[Stonemill14]

According to a report on the website Schengen Visas, UK passport holders may now use the automatic gates at major Spanish airports. This follows on from Portugal setting up automatic gates for UK visitors at Lisbon, Oporto and Faro airports.

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/spain-changes-passport-rules-for-brits-at-its-busiest-airports/

[FormerBA]

[postquote quote=1220652]

This is welcome news and hopefully will be extended across the whole of the EU.

Our incompetent and so to be ex PM and his lacky cabinet, could bring themselves to get an EU wide agreement on this when we left and instead simply allowed all EU nationals to use E gates here.

I hate Brexit and everything it stands for, but my frustration at waiting 45 minutes to exit Germany earlier this year, while the EU lanes remained empty, turned to rage when I saw that the world and his wife can use E gates here.

Hopefully the end of Johnson will also mark the end of the extremist brexit we have at present

to

[ASK1945]

[quote quote=1221550]This is welcome news and hopefully will be extended across the whole of the EU.[/quote]

I can confirm that this is the case upon entry and exit from Rome.

[flying_sikh]

Departed Budapest last night for Stansted and all UK passport holders were made to wait in the horrendous exit immigration queue.Almost missed my flight. E-gates line was totally empty. Almost felt like being punished for holding a UK passport.

[TominScotland]

Yes, I had the same experience arriving and departing from Oslo. Thankfully, I have both UK and an EU citizenship and was able to glide past the long queue of Brits and use the e-gates!!

[Helen]

It’s certainly welcome that more jurisdictions are allowing UK passport holders to use e-gates. The problem nevertheless remains that UK passport holders will have their passports wet-stamped on entry. It’s therefore important to obtain a further stamp on departure so as not to be suspected of overstaying the permitted 90 days in the Schengen area. I live near the Gibraltar border, where UK passport holders have already been refused entry into Spain on the grounds that, according to their passport stamps, they have overstayed. Wet-stamping is set to continue until the introduction of the electronic Schengen-wide ETIAS system.

[ASK1945]

[quote quote=1223594]The problem nevertheless remains that UK passport holders will have their passports wet-stamped on entry.[/quote]

My experience of exit from both Spain and Italy in the last three months is that there was no queue whatsoever to have my passport wet-stamped. It took only seconds.

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=1223594]The problem nevertheless remains that UK passport holders will have their passports wet-stamped on entry. It’s therefore important to obtain a further stamp on departure so as not to be suspected of overstaying the permitted 90 days in the Schengen area.[/quote]

Are wet stamps really necessary or is it Europe being bloody minded? Surely the E Gates can do the same job but digitally and monitor visitors times being spent in mainland Europe. It works very well in the States where the E Gates monitor time in the country.

It’s been said many times already but it is nonsense, that EU residents can use the UK’s E Gates but the courtesy or rules were not / are not being reciprocated.

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DNAdams

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