Stamping Passports post-Brexit

[alexunterwegs 508]

Has anyone with a UK passport encountered problems with border officials post Brexit, due to passports being stamped?  My understanding is that they should not be stamping if UK nationals have obtained an EU residence permit or can demonstrate they are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. You can see how problems might arise if a passport gets stamped which indicates the passport holder is allowed a maximum of 90 days in the Schengen zone. 

 

The trouble is not all border officials may be up to speed with the terms in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, and may end up just stamping all UK passports.  I'm sure its not always easy for travellers to prevent this happening.  For those travelling by car to the UK from Germany, it will probably be the French border control you encounter, so you have an extra problem if they can't read German. 

Seems obvious that UK passport holders should offer their Aufenthaltskarte/residence document along with the passport to the official.  If there are problems, hopefully these will just be teething whilst border officals get up to speed.    

[Feierabend 1,076]

OH just checked his passport, he got back from the UK yesterday. It was stamped. But then he realised he presented his driving licence by mistake instead of the residence card (they look similar) ... now wondering if he should take some preemtive action ...

[murphaph 8,876]

Is there anything different in the way a British permanent residence holder should be treated compared to one from another third country?

 

I'm guessing passports of permanent residents get stamped by mistake all the time across the EU and once the residence permit can be shown when entering next time there won't be a problem. 

 

There are plenty of third country permanent residents on here. I guess some of them may have had their passports stamped and can say if this caused any problems later, especially at another Schengen border.

 

[Feierabend 1,076]

He rang a helpline that told him to contact the Bundespolizei at the arrival airport. They said he can call to the office there when in the vicinity to have the stamp cancelled if he was concerned.

[BethAnnBitt 2,583]

5 hours ago, murphaph said:

I'm guessing passports of permanent residents get stamped by mistake all the time across the EU and once the residence permit can be shown when entering next time there won't be a problem. 

In 2019, when I first received my Aufenthaltstitel, I was at ZRH and only showed my US passport.  Fortunately my mistake came to light before it was scanned (effectively stamped).  I was sternly warned to always present my Aufenthaltstitel first, passport second.  Since then I’ve never forgotten that rule.

Quote

There are plenty of third country permanent residents on here. I guess some of them may have had their passports stamped and can say if this caused any problems later, especially at another Schengen border.

I could see it causing major headaches both for third country nationals as well as border control workers, which is why I believe I was told in no uncertain terms to do it correctly.  

[murphaph 8,876]

That's good info right there.

[Dembo 390]

I was wondering how this works. I have my Fiktionsbescheinigung. It's very official looking, but all in German and nothing suggests it's any kind of EU standard thing that border guards outside of Germany would know anything about. I suppose they could find someone who speaks German. 

 

But is it a problem? The stamp would presumably be noticed when you later exit; i.e. that you've exceeded the maximum time. But you haven't exceeded the maximum time; you have permission to stay and can prove it. At worse it'd cause a bit of delay.

 

 

 

[optimista 5,533]

14 hours ago, BethAnnBitt said:

I was sternly warned to always present my Aufenthaltstitel first, passport second. 

 

That's a lot of people need educating on this one.

 

21 hours ago, Feierabend said:

... he realised he presented his driving licence by mistake...

 

Wonder how many rental car contracts will be issued on the basis of a residence permit in a funny foreign language...

 

They could and should have issued the residence permit in a different pretty colour... so many to choose from.

[Narjiz 157]

Third country national here. I always present my Aufenthaltstitel first (give them a couple of seconds to actually look at the card), then I hand over my passport. To this day I have never had my passport stamped. 

 

 

[HH_Sailor 3,180]

Sailing with Brits recently en route from Spain to the UK, they wanted their passports stamped on leaving Spain...to 'stop the clock'.

 

Unfortunately, no customs or border police at the marina. Airport was some 2hrs in a taxi away. 

 

Pragmatism ruled the day: got the marina office to stamp and date them. Added a squiggle as a signature. 

Now looks like they left Shell Petrol Land as the Shell stamp was all the office had.

