Schengen entry procedure

westhinder

westhinder

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I have posted this on the East Coast Forum, but it may be of interest to people who do not visit the ECF regularly, so I will duplicate it here’

For those of you who post-Corona want to sail to the continental fleshpots, here is an update.
Yachts coming from the U.K. (or any other third country) and sailing to Belgium (or any other Schengen country) are required to register online before arrival and to notify border police when they leave the Schengen area. You can find the electronic form here
www.police.be/bordercontrol/en/pleasure-craft-declaration
 
Thanks for posting.
It seems to raise more questions than it answers.
For instance, Nieuwpoort is a port of entry via Ostend, does that mean I have to go to Ostend first before Nieuwpoort?
 
Excellent, hopefully France will also start to use this method too.

Does anyone know what a HIN is?
 
HIN is a hull identification number. Hulls built to RCD will have one. Other boats may not, like mine as it predates. I would just use my sail number as registration number goes in another box. Some boats have molding numbers.
 
FinesseChris said:
The form requires a phone number , and the box is pre-set with a +32 (presume Belgium) code. Has anyone any clue whether a non-Belgian number would be permitted?
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You can edit the number to +44 so I guess that will be OK.
Mandatory fields for which I don't have an answer:
Port of Registry - I'm on SSR, so no port of registry. But I'll probably write "London" on my stern & use that
HIN - my boat doesn't have one. I'll probably use zero
 
Dan Tribe said:
Thanks for posting.
It seems to raise more questions than it answers.
For instance, Nieuwpoort is a port of entry via Ostend, does that mean I have to go to Ostend first before Nieuwpoort?
Click to expand...
No, you simply go to Nieuwpoort and you can deal with the border police there. It is only outside their office hours that you have to phone the Ostend office, which is manned 24/7
 
westhinder said:
I have posted this on the East Coast Forum, but it may be of interest to people who do not visit the ECF regularly, so I will duplicate it here’

For those of you who post-Corona want to sail to the continental fleshpots, here is an update.
Yachts coming from the U.K. (or any other third country) and sailing to Belgium (or any other Schengen country) are required to register online before arrival and to notify border police when they leave the Schengen area. You can find the electronic form here
www.police.be/bordercontrol/en/pleasure-craft-declaration
Click to expand...
The web site says "The crossing of the external borders of the Schengen Area may be executed only at the official border crossing points (inbound and outbound) and during the official opening hours. " So is this a fully online system or do you still have to visit the office during opening hours?
 
DJE said:
The web site says "The crossing of the external borders of the Schengen Area may be executed only at the official border crossing points (inbound and outbound) and during the official opening hours. " So is this a fully online system or do you still have to visit the office during opening hours?
Click to expand...
I got confused by that too.

If a crew member comes over on Eurostar they'll have an entry stamp. Presumably they need a matching exit stamp.
 
Also, @westhinder states that the Schengen Entry is electronic. Unfortunately that's not correct. Each country can implement it however they want. Just because Belgium has gone for an online option, doesn't mean that France for example will implement it the same way.
 
I am pretty sure that this is not required. Interestingly Britain is known as a "Partner country" and not a "Third Country" for immigration purposes so we are not required to get a full Schengan visa. As a consequence I believe that we can just arrive and be stamped in at the port of arrival.

All other "Third Countries" are required to get a full schengan visa and you can only get one in your country of residence. To get the visa you have to jump through a huge number of hoops and there is no guarantee it will be a muti-entry visa nor how long it will be valid for.

We are still subject the the 90/180 day limit.
 
st599 said:
The RYA and the Cruising Association have both said that taking a yacht to France will require entry and exit at one of the named Ports of Entry.
Click to expand...

Interesting reaction - I post a link to a French government website on the issue and you quote the RYA & CA...
I would be very surprised to learn the French officials take their orders from the RYA or CA.
 
Unfortunately the link is not very yachting-centric so I could not get much of relevance other than, without a hotel booking, you need to show evidence of €120 for each day if your requested stay.

I think it is generally agreed that UK boats will need to enter/exit Schengen area at official ports of entry. Remember you have to get a TA for the boat's VAT as well as dealing with Schengen visa/entry permit. This process is well documented on sites like noonsite that advise other third country nationals (USA, Canada, Australia, NZ etc).

Unfortunately it will involve sufficient hassle that weekend trips to France are unlikely to be feasible.
 
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