Schengen Visa - 90/180 rule

[Ningaloo]

Sounds great. This prompted me to investigate for my Australian passport. A slightly shorter list, crucially (for my plans) excluding Spain, Portugal and Greece:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Iceland
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• The Netherlands
• Norway
• Sweden

And a warning:
Using these visa waiver agreements in combination with Schengen visa-free arrangements is complex. Each country operates the visa waiver agreements in its own way. Most countries require you to use the visa waiver agreement at the end of your Schengen area travel. Contact the embassy or consulate of the relevant country for the details on how they operate the visa-waiver agreements.

Still, better than nothing although it is clear that staying in excess of 90 days is going to require lots of planning, record keeping and time in immigration queues.

 

[nortada]

It seems to get ever more complicated. God only knows what will happen when you pitch up at a Schengen frontier, to be confronted by a border control official who has little or no idea of the rules covering the folk standing in front of them and doesn't recognise the paperwork, which will probably be in a language foreign to them.

The airports will probably get their acts together fairly quickly but smaller ports of entry?

Then you add the possible Covid restictions in force at the time.

My plan, as a Portuguese resident is to be in Portugal on 31/12/20 and go no where until late spring.

As an aside.

Portugal is thinking of declaring 'A State of Contingency' with effect from 17 Sep when the kids return to school, which could introduce restrictions on public travel, amongst other things.

Last time in March/April there was a 2-tier system, with Portuguese residents having much more freedom than EU residents who were not Portuguese residents. Result, many EU residents paid their €15 and go Portuguese residency - it's a mad world we live in.

 

[Graham376]

Portugal is thinking of declaring 'A State of Contingency' with effect from 17 Sep when the kids return to school, which could introduce restrictions on public travel, amongst other things.

Restrictions in some areas may change fairly soon. A friend who is a doctor in one of the Porto hospitals said yesterday, in her hospital they have gone from zero cases to a ward full of Covid patients.

 

[JumbleDuck]

How easy is obtains an Irish passport if family history there ? If say a parent was born in Ireland ?

As I understand it ....

You can get an Irish passport if you had at least one Irish grandparent, but that Irish grandparents must actually have lived in Ireland. So, for example, my grandmother could have had an Irish passport because three of her four grandparents were born there. However would not have made me eligible for an Irish passport, because my grandmother never lived there.

 

[Mistroma]

As I understand it ....

You can get an Irish passport if you had at least one Irish grandparent, but that Irish grandparents must actually have lived in Ireland. So, for example, my grandmother could have had an Irish passport because three of her four grandparents were born there. However would not have made me eligible for an Irish passport, because my grandmother never lived there.

You can become an Irish citizen if one of your grandparents was born on the island of Ireland even if they then left at an early age. Unlucky if they were born abroad to Irish parents and never returned to Ireland.

It would still have taken quite a while even if your grandmother had been born in Ireland. Applications for citizenship through Foreign Birth Registration were taking about 1-2 years for applications made early in 2018. The system wasn't great and seemed like a black hole with a variety of issues. A few weeks ago the Irish Government froze Foreign Birth Registrations, certainly for new applications. I don't think existing applications are being processed either but are queued, I'd need to check my notes.

 

[st599]

A friend who is a British passport holder, who has German residency has applied for Portuguese residency and it interesting to hear the huge differences between German and Portuguese residency. It appears that getting residency in Germany is a far harder path to travel.

Knowledge of German to B1 level, Pass a Medical and have a job/Uni Course?

To get citizenship, you need to be resident for 8 years (or go through the loophole)

 

[nortada]

Knowledge of German to B1 level, Pass a Medical and have a job/Uni Course?

To get citizenship, you need to be resident for 8 years (or go through the loophole)

Don't think many of us aspire to citizenship. We just want a quiet life in the country of our choise and the freedom to travel.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Don't think many of us aspire to citizenship. We just want a quiet life in the country of our choise and the freedom to travel.

Citizenship of an EU country solves the 90/180 Schengen restrictions completely.

I had been resident and working in Germany for 19 years before I applied, so it was a no-brainer. Sat two tests, language and an "Einbürgerungstest" plus a relatively large amount of paperwork concerning employment, taxes, pensions and healthcare cover. Total cost was somewhere around €600 to end up with German citizenship, ID Card and Passport.

My freedom was not something I was prepared to sacrifice for British nationality.

 

[st599]

Citizenship of an EU country solves the 90/180 Schengen restrictions completely.

I had been resident and working in Germany for 19 years before I applied, so it was a no-brainer. Sat two tests, language and an "Einbürgerungstest" plus a relatively large amount of paperwork concerning employment, taxes, pensions and healthcare cover. Total cost was somewhere around €600 to end up with German citizenship, ID Card and Passport.

My freedom was not something I was prepared to sacrifice for British nationality.

A couple of my colleagues reclaimed forcibly removed German Citizenship, which is automatic and doesn't require any of the above, but for the rest, it's one of the toughest. Even for residency, they implemented the EU rules in full, something the UK never did.

 

[sailaboutvic]

For thos you are caught up in the 90/180!rule and are located in the Med one EU country who isn't interested in stamping passport is Malta when a non EU boat arrive to check in all is required is a crew list and passport the crew list is stamped in and when you leave its stamp again but the passport isn't which is why so many Aus NZ Cand and US boat spend long periods there .

