UK Sailors And Expats In The EU - Run Up To Friday 29th March 2019 & Beyond?

[maxi77]

Re: Love The Flag

No visas, and channels dedicated to visitors arriving from the United Kingdom in airports in Faro and Funchal:encouragement:

We never had it this good.

All we need now is get out of jail free cards for those driving through France and Spain

 

[GHA]

Re: Love The Flag

No visas, and channels dedicated to visitors arriving from the United Kingdom in airports in Faro and Funchal:encouragement:

We never had it this good.

There was a load of building work not that long ago at the airport including passport control, maybe they knew...

http://www.airport-business.com/201...ting-new-paradigm-air-transportation-algarve/

 

[nortada]

Re: Love The Flag

There was a load of building work not that long ago at the airport including passport control, maybe they knew...

http://www.airport-business.com/201...ting-new-paradigm-air-transportation-algarve/

Flew back from the UK earlier this week.

Twelve minutes from the wheels touching the tarmac to outside Faro airport. Is this a record?

 

[maxi77]

Re: Registration For Long-stay Campers?

Just a quick update on form S1 we applied for ours on the phone last Friday and received them in the post in Armacao de P era today is this a record both for the UK civil service and the Portuguese postal service

 

[nortada]

An Interesting Article?

Here is an extract from the Portuguese President newspaper.

In the tortuous Brexit morass, one thing is certain: Portugal has no intention whatsoever of turning its back on its oldest ally. From last Friday, government ministers have been at pains to stress that whatever happens – whichever way this baffling process lurches – Brits will remain “welcome as residents, tourists, investors and students”.

To some the assertion will beggar the question, if Portugal can keep its doors open, what’s to stop other countries doing the same, exposing Brussels’ stance this far as the ‘hard-line’ critics have been railing against?

But first to the nitty-gritty of what’s ongoing behind the scenes to secure the future of expats living in Portugal, and Portuguese nationals living in UK.

On Friday, government ministers Augusto Santos Silva and Eduardo Cabrita were first on the scene in a series of initiatives designed to spell out (almost) every scenario vis-a-vis how it will affect Brits in Portugal.

Cabrita’s message was loud and clear: “We do not want barriers between our two countries”.

To this end – even in the event of a no-deal crash-out – Portugal will not be requiring visas from British holidaymakers, or indeed from Brits who enter the country for any other reason.

In an information leaflet released last week under the hashtag “Keep Calm You Stay”, the government explained that permanent ‘residents’ with 10-year residency cards will just carry on as normal (“nothing has changed”, to coin that rather hackneyed Brexit phrase…).

Brits living here who, for some reason, are still ‘under the radar’ should make a beeline to their closest council building and sign up on the dotted line. “You should request the issuance of a registration certificate, which is valid for five years,” says the leaflet – implying that once this five-year period passes, expats would be fully entitled to apply for permanent residency.

No expats living here and unregistered with the authorities should leave it until after the March 29 deadline to try and regularize their situation, but even if they do, the leaflet explains that they will still have until the end of the transition period – December 31, 2020 – before encountering any kind of difficulty in remaining on Portuguese soil.

If these assurances still leave expats feeling uneasy, the leaflet ends with information on how to request Portuguese nationality – something open to anyone residing here for more than six years, or who can prove they have been in a de facto relationship with a Portuguese national for more than three years.

Stressing that they trust that Portugal’s commitment to expat Brits will see UK authorities treating Portuguese emigrés in exactly the same way, Santos Silva and Cabrita were followed on Tuesday by economy minister Pedro Siza Vieira who announced the creation of a €50 million line of credit designed to support businesses dealing with UK, particularly in the context of a no-deal crash out.

Further measures are due to come out of the Council of Ministers convened for later today (Thursday), with the government’s efforts being fully supported by AICEP (the investment association), IAPMEI (institute of small and medium-sized businesses) and CIP (the confederation of Portuguese industries).

With awareness sessions due to be held throughout the country, the truth remains nonetheless that no-one can tell what is going to happen next.

Light years from ‘Brexit means Brexit’, we have come to the point where Brexit could mean anything at all.

Speaking on Wednesday shortly after Theresa May’s devastating parliamentary defeat, prime minister António Costa stressed the importance for the UK “to tell the EU what it wants to do” – but it was in no way a message of threat, more of entreaty. He underlined the two nation’s ‘mutual dependency’ and the “critical” need now to support “Portuguese businesses that import from UK and Portuguese exports”.
According to financial papers, Portuguese hotel chains are already “studying packages to stem the loss of British tourists”.

The deals will not see prices drop, per se, but they are likely to become more wide-ranging (i.e. be taken on by more hotels) and focus on the less busy months.

In the Algarve, hoteliers’ association boss Elidérico Viegas has stressed that the 2019 season won’t see prices increasing. He told Dinheiro Vivo: “We will not continue to inflate prices as over the last few years.”
And this is where the issue comes up against ‘a wider context’. Hoteliers – much like the EU – are not simply having to cope with the ongoing nightmare of Brexit. There are other difficulties.

