EEA Family members and cruising in Europe

[marionsan]

Hi,

I am going with my wife on a 7-day cruise from Barcelona through various Italian ports, Mallorca and back to Barcelona.

My wife holds residence card as a family member of EEA national and previously she travelled visa free to France, Austria, etc. Spanish Embassy confirmed she can travel to Spain visa free too.

I believe she won't have trouble boarding the cruise ship calling in various ports in Italy and Spain but just want to confirm with the members, in case there might be some exception for cruising.

[ca.funke]

...Barcelona...various Italian ports...Mallorca...Barcelona...

From the listed ports, this seems a purely Schengen-Domestic cruise. No problems whatsoever.

I took a cruise including some Schengen-countries + Tunisia. Just to be on the safe side, we organised a visa for Tunisia before going. Even that was superfluous, no-one even looked at it in Tunisia. Seems a cruiseliner is not a typical mode-of-transport for illegal entrants.

What surprised me most: Arriving in Rome (Civitavecchia) from Tunis: Absolutely no new check whatsoever, although I think there should have been one, arriving from "out-of-Schengen".

Summary: Your Schengen-Domestic trip shouldn´t yield any problems whatsoever...

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

When you are unsure or feeling anxious about it, it is always a good idea to travel with your marriage certificate. It is proof of your relationship to the EU citizen and can be important if you are ever told you do not have the right documents...

See http://eumovement.wordpress.com/2010/08 ... to-travel/

[marionsan]

Hi

Reporting back from the trip, we had no problems entering Spain without Schengen Visa, nor had we problems at check-in for the cruise.

We however had an ugly experience when departing Barcelona airport back to London. The Spanish (immigration) police either had a bad day or completely did not know what they are doing. The officer at immigration check-point took my wife's passport and insisted she needs Schengen Visa. We tried to explain that she does not as a family member of EEA national - travelling with the EEA national and having UK EEA family member residence card in her passport. The officer did not accept it and called supposedly her supervisor. After hanging up she again confirmed my wife need Schengen visa. We showed our marriage certificate but this did not help either. Then we pointed to the Barcelona entry stamp and the reply was: I do not know how did you get this but you need Schengen visa. At this point we started becoming frustrated with the officer's incompetence and she was becoming more abrupt and raising her voice too. She finally handed passport's back saying she will not stamp the passport with Spanish exit stamp but let us board the flight. All this did not make sense especially when my wife had already been admitted to Spain without Schengen visa and had Spanish entry stamp. When we questioned the officer further she became abrupt and angry, screaming OUT, GET OUT!!!! When I asked her name and staff number she refused to identify herself and became even more aggresive. When she came talking back to us she completely hid her ID card from our view and as such I was not able to record her name or ID but I do know the time and location of the incident.

I feel we had been badly treated and the officer did not follow the right procedures and abused her power. I would like to complain to relevant authorities. Can someone advice on the matter and to who I could complaint because what happened to us shows absolute lack of knowledge or abuse of power on side of the officer.

Thanx.

[eldane]

Hi

Reporting back from the trip, we had no problems entering Spain without Schengen Visa, nor had we problems at check-in for the cruise.

We however had an ugly experience when departing Barcelona airport back to London. The Spanish (immigration) police either had a bad day or completely did not know what they are doing. The officer at immigration check-point took my wife's passport and insisted she needs Schengen Visa. We tried to explain that she does not as a family member of EEA national - travelling with the EEA national and having UK EEA family member residence card in her passport. The officer did not accept it and called supposedly her supervisor. After hanging up she again confirmed my wife need Schengen visa. We showed our marriage certificate but this did not help either. Then we pointed to the Barcelona entry stamp and the reply was: I do not know how did you get this but you need Schengen visa. At this point we started becoming frustrated with the officer's incompetence and she was becoming more abrupt and raising her voice too. She finally handed passport's back saying she will not stamp the passport with Spanish exit stamp but let us board the flight. All this did not make sense especially when my wife had already been admitted to Spain without Schengen visa and had Spanish entry stamp. When we questioned the officer further she became abrupt and angry, screaming OUT, GET OUT!!!! When I asked her name and staff number she refused to identify herself and became even more aggresive. When she came talking back to us she completely hid her ID card from our view and as such I was not able to record her name or ID but I do know the time and location of the incident.

I feel we had been badly treated and the officer did not follow the right procedures and abused her power. I would like to complain to relevant authorities. Can someone advice on the matter and to who I could complaint because what happened to us shows absolute lack of knowledge or abuse of power on side of the officer.

Thanx.

Here you are,
Helps if you write in Spanish. If you don't master Spanish please feel free to PM me the text you want translated.

http://www.policia.es/formulario_generi ... ordenes=51

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

You need to always stay patient in such situations. It is often a good idea to ask that a supervisor come to join the conversation.

The Spanish embassy in London does rude and illegal things to family members of EU citizens. As do the border guards. It is a wonder people go to visit there. Try Germany next time. Super place!

[acme4242]

Such conduct from a Border is not acceptable.

But, its against the law to put entry or exit stamp on EU family members
passport who present EU/EEA residence Card.

So when you complain, you can only complain about her conduct,
not the fact that she didn't stamp the passport, because she is
not suppose to stamp it.
You should not have had an entry stamp either.

Schengen Border Guard Handbook
http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf ... 0.en06.pdf
[quote]
4.3 The travel document of family members of EU, EEA and CH citizens
who are third country nationals must also be stamped , unless they
present a residence permit or card with the indication “family member of
an EU citizenâ€

[marionsan]

@Directive/2004/38/EC - we had a choice: either wait for the supervisor and miss the flight or let it be and walk away.

@eldane - thanks eldane. i do not speak Spanish and might get back to you later.

@acme4242 - few Schengen border guards seem to know about this. So far, every time she travel without Schengen Visa she got stamp in her passport (in Spain, in Austria, in France). Furthermore, I guess the argument was more about the issue of NEED or dont NEED Schengen visa and about the behavior of the guard. If she insisted so much on the fact that visa was required, would not that amount to illegal entry/stay? but I think the guard knew that she does not know anything and hence let my wife/us go. Actually, the whole scene was pretty chaotic - she did not know what she was talking about, getting more and more angry until she just yelled at us. The most scary thing is that she refused to identify herself. Not sure what the rules in Spain are. E.g. in UK, the police must wear visible staff numbers.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

@marionsan

Your wife can travel with you because (1) you are both married and (2) you are an EU citizen and (3) you are traveling together

If all three conditions are satisfied, then your wife is not ever "illegally" in the country.

So you could both swim/walk/fly into Spain without your passports and without a visa or without talking with a border guard. You might or might not get fined for an incorrect entry, but even then she would be legally in the country.

And same applies for the EU citizen (you).

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

I'm sorry to have read what had happened to you both.

A minor point, as you were exiting the country, you both have a right of exit with valid passport, see directive article 4.

Although it might seem terribly weighty, it would be worth printing sections of the shengen borders code in the language of the country you are visiting and your own. Allow extra time for queues at immigration.

Spain's transposition error of the directive regarding accepting Schengen issued residence cards only has been corrected and includes all EU issued cards (unlike the UK).

Is this a one-off or do others have similar problems at Spain's border?