New (to me) twist on the Schengen dance..

[sv Grateful]

My wife and I, both US citizens on a US flagged vessel recently cleared into Palma de Mallorca Spain from Gibraltar where we had obtained entrance passport stamps upon our arrival there from the Azores.

Following a mild and good natured rebuke about "Gibraltar being a 'special' case," I was told by the Spanish Police Inspector in the immigration office that I would not receive, nor did I need Spanish passport stamps for entering the EU from Gibraltar because my wife and I are 'attached to the vessel' and that as long as we remained within 10 miles of the vessel, we would never technically enter Schengen. When asked about the 90 of 180 day rule, he said that it did not apply to a crew attached to a vessel and went on to say that because both of our names appear on our US ship documentation, we had easy proof of our 'attachment' and can stay in Schengen as long as we please as long as we do not leave the vessel.

As convenient as that sounds, I'm not sure an immigration officer in Italy will have the same take on our status of we overstay our 90 days before departing Schengen for Tunisia later this year.

Anyone out there have insight on this?

[Azure85]

Curious about your statement that you both appear on your US ship documentation. Do you mean that you appear as joint owners of the vessel on the US Coast Guard Certificate of Documentation?

[chuckr]

Hum - interestingly -- I would probably adhere to the rules even through the Italians are bit more lenient than some others --
Now for your timing. When are you planning to head to Tunisia? We wintered there 2 winters and you may be getting a bit late to have a comfortable trip down there. Not sure on the total wx picture as have not looked in a bit but wx changes not for the good as the season progresses.
We are cowards and try to be in for the winter by late October or very early November which is now.


We also have friends trying to move around the central Med and are stuck with long delays trying to get to their winter home. You need to start looking at the wx as the trip down can get very uncomfortable

[Greg K]

When we first cruised in the Med almost two decades ago, we had wintered in Barcelona and in Porto Di Roma ( Ostia). After almost two years in the EU, my wife, a Japanese national, needed to fly back home and we were both concerned that having overstayed the 90 day Schengen limit, she may have problems with immigration on the way out. There is a seaman's waver on that limit though for ship's crew, I believe, and in that belief I made a trip to the Canadian embassy in Rome ( my boat was Canadian registered) and asked them to stamp a simple letter of intention stating that my wife was permanent crew and that she would be departing EU territory by boat. I singed this letter as captain and owner. Not surprisingly, when departing EU territory in Helsinki ( flight was Rome-Helsinki-Tokyo) she was questioned on her overstay in the EU to which she answered she was ship's crew and showed the immigration officer a copy of the ship's registration as well as the letter I had written and had stamped by the Canadian embassy. The officer took a look at the documentation and waved her through without any problems.

Point of the story: (1)the problem with overstaying will probably only come up when you are flying out and, (2) even though this was almost 20 years ago when things were certainly a lot looser, a letter of some sort, preferably officially stamped, stating that you are permanent ship's crew might still work in a pinch.

Greg

[BartGib]

It should be noted that Gibraltar is in the EU but not in Schengen, Customs Union etc.

Gibraltar will be leaving the EU on December 31st along with the UK.

As an Overseas Territory we have come under and still do come under UK's membership agreements with the EU.
It is however highly possible that Gibraltar will have a different relationship with the EU to the UK on Jan 1 2021. Mainly due to the fact that Spain/EU will implement different arrangements to that of the UK.

[ccannan]

Originally Posted by sv Grateful

My wife and I, both US citizens on a US flagged vessel recently cleared into Palma de Mallorca Spain from Gibraltar where we had obtained entrance passport stamps upon our arrival there from the Azores.

Following a mild and good natured rebuke about "Gibraltar being a 'special' case," I was told by the Spanish Police Inspector in the immigration office that I would not receive, nor did I need Spanish passport stamps for entering the EU from Gibraltar because my wife and I are 'attached to the vessel' and that as long as we remained within 10 miles of the vessel, we would never technically enter Schengen. When asked about the 90 of 180 day rule, he said that it did not apply to a crew attached to a vessel and went on to say that because both of our names appear on our US ship documentation, we had easy proof of our 'attachment' and can stay in Schengen as long as we please as long as we do not leave the vessel.

As convenient as that sounds, I'm not sure an immigration officer in Italy will have the same take on our status of we overstay our 90 days before departing Schengen for Tunisia later this year.

Anyone out there have insight on this?

I wish I had seen your post earlier as I have had similar problems/issues, and I sincerely believe in sharing the stories/incidents to help inform other mariners.

The Majorcan immigration police refusal to stamp your passports for entry into Spain/EU gives you a great situation. This is exactly what happened to me. In fact it sounds like we dealt with the same Majorcan immigration officer in the Palma cruise ship terminal. While in the Balearics, at least, you are in the EU and none of the clocks are ticking! Once you depart the Balearics and reach another country or mainland Spain, I recommend checking in. If immigration officials ask where you are coming from answer truthfully, and they should provide entry stamps in your passports. If that country is an EU country that stamp date will start your EU clocks again.

Originally Posted by sv Grateful

My wife and I, both US citizens on a US flagged vessel recently cleared into Palma de Mallorca Spain from Gibraltar where we had obtained entrance passport stamps upon our arrival there from the Azores.

Following a mild and good natured rebuke about "Gibraltar being a 'special' case," I was told by the Spanish Police Inspector in the immigration office that I would not receive, nor did I need Spanish passport stamps for entering the EU from Gibraltar because my wife and I are 'attached to the vessel' and that as long as we remained within 10 miles of the vessel, we would never technically enter Schengen. When asked about the 90 of 180 day rule, he said that it did not apply to a crew attached to a vessel and went on to say that because both of our names appear on our US ship documentation, we had easy proof of our 'attachment' and can stay in Schengen as long as we please as long as we do not leave the vessel.

As convenient as that sounds, I'm not sure an immigration officer in Italy will have the same take on our status of we overstay our 90 days before departing Schengen for Tunisia later this year.

Anyone out there have insight on this?