The German economy, for example, has just hit its worst year since 2013 and German visitors to Portugal are down 51,000 (total 1.21 million in 2018) on numbers registered in 2017.

Elsewhere, “Europe is in turmoil as extremists form new alliances”, warns the Guardian.

Brexit, and all that it means for bewildered expats, is not perhaps the huge deal we have been marshaled into thinking that it is – and this could be why Portugal is taking such pains to ensure its expats ‘feel safe’.

One MEP who is focused on ‘finding a way’ through the mess from ‘the other side’ is German Hans Olaf Henkel who told LBC on Wednesday morning that it is not just down to the UK telling the EU what is wants now, it is down to the EU changing its stance and accommodating some of the issues that caused the UK to vote out in the first place.
If that happens, says Henkel, we could even reach a scenario where Britain stays within the union but maintains control of its borders.
Whatever the maelstrom brings in the run up to the so-called March 29 exit deadline, the reality is that Brits living in Portugal are welcome, and will stay welcome, as the proverbial steamship EU crashes on through gathering waves towards its 27th ‘birthday’ and an election process (in May) that could still, bizarrely, see Britain fielding new MEPs.

To download the information leaflet, go to www.portaldiplomatico.mne.gov.pt, click under ‘Brexit’ and then scroll down to find link to ‘Folheto Brexit (English)’
By NATASHA DONN

natasha.donn@algarveresident.com

 

[Bouba]

Re: An Interesting Article?

Hello everyone, I’d thought I’d update you all on my situation. I’m not a live aboard, I live in a maison, but today we picked up our Carte de Séjour (one each) from our regional prefecture (Toulon). They required a week of my wife’s time to collate the paperwork, a long queue at the prefecture to collect the forms, another for the brief interview (this was not a French test, merely signing forms, fingerprinting and handing in paperwork. You need details on your siblings and parents regardless of your age. And remember, everything is done locally so this doesn’t mean your prefecture will do things the same way!). And finally, you have to return three or four months later to pick up the card. No money changed hands
The good news is that we were immediately given a permanent card. This I assume is because of our status as Brits, we were told that they do not normally issue long term C d S to others first time.
The unknown situation is as follows,
The card says permanent but it expires in ten years! This could just mean that your photo and details need to be updated every ten years. Or it could mean that you can be tossed out in ten years!
The card is for eu, eee, Swiss citizens. And in a few days we all will probably not be any of those categories. So, where does that leave us? The possibilities being mooted are that we will get a special card, does that make mine illegal? Does the fact we already submitted the paperwork mean that the cards will be exchanged seamlessly? Or will French bureaucracy ask we repeat it all over again because they can? Could it be more difficult? Eg a trip (or three) to Paris or obscure paperwork that is impossible to locate, or everything notarized (which can get expensive when charged by each piece of paper)?
This is all of course conjecture, what I would like is the card to be exchanged for a card that is also a travel document so no more queuing as foreigners but my wife says I’m dreaming

 

[Graham376]

Re: An Interesting Article?

............The card says permanent but it expires in ten years! This could just mean that your photo and details need to be updated every ten years. Or it could mean that you can be tossed out in ten years! ..........
The card is for eu, eee, Swiss citizens. And in a few days we all will probably not be any of those categories. So, where does that leave us?

Our permanent Portuguese cards are 10 years as well and also state EU Citizen. Just have to wait 10 years and see what happens

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Re: An Interesting Article?

Hello everyone, I’d thought I’d update you all on my situation. I’m not a live aboard, I live in a maison, but today we picked up our Carte de Séjour (one each) from our regional prefecture (Toulon). :

Wow you better not tell anyone on the Brexit forum that a staunch Brexit fanboy like you is applying to become a Frenchman otherwise some unscrupulous person might use it against you

 

[Bouba]

Wow you better not tell anyone on the Brexit forum that a staunch Brexit fanboy like you is applying to become a Frenchman otherwise some unscrupulous person might use it against you

I thought you were in Germany. It’s residency, citizenship requires knowing how to speak French

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I thought you were in Germany. It’s residency, citizenship requires knowing how to speak French

Yes I was in Germany but now I'm back. Yes I've heard all the excuses but the plain fact is that you are abandoning us in poor old Blighty to our fate

 

[Sea Devil]

Having just had an almighty battle with the UK authorities with regard to to eligibility to renew my SSR I can confirm some experience here. What they say is you have to be in the UK for 185 days in the year. This is wrong. I contested this with them and they eventually had to take legal advice from the MCA. The requirement is actually to prove you are 'ordinarily resident in the UK'. You don't have to be in the UK for 185 days a year to meet this criteria. If you can prove you have property in the U.K., a U.K. Bank account, a UK pension, family in the UK, then you are ordinarily resident. On this basis we now have our SSR renewed. They use the 185 day rule as 'a rule of thumb'. The criteria for Ordinary Resident is not defined in statute. It comes from case law. If you examine the case law I suspect you can meet less of the criteria I have stated above and still prove Ordinary Residence.

