Papers

Revision as of 11:56, 17 February 2011

Papers and administration is a complex world where one usually gets lost. Moreover, when traveling around countries it gets especially difficult to know what papers you need to take with you. Do I need a visa to live six months in Greece if I come from Finland? And if I come from Poland? What about if I'm legal resident in Spain but I come from Guinea? Is it different if I'm only staying there for a few days? Does my country have an agreement for health problems with it?

The aim of this section is to clarify all these matters so that you don't find yourself on the way back home before planned (Yes, Frankfurt has a nice airport...) and so that you save yourself problems in hospitals or police stations -not that we want to see you there.

So, just take this aspirin against bureaucracy headache and concentrate in enjoying your trip!

Travel Rights for EU Citizens

Citizens of the Member States of the European Union have the right to enter and live temporarily in another Member State for the purposes of tourism, visiting friends or relatives, work or training.

If you travel outside the EU, it is useful to know that you can get consular protection from the authorities of a Member State other than yours if your country does not have a consulate or embassy in the country that you are visiting.

Besides, there are also certain laws and benefits regarding the movement of personal effects.

Free movement

"The right of every European citizen to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States."

The free movement within the EU

• is one of the basic aims of the Union,
• is a Fundamental Right for EU citizens since December 2000,
• 'may' be granted to third-country nationals.
• abolishes the border controls at internal borders,
• ensures that free movement is applied in a coherent and simplified way throughout the EU Member States,
• reinforces the checks and controls at the EU's external frontiers to guarantee the Union's internal peace and security.

This means that EU citizens may cross the internal borders of the Union simply on presentation of a valid passport or identity card. In principle no question may be put to them as to the purpose of the journey, the mean of subsistence, etc. However, this right may be restricted only for reasons of public order, public security or public health.

Besides, public order or national security are allowed to require it for checks at the internal borders or throughout the territory in order to guarantee the security of their citizens. If this happens and you don't have any identification with you, the competent authorities can turn you back at the frontier or take action to expel you from the country. For this reason, it is good to carry always a passport or ID with you.

For more information, check the related documents^{[a link is missing {{{1}}}]}.

Schengen Convention

"The first agreement to remove all internal border controls, put in place effective controls at the external borders and introduce a common visa policy."

• It is incorporated into the EU's Treaties since March 2001.
• Countries that have signed up are:
  • 13 EU Member States: Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and Denmark (with some special conditions).
  • 2 non-EU Member States: Norway and Iceland.
  • Switzerland started the negotiations in July 2002.
• Ireland and the United Kingdom WILL:
  • cooperate with police forces and judicial matters,
  • not end border controls.

For more information, check the related documents^{[a link is missing {{{1}}}]}.

Personal Effects

When traveling within the European Union you are allowed to take your personal effects with you without restriction.

For reasons of public interest, Member States may prohibit or restrict certain goods such as drugs, products from endangered species or certain types of pornography. Medicines can be taken but they must not exceed the quantities corresponding to your personal needs. Firearms can also be taken under very strict rules. More information about personal effects here^{[a link is missing {{{1}}}]}.

Money

The euro is the legal tender for 17 states. The symbol for the euro is €. You may take with you all the money you need for your travel. Although restrictions on capital movements have been abolished within the European Union, certain Member States may, for administrative and statistical reasons, require you to declare how much money you are bringing into or taking out of their territory.

The Member States concerned have set thresholds above which transfers must be declared. In addition, the national authorities have the right to carry out checks if they suspect that transfers of funds are connected with criminal activities.

Thanks to new EU rules, the cost of using money abroad is coming down. Withdrawing euro from a cash machine or making card payments in euro (up to euro 12 500) now costs the same wherever you are in the EU, the same applies to euro transfers (up to euro 12 500) between bank accounts.

More information about money on travels here^{[a link is missing {{{1}}}]}.

Pets

You can take your dog or cat with you to any EU country, as long as it has identification through an electronic microchip or tattoo and a valid rabies vaccination.

If you want to take your pet to Ireland, Sweden or the United Kingdom, you may also need to have your pet tested after vaccination to check that it has been effective. The same rule applies to animals from Iceland, Norway and Switzerland and any third country free of rabies or where the disease is under control. Stricter rules apply to countries where rabies is endemic.

