ETIAS or a Schengen Visa from 2024

[niemeyjt]

You can more or less travel as you like within Schengen countries with a resident permit for a member country, there are no passport checks. Just make sure the buggers don’t try and stamp your passport if there are. I don’t know if it’s the same for the visa you have. I’ve travelled a fair bit in Europe and have had to insist that there was no stamp, it’s much easier now. If you leave Schengen and then re-enter as I did in Cyprus this year they can stamp you exiting, which I presume is correct.

It seems that at least sometimes the "buggers" do indeed stamp the passport. It happened to OH. I assume this is a check that you do indeed return to the country of your residence permit within the permitted periods.

Yes, mine got stamped at Folkestone last time. I think it was more a case of a dopey PAF not being awake that early - especially as my TdS is written in French not German - and it was not stamped again when I exited France. We shall see what the Swiss Border Control make of it when I fly out next week.

[L Austin France]

Despite presenting her CdS & passport my wife recently got her passport stamped when arriving home via Roscoff.
When she pointed this out the lady controller muttered "merde" & struck out the stamp with two lines from her pen.
Dunno how this can be 'legal' when I could have done that

[elsie]

I am confused. Why are there any passport checks between the country where you have a CdS / TdS and another Schengen member state?

A French CdS for someone with a UK passport only gives you unlimited stay in France. Otherwise, as a non-EU citizen, you are limited to the 90/180 day rule when travelling in the whole of Schengen (not 90/180 in each individual country). The same is the case for CdS of other countries.

I do not know whether any checking is done. Data could be collected in a variety of ways. e.g. various countries require passport/CdS information for those staying in hotels. There are airport checks/some train checks/some border crossing posts, etc. But is it currently collated?

What happens if, for instance, I fly from London to Frankfurt and show a UK passport/French CdS and then travel to France. Nine months later I travel to Belgium and fly from Brussels to London having made trips to Spain and Italy?

[niemeyjt]

Normally, when I show a Swiss TdS to enter France my passport is not stamped - so I would not expect Frankfurt to stamp either - after all some airports serve two countries through the same passport control - like Geneva and Basel.

But yes, travel within Schengen is not logged so in theory you could spend more than 90/180 in the "wrong" country. But as I said, it is theatre.

[DaveW]

The Schengen part is pure theatre, you could go and stay in a Schengen country for as long as you like, but you can’t legally work or may have some issues if you needed medical attention and I’m sure there’s more.

[elsie]

Currently there are border checks within Schengen
Schengen states extend border checks, ignoring EU court
Schengen Area>Temporary Reintroduction of Border Control

[DaveW]

Will they stamp your passport if you have resident permit in one of the Schengen countries, though?

[niemeyjt]

Well they did last time - but as I said that was a one-off from a dopey PAF I think - and I shall see whether the Swiss Border Control give me an exit stamp to match - and if not, what happens the next time I am returning via France.

[exile]

You can more or less travel as you like within Schengen countries with a resident permit for a member country, there are no passport checks. Just make sure the buggers don’t try and stamp your passport if there are. I don’t know if it’s the same for the visa you have. I’ve travelled a fair bit in Europe and have had to insist that there was no stamp, it’s much easier now. If you leave Schengen and then re-enter as I did in Cyprus this year they can stamp you exiting, which I presume is correct.

It seems that at least sometimes the "buggers" do indeed stamp the passport. It happened to OH. I assume this is a check that you do indeed return to the country of your residence permit within the permitted periods.

Yes, mine got stamped at Folkestone last time. I think it was more a case of a dopey PAF not being awake that early - especially as my TdS is written in French not German - and it was not stamped again when I exited France. We shall see what the Swiss Border Control make of it when I fly out next week.

To make it clear, it was the French exit border control that stamped OH's passport. I wondered if this was some sort of control to ensure that residents did not stay outside France for more than the allowed time - or as others have reported just an official who has not yet woken up.

[niemeyjt]

Well they did last time - but as I said that was a one-off from a dopey PAF I think - and I shall see whether the Swiss Border Control give me an exit stamp to match - and if not, what happens the next time I am returning via France.

Well I explained to Swiss border control what happened. He shrugged his shoulders and said "Pas grave" - then very neatly put two lines in the top left corner of the entry stamp.

I think the Swiss border control are used to dopey PAF and generally hold them in contempt.

Previously Mrs N entered Schengen with me at Folkestone on her UK passport and the PAF did not stamp either passport. Swiss border control weren't happy but waved her through (with a few derogatory comments about PAF) after asking how she entered Switzerland. Now she tries always to use her Irish passport instead.