Off Topic Travel requirements to the EU

I have created this to put up what I hope might be helpful if you wish to cross the Channel. There are still many questions being asked that there is not certainty about, so as things become clearer they can be added to the thread and not scattered about.

The following is a list of the paperwork you will now need to carry when travelling to the EU, which you may be asked to produce at the border.


A reservation at a hotel, gite or campsite if you are going on holiday.


An insurance certificate covering all medical, hospital and funeral expenses, which may be incurred during the entire period of your stay in France, inc medical repatriation costs.


Cash, traveller's cheques, or a valid international credit card to show you can support yourself throughout your stay. (1)


A return ticket.


If you plan to stay with friends or relatives then you must obtain an “attestation d'accueil”. This has to be applied for at the town hall covering the area you are staying in, and involves the owner showing proof of ownership of the property, proof of residence at the address, ID documents, proof of revenue, commit to supporting you financially if required and more. This has to be applied for before you enter the country, can take four weeks to be granted or refused and costs €30 in France, more elsewhere. In Spain it is called a “carta de invitación”, obtainable from the Policía Nacional and recently cost €78.

1. Turn up without a reservation and you are expected to show funds of €120 per person per day, If you have a hotel or similar the sum is reduced to €65 pppd.
   

The above all seems to be certain, but there are cases that haven’t been defined exactly yet. If you own a holiday home within the EU then you should be prepared to have proof of ownership. It has not been stated if the “holy grail” electricity bill would be enough, or if you would need proof of purchase from the notaire.

Insurance looks as if it could be expensive from a few reports, especially if you are older.

 

Thank you, ofh. We were going to go to Paris with the boys for a week last August, obviously pre-Brexit, before lockdown buggered that up, so it’s good to see what might be required now.
I won’t go down the bleedin’ obvious route of “Why the #@&§ was this necessary?”

 

I will...

 

Frenchie, are you sure that this is for the EU and not just for France ? In Germany, Britain is currently designated a 'risk area` and so entry of any kind would only be by production of a negatve test result (from the last 48 hours) or proof of full vaccination (this is because of the Indian variant) Once this has all blown over and we come down to normal post Brexit conditions of entry all you will need for Germany is a return ticket, proof that you have enough money for your stay, and you will probably get your passport stamped on entry. As far as I am aware the Germans are not interested where you are staying. The conditions are exactly the same as when I first came here. Visitors from the USA and Canada do not have to account for 'where they will be staying' whilst here (and demanding this information may be against the German constitution anyway). All that happens is that your passport number would be recorded at any hotel or hostel (the same as for a German citizen). You can stay for up to 90 days.

 

The British Embassy have confirmed what I have put here. The regulations came into force on the 1st May. There are clearly options for individual countries to deal with it as they wish, France, Spain and Italy all had different procedures to issue the certificates for staying with friends as an example. Holland and Belgium seem to be in the process of developing their systems to take account of the May changes. I have not found any examples of what Germany is doing. People have confirmed that they have had visitors from third countries over the years, and they have had to have similar documents.

 

I have checked out the situation regarding the USA and Canadian visitors cologne. They have reciprocal agreements in place with countries within the Schengen area to avoid the need for visas. ETIAS is the EU version of the electronic visa system that operates in the USA, and is due to be working within the EU at the end of 2022.

 

Many thanks for this.
I thought EHIC's that were not date expired were sufficient for medical insurance ?
Most people who go by car will have the insurance on their motoring policy ? Sufficient ?
I believe 'Green card' ( not green and not a card) is also required if you go by personal transport.
If you have a property in France (as we do) then you probably have a French Bank Account. I assume this will cover the money issue ?
Does the ownership of property obviate the need for a return ticket. In our case, we have no idea when we will return. But obviously within 90 days.
Whatever, doesn't look like we are going any time soon.

And since our resident lunatic disappeared from this site, we have no one else to hurl abuse at - for all this nonsense. Bah !

 

The situation seems to be very unclear and changing all the time.
I am am meber of a facebook group FRANCE 2ND HOME OWNERS and they are getting conflicting advice from the French Govt.... but were told this week that the EHIC is good enough for travel purposes... but i am sure it will change again and again

 

A EHIC card is still valid for medical treatment, but does it actually cover funeral costs or a repatriation of a body? Not sure, but the French regulations included those two possibilities for insurance cover.
The whole business of second home owners is one of the areas that no one seems to be sure about. People are trying to get answers. When I see more I will post it.
The need for a return ticket is to show that you intend to return within the 90 days. My guess is that people will book ferries etc. for the 90 day max. then exchange them when they do need to return back.

