Entry to France post EES

[Fr J Hackett]

I am just wondering if for whatever reason you are forced to leave your boat after checking in at a minor port and then leave by ferry or plane how is that reconciled, I guess the same situation arises for a French person doing the same from the UK

 

[doug748]

Thanks, I was expecting entry to France to be much more complex. Do I need to email the form again on leaving the EU so that they know to stop the EU days clock?

You will normally be in a marina operating the same system so go along to the office and take it from there before you depart. Be sure to confirm that you are leaving the same day (even if, for operational reasons, that is not strictly correct).

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[Babylon]

I am just wondering if for whatever reason you are forced to leave your boat after checking in at a minor port and then leave by ferry or plane how is that reconciled, I guess the same situation arises for a French person doing the same from the UK

I recently asked the same question in a parallel thread, as I might need to fly/ferry back for a bit half way through my planned cruise (and/or someone who might join me for the initial crossing and first part of the cruise would then need to fly home).

Until the whole system is eventually joined up, the biometric/passport system(s) currently in place at airports and terminals is going to flag someone leaving France without any compatible record of prior initial entry, and later not record someone as leaving by small boat who had recently entered by air/ferry - thus not stopping the 3-month clock from ticking... until that person say flies back to France two years later for a land holiday or other normal reason!

 

[gjgm]

Thanks, I was expecting entry to France to be much more complex. Do I need to email the form again on leaving the EU so that they know to stop the EU days clock?

In the top right of the form you select whether you are arriving or departing ( France).
Note, the To and From question relates again to your arrival and exit, NOT your previous port in France. So if you went to St Quay and are now in St Cast and intend to leave France from St Cast, you enter St Cast !
So, for the form, they are not in St Cast asking where you have come from, but from where you are departing France.

 

[st599]

I am just wondering if for whatever reason you are forced to leave your boat after checking in at a minor port and then leave by ferry or plane how is that reconciled, I guess the same situation arises for a French person doing the same from the UK

At some point the portable terminals will start working and EES can roll out at marinas. Until then, you can't mix and match.

It's different for french entry in to the UK, they've already had to pre-authorise and pay for an ETA and have had their data checked by immigration. All they do is record they're not staying longer than 6 months

 

[lustyd]

There's nothing stopping the local Douane from using a computer to check people in to EES right now. The major ports are doing exactly that (Dieppe, Cherbourg and Roscoff confirmed using USB fingerprint devices on PC). Le Havre offered to fetch the Douane for us as usual, so it seems likely they are using portable equipment. For all we know they might have already started doing it at minor ports too. The only negative reports I've seen have been in the UK press, which is less than worthless as a source of information about Europe.

 

[Laser310]

in short, you cannot combine enter/exit and PPF/non PPF.

i did exactly that last year

they told me it didn't matter.

 

[lustyd]

they told me it didn't matter.

Unfortunately, that isn't true at all. More unfortunately, you are responsible for following the rules. In the future that will be recorded in the EES database and you will potentially have an overstay, or worse be found as an illegal immigrant. The punishment for this is a large fine and a ban from the Schengen area.
The systems cannot be mixed because one checks you in to Schengen and the other does not. The local system is designed to allow you to visit one port for a short stay by boat. If staying longer then proper check in at a port of entry is required. Again, it's on the traveller to comply.

 

[st599]

i did exactly that last year

they told me it didn't matter.

But that was a completely different scheme, entry and exit at a PAF port is now registered on an EU central database and overstays calculated centrally, not a French department database.

 

[Babylon]

The systems cannot be mixed because one checks you in to Schengen and the other does not. The local system is designed to allow you to visit one port for a short stay by boat. If staying longer then proper check in at a port of entry is required.

This is new additional information to me. Are you saying one cannot enter by a local (i.e. Protocol of Cooperation) port by emailing them your form, then cruise for a few weeks then leave by a different local port checking out by emailing that different local port the same (or a fresh version of the) form?

This differs slightly but significantly from what's stated on the CA website (12th April update): Cruising Association welcomes easier check in/out for cruising to France | CA

So entry and exit can continue to be at an official port of entry (PPF) or at one of the many ports operating under the ‘Protocol of Cooperation' with their local border officials. It remains our recommendation that check in and check out must be at the same ‘type’ of port e.g. PPF or ‘protocol’ port. The CA also recommends that crews retain a copy of the forms submitted for their records.

i.e. that you can't mix types but that you can exit from a different port of the same type.

 

[lustyd]

I didn’t say that at all. What I described was the purpose of the system. If you’re cruising for a few weeks you’d very likely pass major ports anyway. We’ve done three this month already. It wasn’t set up as an alternative system, it was set up as a convenience for those not going to major ports.

 

[gjgm]

You must use either PPF ports, or non PPF ports. You cannot mix them. You can use any PPF or non PPF port.
However, there have been stories when people have been able to do so ( whether legally or not might be another matter!)/ told it doesn't matter.
I have been told by a regional head quarters that I cannot exit by my current port location, for example- which I took to mean that they would not process my exit.
I have repeated this numerous times, but the responsibility is passed to Regional offices.
One office may say dont worry about it, but if you try to exit via another Region they may not accept that.
The process ( minor ports) is well established now and quite easy to manage, other than your entry/exit options are restricted by your arrival port, which can then be inconvenient!