Woman delayed at border management warns UK holidaymakers ‘do not make similar mistake’
New travel rules imposed by certain European Union nations left one traveller stumped and delayed as she was pulled up at the gate – and she’s sent an urgent warning to other travellers
One woman was left shocked and delayed after airport officials landed a new rule in regards to travelling into the European Union while at the gate.
Since the UK left the EU in 2020, many new travel rules have been imposed on people hoping to enjoy a bit of European sun. From blue passports to having to pay for visa, some rules can catch many by surprise. This was no exception for one traveller, who was not aware of a strange new policy and was forced into a huge delay while at the gate.
Taking to a Facebook group dedicated to travel stories and news, Beverley S relayed her experience to fellow social media followers. Workers on the gate had to flick through her passport to ensure she had not overstayed her welcome with the new visa.
She wrote: “Interesting development this evening. Coming through border control at Copenhagen airport, the officer on the desk told me she had to count up the stamps in my passport and add up the total number of days to make sure I hadn’t breached the 90 in 180 (I am miles off that).
“Good luck with that as the stamps are all over the show!!”
She continued: “On arrival into Gdansk last month passport control were checking through every page of passports too. I got stopped as Ibiza airport had not stamped my passport on exit in October luckily was allowed in.
“You are only allowed to visit EU for 90 days in any 180 day rolling period.” Beverley was referring to the new rule named Schengen. This is the name given to the group of EEA countries including Spain that allows border-free travel within it. Almost all EU countries form part of Schengen except for Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania.
Under the terms of Schengen, non-EEA nationals cannot spend more than a total of 90 days within a total period of 180 days without a visa. Furthermore, once you’ve used up your quota of 90 days, you cannot return to Schengen until 90 more days have passed.
Fellow travellers seemed to have encountered the same issue. One responded to the post: “That happened to us in Iceland in November. They weren’t busy and had a good chat while counting the stamps.”
Another added: “Happens all the time for us! Most cant even be read! They always seem to give up after a while!”
A third noted: “I’ve just travelled the world for 3 years, this is always the fun part at passport control, Like you say they soon give in can’t wait to start with some EDT’s.” A fifth simply worte: “Happens a lot, they get bored after two pages.”
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