US Citizens, Long Stay Visa in France - have questions

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by SV Coronado

You don't have to check in/out when sailing between Schengen countries.

Actually you do it every time you enter a marina.. a foreign national has to present boats papers and passports when you book in, this goes into a central data base.
Just because you don't see a C&I official does not mean your not watched.
One other thing, if a boat is bought for export normally one has 3 months to get it out of the EU to keep the non VAT status so I would check any arrangement you have is valid for the whole of the EU and not just France.. complete with papers to prove it.
Be a bummer if you get tugged by the Portuguese for VAT as you head for the Med

[Colin Stone]

Originally Posted by SV Coronado

As I understand it, the short answer is that your visa gives you one year in France, not one year in the Schengen region.

The 6 month FR VLS-T allows 90 days in other Schengen countries. I would have thought a 1 year visa, VLS-TS??, would allow the same??
The visa application guidance clearly indicates that the majority of the time has to be in France.
The UK FR Consulate are asking those with mobile means, boats, mobile homes etc, more detailed questions on their plans for the visa period. They appear to be getting concerned about leakage beyond 90 days into other Schengen countries. Easy on the inland waterways, but more of a hike from the Biscay coast.

[jalmberg]

With a long term French visa, I believe you are still limited to 90 days in other Schengen area countries. You can stay a year in France, obviously.

FYI, I have a long term French visa and my boat is currently in Scotland. There are thousands of foreign boats in Europe which manage to avoid the VAT successfully, don’t worry too much about it.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by SV Coronado

You don't have to check in/out when sailing between Schengen countries.

I believe if the boat is foreign flagged and / or foreign / non-resident crew that one has to clear customs and immigration upon arrival at each country by private vessel.

Perhaps I am misperceiving the need to go through the Q flag / Free Pratique processes.

[jalmberg]

All your answers are on this web page.

https://www.noonsite.com/cruising-resources/european-union/

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by jalmberg

All your answers are on this web page.

https://www.noonsite.com/cruising-re...uropean-union/

Thank you, so the ESS has yet to be implemented, now stating May 2024.

The ESS will make for simple electronic entry / exit recordations.

It has been delayed an incredible number of times. Bureaucracy at its worst. Simple biometrics and data collection made somehow complicated.

But then it took years for Canada and the USA to get to sharing their entry dates which then one can calculate the length of stay by comparing the date of entry for one country and the return entry back into the other and sharing that with each country to know who has overstayed. Not rocket science as to simply not recording the exits, just collect the entries.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Montanan

Thank you, so the ESS has yet to be implemented, now stating May 2024.
...

I have been reading it was rolled back to 2025.

https://www.etiasauthorisation.com/articles/what-is-ees

What is EES?

The Entry/Exit-System, or EES, is a large-scale IT system that is being implemented as part of the Smart Borders Package introduced by the EU in 2016.
The EES was postponed until 2025.

[Montanan]

Tomorrow, never comes.

Anyones guess:


An article, not sure how official this projection is.

https://etias.com/articles/eu-border-security-ees-launch-2024




The European Union’s (EU) long-delayed Entry/Exit Scheme (EES) will finally launch on October 6, 2024, according to confirmation by The Independent from Eurotunnel, the operator of the Channel Tunnel railway between France and the UK.

The EES aims to strengthen EU borders by requiring travelers from outside the bloc to provide biometric data like fingerprints each time they enter or exit.

Delayed Launch
The launch has been postponed multiple times as EU countries struggled to integrate their border systems with the central EES database.

France specifically requested postponing EES until after the 2024 Paris Olympics to avoid travel delays during the events.

Eurotunnel shared the new 2024 launch date, though EU officials have yet to confirm it.

Members will need to verify readiness in August 2024.