Transnational family in a pandemic world :-(

[JonnyEnglander 27]

I don't suppose I am the only one in the same situation. I normally divide my time half and half between my  Partnerin / Step children / grandchildren in Germany and my Octogenarian parents and wider family and friends in England. 

 

Now we have the Super-Gau of the pandemic with all the worlds media singing its the end of the world and if you step outside your house you will be fined / imprisoned / shot etc.

 

Has anybody attempted to visit England , post Brexit and if so did you make it there and back, were you arrested / imprisoned / made bankrupt / shot ??? 

 

My understanding is that I am allowed to visit my parents if they are dead or if I have "proof" that they are about to be dead but I am not allowed to visit while they are alive and kicking. Being 87 and having a long list of ailments with exotic names is probably not close enough to death to cross a border, where I believe the border police are really looking for evidence of at least Rigor Mortis  if not advanced decomposition. 

 

I have been waiting patiently for things to get better since December for my Christmas visit with my ferry being cancelled numerous times. The plan was to drive through Holland but it seems I am not even allowed to enter Holland without an officially approved excuse.  Instead of things getting better, they are getting worse. Even though in England the pandemic is drawing to an end, it seems very week there is a new restriction or more bureaucracy. The latest is , even if there is a miracle and I can get to England, as well as 2 tests to travel to board the ferry and 2 tests to come home, I apparently am required to have 2 tests while sitting at home on my own in quarantine. It looks like 6 tests per visit at 100 quid a go. Why I need 200 quids worth of tests while sat at home on my own for 2 weeks is a mystery.I have more chance of catching Covid from the person giving the test than achieving anything useful. 

 

Annoyingly , sat on my desk in England, is an invitation for a Boris Jab which I would quite like to have done. Here, as I am what we call in aviation "Priority Zulu" , I expect to get a, carefully tested and approved by the very finest of experts, Eu-jab sometime between Oct 2021 and summer 2022. I realise that the worlds most reliable media says that a Boris Jab will cause me to get a  DVT / grow horns / dematerialise and transport to another dimension, but hey-ho, I'm feeling like being wild and reckless so a Boris Jab might be fun. 

 

To add to the fun, my UK registered car is still here and on the wrong side of the border. I gave up trying to register it here and bought a German car. I was planning on returning my UK car to England before Brexit, but now its stuck here, unused and end of April the MOT expires , so no idea how I will get it home after.  I am terrified to drive anywhere in the EU with the letters GB written on my car. 

 

If anyone can recommend a good place in Calais to buy a rubber dingy or if you know anyone willing to pay 10 grand for 1.8 tons of scrap metal then please let me know. 

 

In the meantime, how do you spell "aaaaaagggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" in German ?

 

Frustration Mode _/END

[fraufruit 36,303]

Nominated for post of the year.

[LeonG 13,702]

We are all in the same boat here. Last time I visited mum was xmas 2019. She'll be 87 tomorrow. I gather I'm allowed to travel to Iceland but I'd have to pay for tests and quarantine in a hotel for 2 weeks before I could see her. Due to the 2 tests regimen, only 5 days quarantine is needed to be out and about but her nursing home says 2 weeks for people to visit there.

[kaffeemitmilch 923]

Mom from California hasn't been able to visit the grandkids here for over a year. She used to come 2-3 times a year, and we would go once every couple of years. The annoying thing is she has been fully vaccinated, but the EU is dragging its fucking heels.

[AlexTr 16,848]

I'm from Georgia. Brian Kemp is an idiot and I can go there any time I want with no questions. My parents are too old and sick to travel here.

[fraufruit 36,303]

I haven't seen my son and family in 2 yrs. and 4 months. It is so hard but I keep telling myself that I am not alone. Alas, doesn't make it any easier.

[Metall 13,353]

I haven't seen my family in 14 months... not as bad as your case, but still wail worthy...

[engelchen 12,715]

I have to second the nomination. The entire post is great, but this is my favourite part:

 

5 hours ago, JonnyEnglander said:

I realise that the worlds most reliable media says that a Boris Jab will cause me to get a  DVT / grow horns / dematerialise and transport to another dimension, but hey-ho, I'm feeling like being wild and reckless so a Boris Jab might be fun. 

 

Back to the initial question. 

