Are UK Passports now Stamped when Entering the EU?
Back to Forum- This topic has 46 replies, 30 voices, and was last updated 27 Jun 2021
at 18:32 by Chris in Makati.
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gps117ParticipantYes – was stamped going in and out of CDG
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11 Mar 2021
at 10:04
rfergusonParticipantEntering Portugal mine was stamped also.
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15 Mar 2021
at 15:32
FormerBAParticipantWell that a nice little earner for the UK passport office. Wont take long to fill up a passport now even the jumbo size version. Yet another Brexit dividend.
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15 Mar 2021
at 16:26
MartynSinclairParticipantEach tine I read your question LP, I wish I could write a fact based response/experience….
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15 Mar 2021
at 16:56
traveldocParticipantDublin still signposts “EU, Norway, Switzerland and UK passports” through what is essentially the EU lane.
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15 Mar 2021
at 20:49
canuckladParticipant[quote quote=1094702]Well that a nice little earner for the UK passport office. Wont take long to fill up a passport now even the jumbo size version. Yet another Brexit dividend.[/quote]
Yep, my passport would have had almost every stamp in the EU if they had done it back in the day .
As it is, the magnificent Belarus stamp takes pride of place as the only European stamp1 user thanked author for this post.
16 Mar 2021
at 09:41
BugAdvisorParticipantThe stamps are tiny and I actually like to see them appear in my passport. No need to make this about Brexit.
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16 Mar 2021
at 10:54
SenatorGoldParticipantBut this is about Brexit. UK citizens have lost freedom of movement and as a result are now third-country nationals as far as the EU is concerned. UK citizens now can only remain for a total of 90 days in any 180 day period in the Schengen zone. Stamping passports will be part of enforcing the rules.
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16 Mar 2021
at 19:32
alainboy56ParticipantFine by me, as long as we reciprocate at the UK Border.
Forget these exasperating covid days, but when travel resumes we’ll see how Europeans react when they have to join a 3rd country lane.
Also when you mention ‘enforcing the rules’ – how come these mandarins in charge of agreeing the set-up just couldn’t use their minimal ‘grey matter’ and follow Switzerland/Norway rules — they are both outside of EU, but do not have their passports stamped when entering/exiting EU.
In fact between Geneva (Switzerland) and Evian (France) there is a border post but its un-manned and there are no restrictions to travel into/out of EU.
Same as between Finland/Sweden/Norway in the north of their countries. Of course two are in EU, bot Norway is most definitely not.However, then again I am a somewhat intelligent manager with decades of experience in dealing with and resolving issues worldwide, how could I possible believe that Politicians and Civil Servants with in general, zero experience of actually working for a living, might muster up a sensible agreement to this matter.
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17 Mar 2021
at 06:48
SenatorGoldParticipant@alainboy56. Norway and Switzerland are members of the Schengen area although not members of the EU. That’s the reason why their passports aren’t stamped.
Having passports stamped is a direct consequence of Brexit and a hard one at that. Freedom of movement works both ways.
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17 Mar 2021
at 08:43
ASK1945Participantalainboy56 – from the EU website: “the Schengen Area encompasses most EU countries, except for Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania. … Additionally, also the non-EU States Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein have joined the Schengen Area.”
This means that EU travellers from/to Norway or Switzerland do not need passports. However, neither country is in a Customs Union with the EU so the arrangements for goods are similar to the (now discredited) unofficial border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and GB.
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17 Mar 2021
at 10:04
alainboy56Participant@SenatorGold and @ASK1945
Thank you both for explaining the differences.
However the physical border does not exist between Switzerland and France either between Geneva and Thonon, or further around Lake Geneva/Leman between Evian and Montreux.
I suppose the customs rules/checks are carried out electronically via the paperworks, which is how it sensibly should be.So returning to the matter at hand, why is there this manual need to stamp passports, when as we all know, all pax lists from airlines are submitted to the CID and security forces beforehand, so why could this not be managed electronically.
After all @SenatorGold and @ASK1945, until less than 3 months ago, you both could waltz across the EU borders as you wished, well I hope neither of you has become a undesirable in that short period, so sensibly you should be able to continue to dance in and out as you wish, as long as its recorded electronically.I have one further question to contributors here.
There have been clear and concise answers showing Norway and Switzerland’s relation ship with the EU and the Schengen agreement and I concur, however those country’s nationals, were able to enter UK without a passport stamp, and the UK quite rightly has never been part of that very porous open border scheme.1 user thanked author for this post.
17 Mar 2021
at 11:40
ASK1945Participantalainboy56 asked: “I have one further question to contributors here.
There have been clear and concise answers showing Norway and Switzerland’s relation ship with the EU and the Schengen agreement and I concur, however those country’s nationals, were able to enter UK without a passport stamp, and the UK quite rightly has never been part of that very porous open border scheme“.In fact Switzerland operates a bilateral treaty with the EU so I suggest that this was nothing to do with Schengen – but more to do with that. Norway is part of the EEA (European Economic Area) as are Iceland and Liechenstein. As part of the EEA they have an agreement with the EU, in relation to freedom of movement, and therefore also the UK before Brexit.
You also wrote “However the physical border does not exist between Switzerland and France ………..“. It is now about 10 years since I visited Geneva regularly for business, so things may have changed since then. However, I frequently crossed into France by land border until then and occasionally the usually empty border posts did contain customs officials doing spot checks on cars and vans crossing (in either direction).
Finally – sorry about the duplication of facts with Senator Gold: that contribution had not landed on my computer before I sent my message.
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17 Mar 2021
at 12:10
LuganoPirateParticipant[quote quote=1094831]In fact Switzerland operates a bilateral treaty with the EU so I suggest that this was nothing to do with Schengen – but more to do with that. Norway is part of the EEA (European Economic Area) as are Iceland and Liechenstein. As part of the EEA they have an agreement with the EU, in relation to freedom of movement, and therefore also the UK before Brexit.[/quote]
I was a part of a group of 4 that put pressure on some MP’s in the Swiss all party Parliamentary Group, as well as the Home/Foreign Secretary (can’t remember who or which) to allow Swiss to use the EU or GB passport lanes. Can’t remember which but this would have been in the mid 90’s, so predating Schengen.
I’m now wondering if the Swiss, along with EU passport holders, will be all be treated as third country nationals, as they are part of Schengen, or if the original agreement will still apply?
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17 Mar 2021
at 15:56 -
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