Pam and I had our passports stamped at border control both when we left and returned to Spain last week. How will this effect us?
This is what the British Embassy says:
UK nationals who can demonstrate that they were resident in Spain before 1 January 2021 should not have their passport stamped or be subject to routine intentions questioning upon entry, exit and transit through the Schengen border. However, we are conscious that it is happening in some cases and we continue to feed this back to the Spanish authorities.
If you are resident in Spain, you should always travel with both your valid passport and proof of your residence status, such as:
• your residence document: the green paper EU certificate or the new TIE. The Spanish authorities have published guidance on the continued validity of the green residency certificate here:
https://www.inclusion.gob.es/.../nota_aclaratoria_green...
• a certificate of application for residency in Spain,
• or other documentation that shows you were resident in Spain prior to the end of the transition period.
If you have had your passport incorrectly stamped, despite showing proof of residency, we want to reassure you that your rights in Spain will not be affected. If you are still not officially resident, the stamp will also not affect your ability to apply under the Withdrawal Agreement, as long as you can demonstrate that you were legally residing here by 31 December 2020.
When travelling in the future, any stamp will be considered null and void when accompanied by evidence of lawful residence such as your residency certificate. Some border authorities may annul incorrect stamps when presented with evidence of residence, but this is not required. If you wish to raise an incorrect stamp with the authorities you should contact the Ministry of Interior http://www.interior.gob.es/contacto.
Perhaps we should have showed our TIE cards at the same time as our passports and thus avoided stamps. However, nobody pointed this out to us. From this article, it seems that this will not cause us a problem next time we want to re-enter the country as long as we have our TIE cards to prove our right to be here.
1 comment:
UK nationals who have a holiday flat in Spain (ie non resident) are also affected as well. I have heard of several returning to the UK after a stay in Spain are not having their passports stamped on exiting. This may have consequences in the future as per the case of the UK lady being barred from entry as they said she had overstayed the 90 days.
I must say I have never seen any border officials when leaving Spain in pre-Brexit days. I hope it will be different now as I want an exit stamp!
Thank you, Johnson, for the chaos you have created!!
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