Immigration query.

[Tumshie]

I am a UK citizen who will be flying to the Spanish mainland to join a transatlantic cruise. We will be flying back to the UK from the Caribbean.

Our last EU port will be in the Canary Islands.

Does anyone who has done a similar cruise know how we will have our passports stamped to say that we have left the Schengen Area?

Are there arrangements at the final EU port or on board?

If there is no stamp to say that you have left the Schengen area then surely this will cause potential problems for your next EU holiday when arriving at their Border. They will presumably assume you never left and have overstayed.

I have asked the cruise operator who, to be frank, are useless.

 

[Thejuggler]

The EU articles state when you leave Schengen for a third Country you need an exit check.

 

 

Edited September 12, 2022 by Thejuggler

[Bob++]

Passports are rarely stamped these days. We flew from the UK to Madeira (a Portuguese island) and back a few months ago. No stamps at all in either direction.

 

Passports were, of course, scanned and our travels are undoubtedly stored in a database somewhere.

[wowzz]

22 hours ago, Tumshie said:

If there is no stamp to say that you have left the Schengen area then surely this will cause potential problems for your next EU holiday when arriving at their Border. They will presumably assume you never left and have overstayed.

As Bob says,  everything is recorded digitally.  No need for stamps.

[Megabear2]

I beg to differ!  Since June when arriving by air I've been stamped in and out of Rome four times, Majorca, Barcelona, Kefalonia, Salzburg and Munich.  I'm very familiar with some staff at the latter and we shared a joke I'd need a bigger passport at this rate.  Currently in Italy and stamped into Verona on Sunday evening on arrival.

 

All of my cruises this year to date have been fly cruises and my entry to Europe has certainly included physical passport stamping on arrival to a country, but not when visiting ports from the ship which assumedly was electronic.

[Snow Hill]

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

As Bob says,  everything is recorded digitally.  No need for stamps.

Not everywhere it isn’t, until The EU EES system comes in next May, until then passports will need to be stamped, otherwise you maybe refused entry the next time you turn up at immigration, as a number have already found. 

[Snow Hill]

On 9/12/2022 at 11:14 PM, Bob++ said:

Passports are rarely stamped these days. We flew from the UK to Madeira (a Portuguese island) and back a few months ago. No stamps at all in either direction.

 

Passports were, of course, scanned and our travels are undoubtedly stored in a database somewhere.

If you used the E-gates then your passport will have a “virtual stamp”, but not all EU countries are letting U.K. passport holders use those gates yet, Portugal is one country that is. 

[Bob++]

Okay. It looks like there are a lot of variations then.

[Bill Y]

13 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

If you used the E-gates then your passport will have a “virtual stamp”, but not all EU countries are letting U.K. passport holders use those gates yet, Portugal is one country that is. 

Porto in July, we had to use the E-gates then to go a kiosk to get passports stamped, then on the way back have then stamped again, it took some time to find an check the date on the inward stamp as the stamps were seven pages apart. They did not want to rely on the computer. I can't imagine many countries wishing to trawl through passports to add days up.

[Snow Hill]

3 hours ago, Bill Y said:

Porto in July, we had to use the E-gates then to go a kiosk to get passports stamped, then on the way back have then stamped again, it took some time to find an check the date on the inward stamp as the stamps were seven pages apart. They did not want to rely on the computer. I can't imagine many countries wishing to trawl through passports to add days up.

When this system comes in to operation in May 2023, it should end the need for passport stamping.

 

https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen-borders-and-visa/smart-borders/entry-exit-system_en

 

Apparently U.K. is developing its own system to check entry/exit, due sometime in 2025/26 allegedly. 

Edited September 14, 2022 by Snow Hill

[Tothesunset]

We haven't entered the EU except for going ashore on Brest in July from the SoA. There were no formalities at all. 

 

My son and his wife went to Stockholm in June. He passed straight through the EU channel with his Irish passport but she had to queue with the other great unwashed. 45 minutes he had to wait for her! 

[sandancer]

This year we have flown from Rome and Barcelona this year following transatlantic cruises. Last week we flew from Bordeaux. Our passports were stamped every time. 

[Digjharper]

Had numerous Euro trips this year for long weekends, football and cruises and would say our passports have been stamped approx 50% of the time. As another poster stated, all movements are recorded electronically so no big deal.

[Snow Hill]

13 hours ago, Digjharper said:

Had numerous Euro trips this year for long weekends, football and cruises and would say our passports have been stamped approx 50% of the time. As another poster stated, all movements are recorded electronically so no big deal.

In some countries they are, but not all EU countries currently record electronically the entering & exiting of the country, that is due to change late next year with the introduction of the EU’s Entrance and Exit System which will require biometric data such as fingerprints and facial scans.

 

Currently Cruise passengers are not having passports stamped as they are usually ashore for less than 12 hours, this might change next year. 
 

This system will only apply to those travellers from 3rd countries, if you have an EU passport it won’t apply. 
 

https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen-borders-and-visa/smart-borders/entry-exit-system_en

Edited October 5, 2022 by Snow Hill