 

I'll ask them next year how their passports look (if visiting hours allow)

[Feierabend 1,076]

We were in the vicinity of the airport yesterday so OH popped in to the Bundespolizei office there. They overstamped it with lines and did some computer stuff. No scolding occurred!

 

 

[jeba 4,192]

On 14.9.2021, 02:42:27, alexunterwegs said:

Has anyone with a UK passport encountered problems with border officials post Brexit, due to passports being stamped?  My understanding is that they should not be stamping if UK nationals have obtained an EU residence permit or can demonstrate they are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. You can see how problems might arise if a passport gets stamped which indicates the passport holder is allowed a maximum of 90 days in the Schengen zone.

 

Why would a stamp indicate that you´re allowed to stay for 90 days only? My German passport was stamped when I entered Cyprus and still I had no problem getting a residence permit (MEU1 at the time and MEU3 recently).

[Feierabend 1,076]

Because the UK is no longer an EU member and its citizens are now third country  nationals restricted to a 90 day stay in the Schengen area. 

You have a German passport = EU citizen = you aren't going to get triggered and face legal overstaying conseqences.

Presumably Cyprus also has its own immigration formalites which perhaps include stamping all passports?

 

[jeba 4,192]

18 hours ago, Feierabend said:

Presumably Cyprus also has its own immigration formalites which perhaps include stamping all passports?

No idea. I had asked for a stamp though to have proof of the date of arrival.

[yourkeau 7,673]

On 9/14/2021, 3:42:27, alexunterwegs said:

Has anyone with a UK passport encountered problems with border officials post Brexit, due to passports being stamped?  My understanding is that they should not be stamping if UK nationals have obtained an EU residence permit or can demonstrate they are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. You can see how problems might arise if a passport gets stamped which indicates the passport holder is allowed a maximum of 90 days in the Schengen zone. 

In the EU the passport stamp has no legal validity and it indicates your date of entry into the Schengen area, and nothing more than the date of entry. It serves as a backup in case the database of your entries gets broken.

 

Yes, I had my passport stamped while on German residence permit in some EU countries. I even had an argument with Greek border officers about this, their superior manager said this is the law, and they cannot do anything about it.

 

What determines your duration of stay is your status, not the stamp.

[keith2011 2,219]

11 hours ago, yourkeau said:

 

What determines your duration of stay is your status, not the stamp.

 

Yes fully agree with that following a discussion with my local KVR regarding the delay to my residents permit and the stamp I got in my passport on entering Germany recently! The person I spoke said that the stamp does not mean I have to leave the country in 90 days since my application for a residents permit is still pending, I said I would tell that to the police when they come to deport me!

[optimista 5,533]

Exactly. If the uniforms don't understand or are ignorant of the roolz it is going to be a PITA.

[yourkeau 7,673]

11 hours ago, keith2011 said:

 

Yes fully agree with that following a discussion with my local KVR regarding the delay to my residents permit and the stamp I got in my passport on entering Germany recently! The person I spoke said that the stamp does not mean I have to leave the country in 90 days since my application for a residents permit is still pending, I said I would tell that to the police when they come to deport me!

You can ask for Fiktionsbescheinigung if you want a paper confirming that you applied for the residence permit.

[scook17 163]

Having actually finally got an official brexit residence card earlier in the year, and travelled a few times, I also presented both this and my UK passport when re-entering Germany. Do I actually need to show a UK passport when arriving back into Germany?

 

I know the UK stopped accepting EU based ID cards recently. Was this along the lines of not being able to stamp them? It's much more convenient to be able to carry a credit card sized ID than a book of paper.

[Feierabend 1,076]

9 hours ago, scook17 said:

I know the UK stopped accepting EU based ID cards recently. Was this along the lines of not being able to stamp them? It's much more convenient to be able to carry a credit card sized ID than a book of paper.

 

It's all about "taking back control," innit?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/european-union-id-cards-brexit-passports-b1930474.html%3famp

Never mind that they've managed to decimate the once thriving educational travel business  between the EU and the UK because of the passport requirements for children and visas for the schoolkids who are not children of EU citizens.