Future Potential Problems & Solutions for UK Citizens Resident in EU States
A blog by Ian Smith
Hi all, Ian here from the campaign, BUT, writing in my capacity as a founder of ukeartswork.info (an apolitical free to use self-funded post Brexit advice site) Tim and I were talking when I recently posted this and we felt it of use to people for information and help.
I’m writing this to flag up a small but potentially important problem which might impact touring work generally for anyone at all involved in creative arts work and who is now legally resident in an EU state. Im of course a co-director of Carry On Touring but in my other life the owner of two large agencies, musician , tour manager , sound engineer and founder in 2020 of the free to use apolitical post Brexit help for the creative industries www.ukeartswork.info. With no desire at all to scare anyone, this brief blog is intended to arm you with some knowledge which will hopefully prevent some small errors crossing Schengen borders creating bigger problems down the way!
You’ll also find a handy “kit” to argue your case in the links below I’ve researched, if faced with a border guard whose knowledge of the legislation is a “little challenging” ( Incorrect ) , simply print off the relevant pages and have them to hand when getting to the happy border guard facing you ! There’s even a handy page to check ( page 43 ) of the border guards handbook ( yes there really is one !) for cancelling an incorrect stamp ..
Passport stamps could be a problem! really?? What you say? what’s that? Why?
Ok so here’s the deal as many will know already , UK citizens non-resident in an EU state are now only able to access Schengen 90 in any 180 days , if you want or need to do more than that then it’s a Schengen Visa either C or D ( the latter for work purposes ) and no it doesn’t give you the right to work in any of the EU 27 , it notifies the EU that that is why you are in the Schengen area. However; you still have to abide by the local work permit regulations and yes if necessary that means getting a work permit for that country, yup they’re all different, quick guide with links here:
https://ukeartswork.info/working-eu.php
But you say , I’m cool and up to date with all the regulations, I know this , I also know that as such the 90 day in 180 day rule doesn’t really apply to me as I’m resident in an EU state and I can stay in Schengen all year round. (NB doesn’t mean you can do that without registration in other EU states after 90 days, that is as it has always been for EU citizens).
Yes totally, cool indeed , except …… the calculation of said stay is often made by a border guard by checking inwards and outwards travel stamps , yes you may have your residency card ( art 50 card ) yes you might have a work permit for that other country , but you’ve just popped out of Schengen and back for a gig and sadly the border guard ( confused , lack of knowledge etc ) might keep you for a while OR refuse entry at a Schengen border. Delays as we know in our world of touring can be not only a pain in the ass but also result in missed gigs etc … Of course stamps will not affect any residency you may have , the point is delay and mistakes until things settle down in the next few years. I should say as well that “hostile” borders in the UK as per the recent news stories on EU citizens being detained on entry sometimes wrongly and “banged up” in a detention centre for several days is likely not to help too much in some circumstances. We’ve all been there and human nature being what it is we may encounter a few problems.
To be clear UK passport holders who are NOT EU citizens BUT legally resident in an EU host state should absolutely NOT have their passports stamped going in and out of the Schengen area ( NB of course within said Schengen area there are “usually” no borders so of course this is not between EU states ) . This is part and parcel of the withdrawal agreement, link below to EU commission presentation on this (Print off page 4)
Latest quick presentation video bite on this here:
Now to the future , come January 2022 two systems for entry to the EU come into play, these being ETIAS and EES , the latter its envisaged will eventually solve this problem ( we hope ) please note these systems are in no way a result of Brexit, but were always planned for third country nationals and of course that’s now UK citizens. Eu citizens AND residents and certain passport holders will be exempt, yes Irish passports etc.
ETIAS, is a new pre authorisation system similar to ESTA in the USA , will cost around 9 Euros for 3 years entry authorisation AND will be used potentially to block anyone who has been identified as being a risk , which will include terrorism and potentially anyone guilty of a serious offence in the EU or in their own territories.
ETIAS Link https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/etias/
EES, is a new entry and exist recording system at the Schengen border which will rely on both fingerprints AND facial recognition technology which the EU are proposing will replace passport stamps and of course will be linked into residence etc. thus likely to solve the potential problem
EES link here https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/entry-exit-system-ees/
Schengen stay calculator for UK citizens and other third country nationals NOT resident in the EU Finally if you are a UK citizen and not resident here’s a handy Schengen calculator ( as it’s a pain to work out ) https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/visa-calculator/
And finally, lots of info on every aspect of post Brexit work in the creative arts, free fact checked and self-funded our main website www.Ukeartswork.info
EU country info for work permit requirements ( remember as a UK citizen resident in the EU except for very limited circumstances you STILL need to abide by local regulations in any EU country other than your home state ) certainly for the first five years of residency more on that another time. https://ukeartswork.info/working-eu.php
Ukeartswork YouTube channel regularly updated with short vids on news and solutions https://www.youtube.com/c/UkEuropeartsworkINFO
Quick YouTube subscribe button here https://www.youtube.com/c/IanSmithFrusionFizzion?sub_confirmation=1
Resources specific for passport stamping arguments
EU Commission presentation on non-stamping of passports for WA beneficiaries (page 4)
Border Guards Handbook (Page 43) for annulling an incorrect passport stamp (they have to do it not you)
Politico article incorrect stamping
Ian Smith for ukeartswork.info
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