 

[Kelpie]

For thos you are caught up in the 90/180!rule and are located in the Med one EU country who isn't interested in stamping passport is Malta when a non EU boat arrive to check in all is required is a crew list and passport the crew list is stamped in and when you leave its stamp again but the passport isn't which is why so many Aus NZ Cand and US boat spend long periods there .

Thanks Vic. So how would the next Schengen country view this gap in your passport history?
When you leave Malta and check in to e.g. Italy would they not want to know where you had been for the past few weeks?

I'd be quite worried about trusting my plans to some officials effectively turning a blind eye, but it's certainly an interesting possibility. A lot of extra miles for those of us who didn't plan on heading that far in to the Med, though.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Thanks Vic. So how would the next Schengen country view this gap in your passport history?
When you leave Malta and check in to e.g. Italy would they not want to know where you had been for the past few weeks?

I'd be quite worried about trusting my plans to some officials effectively turning a blind eye, but it's certainly an interesting possibility. A lot of extra miles for those of us who didn't plan on heading that far in to the Med, though.

Being a EU yacht we never had to deal with them question but I will ask as there enough Aus and NZ boats around us who been doing this for some years . My guess is the Italian don't care or probably it doesn't matter what you fill in the check in form , I think and only guessing it's what's in your passport that count .
But this is been going on for more years then I can remember and never heard anyone say their had a problem , around just now there five non Europe boat who been in Malta that came from a Turkey as Malta was one Europe country that would let them in , some have been here a month , next stop , Italy .
The problem here is most British don't want to bend the rules , I hold my hands up and say we not one of them ,
Rules was mean to be bend .

 

[sailaboutvic]

We know a heck of a lot of cruisers from all over Europe and the world and not talking 10s running into hundreds some no longer here ,
Here how some extend there 90 days into almost six month , there check into the Eu and a week later check out still cruising some weeks later check in again and again checking out a few days later , if ask we sailing to where every , if and very rerly ask why as it taken the four week to sail from Tunisia their reply normally is we a sail boat , if ask where they did t check into Tunisia the answer is they change their mind , and so it goes on .
If stopping in the eu they say we just arrive and looking to check in .
It may sound a hard way to get around the 90/180 rule , but it works without question being ask ,
Yes it's possible to having to deal with a pig of an official but it seen and as far as we know no one haven't being able to talk there way around it .

 

[nortada]

We know a heck of a lot of cruisers from all over Europe and the world and not talking 10s running into hundreds some no longer here ,
Here how some extend there 90 days into almost six month , there check into the Eu and a week later check out still cruising some weeks later check in again and again checking out a few days later , if ask we sailing to where every , if and very rerly ask why as it taken the four week to sail from Tunisia their reply normally is we a sail boat , if ask where they did t check into Tunisia the answer is they change their mind , and so it goes on .
If stopping in the eu they say we just arrive and looking to check in .
It may sound a hard way to get around the 90/180 rule , but it works without question being ask ,
Yes it's possible to having to deal with a pig of an official but it seen and as far as we know no one haven't being able to talk there way around it .

Might work right now but might not in couple of years time, when the Schengen database is up and running.

 

[jordanbasset]

Might work now but might not is couple of years time, when the Schengen database is up and running.

Agree, that will be the game changer

 

[sailaboutvic]

Might work right now but might not in couple of years time, when the Schengen database is up and running.

Not sure what difference that will make ,,
we just sailed through the five country not once did anyone approached us , although we contract Malta to inform them we was going there to get permission to enter and fill all the form need , we could just as well just sailed no one bothered us or any of the seven other cruising boats here that we know .

 

[Graham376]

The problem here is most British don't want to bend the rules , I hold my hands up and say we not one of them ,
Rules was mean to be bend .

Try to obey the 11th Commandment - thou shall not be caught.

 

[Koeketiene]

Try to obey the 11th Commandment - thou shall not be caught.

Exactly what I tell my children: Be good. And if you can't be good, don't get caught.

 

[nortada]

Not sure what difference that will make ,,
we just sailed through the five country not once did anyone approached us , although we contract Malta to inform them we was going there to get permission to enter and fill all the form need , we could just as well just sailed no one bothered us or any of the seven other cruising boats here that we know .

In a couple of years or so, there will be 2 changes, ETIAS will be up and running and Brits will be third country citizens.

One aim of ETIAS will be to keep better control on third country citizens.

So, unless Brits have residency in an EU country, them swanning around from EU country to EU country, will be a thing of the past and even those with residency could have their freedom of movement curtailed.

I would agree that, as with all things residency, different countries will have different attitudes but I anticipate, there will be commonality in the application of Schengen.

Post 31/12/20 the big question will be how easy will it be for a Brit to get to get residency and I suspect this could vary significantly from country to country, depending on how important the British community is to that country’s economy.

The other big unknown is the outcome of the Brexit negotiations. We are told that they are not going well but this may not be the case in all areas, for example, EHIC and health cover?

 

[nortada]

Try to obey the 11th Commandment - thou shall not be caught.

And hopefully have a good plan B or a get out of jail card?