New Paperwork ?

[Peegee]

We have just returned from a months sail to Holland (yeah! I know, tough life)
Anyway, I have always carried the necessary papers in the past and thought I knew it all!!. However on the return journey we stopped in Nieuwport and were boarded by the marine police. Out came the registration,Passports,etc. and all was in order, so I thought.. After a question and answer episode, ie. where been,where going,home port, the Officer asks me "Why did you not fill in the Shengan forms when you arrived in mainland Europe". Apparently, despite the fact that GB has not signed up to the Shengan Agreement ( or is it because we havn't) We must fill in a three part form on entry to Europe. One part is left at the port of entry, the other two you carry with you .. untill.. you return to GB, whence you have to leave one of the last two copies at your last port in Europe!!! What happens if you divert in bad weather to another port was not explained, presumably you have to go through the whole rigmarole again. Anyway, the chap was quite sharp as to the fact that next year Holland was also bringing in this system and that we would be fined for not carrying out this formality. I did have the cheek to ask why the forms were not made available when we arrived in Ostend at the start of our holiday, or why we were not informed by Marina staff. The answer was the Euro Shrug and
" You should have asked" with the reiteration that in future we could face a fine!
SO... does anybody else know about this? have I dropped a gooly and missed an important missive in the mags.? I'd love to know. regards Peegee

 

[johnsomerhausen]

The Uk has until now refused to sign the Schengen agreement on the suppression of border controls, so that the countriew parties to the agreement have to control UK residents when they arrive at one of the borders of the Schengen area. Some countries are still more lax than others in going through the papeerwork (in 1998, though coming from the US on a US rgistered boat, the authorities in Horta made no mention of Schengen and neither the Spaniards nor the French demanded any Schengen relatded forms). As to the form in triplicate,
it's always possible to mail it back to the last port touched before returning to the UK. I've done the same more than once when returning to the US from the Bahamas if the Bahamian customs office was closed when I was ready to leave.
john
john