 

The rules are in constant flux. If you recall before Christmas flights and ferries to and from the UK were cancelled with hardly any warning; a drastic step that was actually probably carried a bit later than it should have been because the UK was still a member of the EU at the time. If a new mutation shows up in the UK I doubt if anyone will be able to stop another transportation shutdown.

 

@JonnyEnglander

If the UK is cutoff from the Continent again, on which side of the wall to you want to be? 

[yesterday 1,289]

..

 

[yesterday 1,289]

6 hours ago, JonnyEnglander said:

I don't suppose I am the only one in the same situation. I normally divide my time half and half between my  Partnerin / Step children / grandchildren in Germany and my Octogenarian parents and wider family and friends in England. 

 

Now we have the Super-Gau of the pandemic with all the worlds media singing its the end of the world and if you step outside your house you will be fined / imprisoned / shot etc.

 

Has anybody attempted to visit England , post Brexit and if so did you make it there and back, were you arrested / imprisoned / made bankrupt / shot ??? 

 

 

In the last year or so, I have stayed in Germany.

 

One of my English friends, has travelled to the UK and back 4 times to visit his wife!

 

He goes again on the 10 th of April, so it can be done ...

 

Each time he goes it seems to get harder

 

This time, he is flying Munich to ( not sure ) but in the UK, with Lufthansa, last time it was Munich via Amsterdam to Manchester with KLM, he tried Easyjet/Ryanair but it just does not work + they talk your money and its hard to get it back, even though they cancelled the flight.

 

He said the Flight with Lufthansa, to the UK, costs 200 pounds, But to get into the UK you need

 

a ( 72 hour ) negative, COVID test 

You have to apply to go to the UK, with a reason, they can reject it

You need somewhere to stay, ie his house you have to isolate there 

You need further negative COVID tests

 

On the way back

Again COVID test

Isolate

More COVID tests

 

He will see his wife for 2 weeks and isolate for 2 weeks

 

Lufthansa is charging 200 pounds for the flights

COVID tests will cost 400 pounds

 

So it can be done,  the UK may not accept that you stay with your parents, just try it, expensive and uses a lot of holiday.

 

 

 

[JonnyEnglander 27]

Yes, it does seem to be the case that some flights are still taking place. Unfortunately I have already had the experience of booking a flight at fantastical cost only to have the airline cancel it and keep the money. The trouble is I want to take my 1.8 Tonnes of scrap metal to the UK where it will magically transform into a motor vehicle upon crossing the border. Its a bit big for hand luggage on the plane although not greatly larger than some of the passengers I have sat next to on previous, flights. 

 

The  usual road routes to the septic Isle are  Rottendam-Hull, Dover-Calais, or Dover-Dunkirk. Using the French routes means driving through Germany, Holland , Belgium , France and UK. That means 5 sets of pretty uniforms to encounter, all of whom have their own individual ideas of what constitutes an "essential reason for travel". Worst of all , while in most countries the government make the law and the Police enforce it, in France its the other way round with everyone in a  uniform making it up as they go along. Its called the "Droit de Idiotes". In September when I last travelled from UK to Germany, the rule was EU residents could transit France. It was even written on the French embassy website. I went Hull-Rottendam and the check in lady confirmed they were carrying a number of sub-happy passengers who had been denied entry to France. Makron says Oui but the Monsieur Gendarm says Non 

 

I'm especially keen to get the car back because there is a huge risk that an EU driver driving a non EU car is a "tax evader". I have read several horror stories of Germans driving Swiss cars and having them confiscated and being presented with a tax bill more than the car is worth. I can't register it here because the TÜV tester recons it was built wrong and the EU approved solution is to dissemble it and build it again using parts which are unfortunately not available. As its 6 years old the manufacturer denies all liability so the best thing to do is get it back to the UK where 5 MOT testers recon its just fine. Obviously I have my excuses for having a UK car in the EU  and hope under the circumstances that I will not be accused of tax evasion, however its always unwise to rely on logic and common sense when dealing with any tax authority. For now I keep it hidden in a garage and won't drive it until the trip home. I bought a German car for less than the "repair" quote on the old one.