Identification

Passport

• There are no longer any frontier controls at the borders:
  • between EU countries --except the United Kingdom and Ireland--,
  • between the EU countries and Norway or Iceland.
• You WILL need a valid passport (or an ID card if you are an EU national):
  • to cross the external borders of this area,
  • to travel to Ireland or the United Kingdom.
• Make sure that any children either have their own passport or ID card or are registered on yours.
• Take a valid passport or ID card for travel elsewhere because you may be required to prove your identity.
• Carry always your passport or ID with you. Public order or national security are allowed to require it for checks at the internal borders or throughout the territory in order to guarantee the security of their citizens. If this happens and you don't have any identification with you, the competent authorities can to turn you back at the frontier or take action to expel you from the country.

Tip: it is a good idea to take a photocopy of your passport or ID with you to a foreign country. If you loose it, it will be easier to prove your identity when you ask for a replacement.

For more information, check the related documents^{[a link is missing {{{1}}}]}.

Visa

No Visa for

• You will NOT need a visa for traveling within the EU if you are a citizen of:
  • an EU country,
  • Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway.
• Other countries whose nationals do NOT need a visa if visiting the EU for 3 MONTHS or less are:

Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Holy See, Honduras, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Salvador, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela.

• Some exceptions exist for specific categories of persons (but any member state may reintroduce / exempt this obligation at some point):
  • holders of diplomatic passports, official duty passports or other official passports,
  • civilian air and sea crew,
  • crew and helpers involved on disaster, rescue or emergency relief,
  • holders of laissez-passer issued by some intergovernmental organizations to their officials.

• A valid residence permit issued by a Schengen State together with a valid travel document can substitute for a short-stay visa. Note that you will need your passport to prove the validity of your residence permit.

Visa for

• The United Kingdom and Ireland maintain autonomous visa.
• Nationals subject to visa requirements when crossing the external borders of the EU:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burma/Myanmar, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Colombia, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dj ij bouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Northern Marianas, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Surinam, Swaziland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, The Comoros, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Western Samoa, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

• For the Schengen area there is a 'uniform short-stay visa' policy: you can travel through the whole area with the same visa.
• National long-term visas from a member state only allow to transit through the territory of the other member states. Under special circumstances, if it is a Schengen state, this visa may be valid as a uniform short-stay visa during 3 months from the date of validity of the visa.
• The Commission presented a proposal that introduces a special travel authorization, which would enable third-country nationals to stay up to six months in the territory of the Member States on condition that the stay in one Member State does not exceed three months.

For more information, check the related documents^{[a link is missing {{{1}}}]}.

Check also the specific information about visas for the following countries^{[a link is missing {{{1}}}]}:

Residence Permit

• In some countries you are required to notify the authorities your presence even if you don't need a residence permit to live there. In most cases this is done automatically when you check in at the hotel or when your landlord fills in a declaration in respect of the tenancy.
• EU citizens do not need a residence permit to stay in another EU Member State if the stay is under three months.
• If the stay is for more than three months, you must apply for a residence permit.

Family members

When traveling with an EU citizen, members of the EU citizens family need to carry a valid passport or identity card. In the case of minors, they have usually a special identity card or an entry in the passport of one of the parents.

When traveling with an EU citizen, family members who are not nationals of an EU Member State may need an entry visa to enter or pass through a Member State depending on their nationality. This visa should be granted free of charge and without undue formalities by the competent consulate authorities.

When traveling alone, family members who are not nationals of an EU Member State are not entitled to this visa arrangements.

Family members considered are: the spouse, children under 21 (or dependent), as well as the parents and the spouse’s parents (if they are also dependent on the EU citizen).

For more information, check the related documents^{[a link is missing {{{1}}}]}.

Non-EU nationals

"Citizens of third countries may enter and travel within the European Union provided they fulfill the entry conditions."

These conditions include:

• the possession of a valid travel document,
• the possession of a visa if required,
• being able to demonstrate the purpose of the journey,
• being able to demonstrate the possession of sufficient means of subsistence for the period of stay and for the return

Rights include:

• third-country nationals shall not be listed in the Schengen information system for the purpose of refusing entry and they shall not be considered to be a threat to public policy or national security for all Schengen States,
• may enter and travel within the territory of the Member States applying the Schengen provisions for a period of up to three months.

For more information, check the related documents^{[a link is missing {{{1}}}]}.

Health

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