 

Thanks again. Do you (yourself) have a Carte de Sejour, or something more 'permanent' ?
Do you know if we could apply for a 'Carte de Sejour' from here (the UK) ? If we have to be in France to apply, then I wonder what happens if the process takes longer than 90 days, which invalidates our status once 90 days are up.

Now here's a thing, another thing. We usually travel to France via Santander and a visit to our son in Portugal. So if we enter Spain, with its rules, then what is likely to happen at the border between Spain & Portugal, and the border between Spain & France given we are in a car with UK registration ? Have border controls reappeared in EU countries since Brexit ?
For simplicity - I'm ignoring Covid in all this ( having had 2 injections and a tatty card to prove it).

 

I've never known any controls on the Spanish/Portuguese border Bodbo - and, bearing in mind that the Spanish/French border runs the length of the Pyrenees, it is easy enough to cross. I have actually been in the Pyrenees trecking and there are times when you don't know which country you are in. EU countries are not going to suddenly reinvent borders just because of the British.

 

This has appeared on my French news feed.

Thus, it will be necessary to have a valid health pass, a vaccination certificate (i.e. having received two injections) or a negative PCR test dating back less than 48 hours to travel in Europe this summer. Mainly aimed at festivals and sports events, but will be operational across the whole EU from 20th June.

 

Yes we have a Carte de Sejour which we received last month. You cannot apply for one unless you are a permanent resident.

Having not travelled far for the past 18 months I don't know much about internal border control. My son-in- law has been stuck in Switzerland because they do have border controls operating because of the pandemic.

 

Thanks for all your trouble in replying to my queries. There's not much we can do at the moment in any case. I noticed that you have to be in
France to apply for a Carte de Sejour. I wasn't sure if you could 'kick it off' from here. I'm not really fussed about the Covid impact.
If I had had any idea of what a complete mess we have become here , I'd have bought a more practical property for long-term residence in France - probably in Fouras les Bains or near La Rochelle. That said, our friends who live in Paris & Poitiers aren't that impressed by the state of France just now ( Covid-specific really).
We'll get back there one day. ( But we need to get Mrs J T right first - and that might take quite a while).

 

There seems to be little information about German requirements after covid cologne, but the German embassy in London does say that the documents described for other EU countries will be required. If you can find out anything different it would be helpful to post it here.

 

I really feel for you and your wife. We only started off intending to have a holiday home, but realized that we would rather live here than in our comfortable middle class village in Northants. Clearly there was no indication of what the UK could do to itself 14 years ago.
Paris and other big cities still have too many with covid, but the numbers requiring hospital treatment are falling and the vaccination program seems to have really kicked in now. Our local hospital is part of the Poitier hospital and after a slow start when we couldn't get vaccinated it is all go now. There seem to be very few cases of the Indian strain in the country, so maybe if we keep our fingers crossed we will come out of it soon. We can go out until 9.00pm from next Wednesday, not that it will make much difference here, but we can meet up with friends outside for a meal, something that we are really looking forward to.

 

I don’t have much time to spend on here, so I am quickly ‘out of the loop’. Wishing you and Mrs JT all the best.

 

Thanks

Thanks. I think we would be quite safe in our very small corner of Poitou Charente ,but we have been very lucky in our home and local community here in Cheshire - the national picture notwithstanding. I do enjoy reading your accounts - even though I don't enjoy gardening at all !
My season ticket partner at Mecca has a lovely house in Provence , to which he is trying to move permanently , with his (French) wife. They have been in MK for many years ,in a flat, but cannot wait to move, except they are trapped at the moment. It's very frustrating for them. He will keep his season ticket. By judicious booking, he can get from Provence to Vicarage road for about the same as it costs me to get there from Cheshire by train. weid or what.
Anyway - onwards and upwards

 

It's clear that living in Poitou-Charentes has been one of the safest places to be through all this. For the moment, I have more worries about whether our sons will manage to come out this summer than about COVID, OH has had his two vaccinations and is receiving hospital treatment very safely throughout the past months, and I have had one and am due for the second. As many predicted, once the French got the doses, it has been very well-organised. We do know rural folks with no means of transport who have needed help, I wonder if this sort of thing accounts for the 23% of this age range not vaccinated yet.
Not sure if even vaccinated fully I would want to fly or go on a train though.

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3095316217195803/

This is the link to the French FB group