 

As far as I can see, the only thing I can do is wait until non essential travel through Holland is allowed. Currently we are not allowed to even enter Holland unless its officially approved "essential". There are reports that the ferry is not even allowed to dock at Rotterdam although I suspect the reports are wrong. Even so the ferry company say travel only for "essential reasons". All I can do is sit it out and wait until the pandemic is over, which given the immunisation disaster here is unlikely to be this year. 

 

To add to the fun and games, its only a matter of time before one or more governments decide that an officially approved and certified immunisation is required to cross a border. That will probably need a double dose of AstraZeneca in the UK, certified in English  and a double dose of Pfizer in the EU certified auf deutsch.

 

 

[Anna66 2,379]

I sympathise whole heartedly. I haven't seen my family for 2 years.

[Santitas 478]

My mom has never met her first and only grandchild 🥺

[VOV509V 21]

I totally get this thread. I guess I was fortunate to see my family the last time in February 2020. in the meantime my father is in end stage dementia and my mother only saw him twice since the start of 2020 so my own chances are slim. 
 

i have thought about going to the UK but given the complexity of the whole operation I decided to save myself the stress the 20 days leave I would require and the probably at least 2 grand needed for the whole expedition.  
 

funnily enough I was in contact with a colleague in China who was amazed that the EU had not yet been able to vaccinate enough people yet. I was at pains to explain that here people have the right to refuse a vaccine. He didn’t get that concept but it kind of explains where we are. So given the current vaccination plan (is there one here?!) I guess I will be able to visit the UK some time in 2022. But hey happy FaceTime Easter...

[LukeSkywalker 6,430]

Some rough stories. At least I saw my dad and brother in August last year on Mallorca together with my aunt and cousin and then my nephew and niece in the Netherlands in October last year together with my uncle and aunt, cousins and good friends.

[knotheadusc 354]

I haven't seen my mom since 2015.  Luckily, she's okay with it.  We do Skype once a month.

 

I haven't been to the US since 2014.  Don't miss it that much.

[cybil 1,443]

I haven't seen America since 2009. My whole family lives in America but each member in a different state.

 

Mom died there this January and Dad had no funeral, just took the urn of ashes home and showed it to us in Skype one day. By 'us' I mean the one sibling that still shows up in Skype or responds to emails/group emails.

 

The other sibling in America has fallen off the cyber map. As long distance calling is free within America, Dad tries to stay in touch with that one by phone of late but doesn't get any kind of conversation going. He took up calling that sib after Mom died as the absentee sibling was having mental health decline while Mom's own health was in decline/Mom suspected sib had signs of early dementia (mid-50s) but never got around to saying so to sib/sibling still in communication and I suspect spousal abuse due to a cryptic phone call mentioning hubby wanting to put her in a mental hospital. But no follow-up/way to get over there and see what's going on in person. 

 

Another person left falling through the cracks while corona drags on. 

[mainzigartig 31]

We had a baby at the start of the first wave and Grandma has never seen her child and missed his entire babyhood as he is now firmly a toddler...at this rate maybe she never will as the EU is so far behind the curve on vaccinations that resistant mutations will be here by the time they get 33% vaccinated and Japan (where Grandma lives) hasn't even started and hopes that if they close the drawbridge long enough corona will somehow go away without them ever having to shell out for imported vaccines. How they will hold the Olympics is a mystery...maybe Japanese athletes only?

 

We moved to Halle not too long before the first wave and know nobody...no Krabbelgruppe and all support resources are closed...just us and the Hebamme (who is wonderful)

[BethAnnBitt 1,808]

25 minutes ago, mainzigartig said:

at this rate ... the EU is so far behind the curve on vaccinations that resistant mutations will be here by the time they get 33% vaccinated

This is my fear.  The US is vaccinating like there’s no tomorrow and opening back up while new and stronger variants are fermenting.  So there’s an experiment to watch.  Perhaps being a bit ahead will make it easier to play catch-up when the new bad guys take over.  🤷‍♀️  That ship has sailed here. 

[yourkeau 7,002]

We all haven't visited our families since 2019, stop crying. 

 

It's like living in a world war, without an actual war. Sooner or later, either this will end, or the new rules will allow travel more freely. 

 

There is hope for an ultrafast airport PCR test, this will be a deal-breaker. 

 

I am vaccinated but cannot travel anywhere so far. Greece and Cyprus promise to recognize Israeli vaccination certificates, that is it.