Yes but the ´killer´is you need a utility bill in your name... What Brit type Spanish brokers suggest is that you have two owners on the SSR application. The first, top, owner is a relative or friend with UK status and utility bills et al and the 2nd owner is you. At the same time you create an undated bill of sale from your friend/relative to you. If anything then happens to them or in a case of a dispute you have a bill of sale you can back date.

 

[RupertW]

Yes but the ´killer´is you need a utility bill in your name... What Brit type Spanish brokers suggest is that you have two owners on the SSR application. The first, top, owner is a relative or friend with UK status and utility bills et al and the 2nd owner is you. At the same time you create an undated bill of sale from your friend/relative to you. If anything then happens to them or in a case of a dispute you have a bill of sale you can back date.

That sounds odd to me, doable of course, but SSR is not connected to ownership in any way. I can register your boat for SSR just by seeing it parked up in a marina (and can even change it's name if I can see the HIN to show it's the same boat). I know this becuase I saved some time by registering a boat under SSR before I'd even put an offer in for it.

 

[Sea Devil]

That sounds odd to me, doable of course, but SSR is not connected to ownership in any way. I can register your boat for SSR just by seeing it parked up in a marina (and can even change it's name if I can see the HIN to show it's the same boat). I know this becuase I saved some time by registering a boat under SSR before I'd even put an offer in for it.

Quite correct but if the friend relative died the éstate´might try to claim 50% of the boat so the bill of sale stops that. The problem is that you have to have a registration certificate for non UK countries but the SSR via UK address solves it.
and your name albeit 2nd shows you own the boat and can therefore drive it

 

[nortada]

Yes but the ´killer´is you need a utility bill in your name... What Brit type Spanish brokers suggest is that you have two owners on the SSR application. The first, top, owner is a relative or friend with UK status and utility bills et al and the 2nd owner is you. At the same time you create an undated bill of sale from your friend/relative to you. If anything then happens to them or in a case of a dispute you have a bill of sale you can back date.

Wrong!

We live with our daughter so do not have any utility bills in our name and surprise, surprise, we have just renewed our SSR for the boat in Iberia.

We just sent the completed application form and a cheque for £25 but no other supporting documents or evidence and the renewed SSR certificate was sent to our home address.

Understand the cost of a SSR has increased to £35 so we got it just in time.

Hopefully this has put the issue of renewal of SSR vessels based overseas firmly to bed.:encouragement:

 

[Sea Devil]

 

[nortada]

 

[Sea Devil]

Wrong!

We live with our daughter so do not have any utility bills in our name and surprise, surprise, we have just renewed our SSR for the boat in Iberia.

We just sent the completed application form and a cheque for £25 but no other supporting documents or evidence and the renewed SSR certificate was sent to our home address.

Understand the cost of a SSR has increased to £35 so we got it just in time.

Hopefully this has put the issue of renewal of SSR vessels based overseas firmly to bed.:encouragement:

If you are correct that is wonderful news. When I looked at the SSR application form on line a short time ago one of the requirements in addition to the UK address was a utility bill. It may be that a renewal does not make that requirement whilst a change of ownership or first registry does?

 

[Graham376]

If you are correct that is wonderful news. When I looked at the SSR application form on line a short time ago one of the requirements in addition to the UK address was a utility bill. It may be that a renewal does not make that requirement whilst a change of ownership or first registry does?

I didn't have to produce any evidence on renewal but, if they check the electoral roll we would be OK. Don't forget there's also "ordinarily tax resident" criteria for eligibility.

 

[Sea Devil]

I didn't have to produce any evidence on renewal but, if they check the electoral roll we would be OK. Don't forget there's also "ordinarily tax resident" criteria for eligibility.

Owning property in the UK and paying tax in the uk is not an issue for me but a utility bill in my name is. Interestingly in both Spain and the UK the utility bill criteria seems to have become the main residence ID paper. I have been opening a UK bank account and along with all the passport stuff the Utility bill from my Spanish home was required. Just changed phone line / internet provider in Spain and they too needed the Utility bill as well as nie.

I am downsizing my boat but will need to register the replacement and SSR is so much easier and cheaper than the part 1 i am supposed to have as a non resident UK citizen hence my interest is solving this little problem.. Inexpensively

 

[nortada]

If you are correct that is wonderful news. When I looked at the SSR application form on line a short time ago one of the requirements in addition to the UK address was a utility bill. It may be that a renewal does not make that requirement whilst a change of ownership or first registry does?

Wrong!

We live with our daughter so do not have any utility bills in our name and surprise, surprise, we have just renewed our SSR for the boat in Iberia.

We just sent the completed application form and a cheque for £25 but no other supporting documents or evidence and the renewed SSR certificate was sent to our home address.

Understand the cost of a SSR has increased to £35 so we got it just in time.

Hopefully this has put the issue of renewal of SSR vessels based overseas firmly to bed.:encouragement:

If you are correct that is wonderful news

If I am correct

Of course I am correct, unless you are suggesting my post above is lies.:disgust:

And for the record - I try never to speculate - at best pointless and at worst, sends rabbits running in all directions.