession about "bribes" need to be stifled. The habit is a long-established custom. Cigarettes are the most simple form of paying that and no attention will be paid to your alcohol stocks, if you have the commonsense to comply.
From memory there were 3 lots of paperwork and 5 lots of officials - English unknown and the local Arabic almost incomprehensible to an Egyptian Arabic speaker. French is the official lingo - if none of that (uncommon in US), expect problems, resolved by getting a translator from one of the French boats (mention Lafayette and US citizens will have co-operation).
Great wine (only in restaurants), shopping "exciting", very friendly locals, especially the younger generation.

Don't know how much things have changed since my visit, (prior to the Arab spring) but I doubt there is much. Islam has a certain inertia.

PS Cheapest diesel (€0.21/L) I've come across and the € readily accepted.

 

[Takamoana]

We have never been asked for documentation from our previous country( within EU and Med) when checking in but have always gone through the process in order to document that the boat left the EU (for VAT exemption) and that we also left the schengen area for immigration purposes when we wished to return.

 

[jimbaerselman]

Most important question first: do you have non-EU passports?

If so, you need to check out of the Schengen area if you have a 90 days per 180 visitor's visa. Otherwise the visa clock will keep ticking, and next time you visit you may be fined for over-staying!

If you have a resident's visa for an EU country, that doesn't necessarily apply.

For lots of reference material about this stuff, see http://jimbsail.info/going-foreign/docs-and-VAT#Personal Papers

 

[chuckr]

jim -- we are usa passport holders - i did read your sidet - we did contact a port in tunisia and their authorities said we did not need an exit stamp - so if we check into tunisia then check out - say several months later it will show we were outside the eu -- that should suffice yes - no?

one more question -- say we are in tunisia and after 4 months we take a ferry to italy via some island and stay for a week - we stamp out when we leave - then a couple of months later we sail into the eu - can we then take the rest of the 90 days and then another 90 and then head to turkey for the winter - could we count the 1st 180 days with the time in tunisia and the last 180 days with the time spent in turkey - i guess it would depend on how the greeks decide to count days?

thanks
chuck patty and svsoulmates
in la linea

 

[jimbaerselman]

jim -- we are usa passport holders - i did read your sidet - we did contact a port in tunisia and their authorities said we did not need an exit stamp - so if we check into tunisia then check out - say several months later it will show we were outside the eu -- that should suffice yes - no?

No. Not as far as Schengen is concerned. If you have Schengen entry stamps, get exit stamps when you leave Schengen, however lazy the port immigration officials are. Your existing visa will die 180 days after its first entry date. You can then re-enter with a new visa. At any time you can re-enter while the old visa is valid - but only for the number of days left out of the 90. Ferry ports and airports are far more diligent in tracking entries and exits than local port immigration offices.

As far as most countries are concerned (excepting Schengen, which is effectively one country for immigration, and EU, another for boats), all they want to know is if you came from outside their borders. They don't proof by seeing an "exit" stamp. They'll happily take your word for it!

 

[chuckr]

we did get an exit stamp from the EU in sardinia -- and entered Tunisia in Port Yasmine -- we came in just before dark and the officials could not have been nicer or more helpful --

 

[ukmctc]

you go, check in at next port/country of entry.

 

[akyaka]

and then head to turkey for the winter

Turkey operates a 90/180 Visa procedure which is similar to that in Schengen Countries but it is fairly easy to get a Residency Visa if considering staying more than 90 days.

 

[jimbaerselman]

Lets be clear about this. The regulations about checking in and out of the Schengen area are completely different depending whether you're an EU boat with EU passport aboard, or a boat with non-EU passports aboard. or a boat registered outside the EU.

If I remember rightly, the OP was a non-EU passport in a non-EU-boat.
So, if he doesn't check out, he suffers double jeopardy. One - he's ticketed with an overstay on his Schengen visa and won't be allowed re-enrtry without a fine (nothing to do with boats). Second, his boat is not noted as exiting from EU, so his 18 month limit within the EU is still being eaten up.

So EU guys and EU boats talking about how there's no problem are irrelevant to his situation.

And, what's not helpful, most countries do not care two stiffs if you leave before reporting out. They don't know (or care) what sh*t they may be dropping you in. If you leave, you are no longer their problem. Problems only arrive on the return visit - if that's on the agenda.