Paphos Life

Yesterday we flew from Cyprus to Athens.

At Athens airport the authorities insisted that they stamp our British passports, which they did, explaining that we Brits were now outside the EU.

We told them that we were permanent residents of Cyprus and showed them our MEU3 documents but they wouldn’t have it explaining that the stamp was a Schengen stamp.

Is this Schengen stamp a different stamp to that which Cyprus authorities use on British passports of people who do not have a MEU3?

Many thanks in advance.

Yes it is. The 90 day rule still applies to Schengen countries as you are a third country rather than EU national.

I didn't realise(stupidly) that as MEU3 holders we would be subject to the 90 day rule in Schengen. What happens when Cyprus joins?

I have now got the MUKW3, which is a biometric plastic card unlike the MEU3 form. One of the benefits of using this card is that it covers all EU countries which of course means the Schengen countries. It is more comprehensive than the old MEU as it proves your positive identity as it has both your photo, finger print and signature and your Cyprus residency.

I believe that when or if Cyprus joins Schengen, an ETIAS visa will be also required for British travelers. Oh Brexit which keeps giving us all unexpected problems with travel within the EU....

Dee

I popped to the UK and back a couple of weeks ago. When I arrived back in Paphos I showed immigration my passport and the biometric MUKW3, and he still stamped my passport.

I think some of them just like stamping stuff.

Well can only say that when I arrived back at Paphos nearly 2 weeks ago now, immigration was very busy, the official was about to stamp my passport, but I pulled out my MUKW3 and showed it to him, he took it and smiled, 'ah, he said, you're a resident here'! He didn't stamp my passport, just handed it back to me.
He was about to stamp it until he checked my MUKW card. I did get the impression that perhaps there are so many holiday makers arriving on UK originating flights that perhaps some immigration officials just get into a habit of stamping all UK passports routinely, unless you draw their attention to this fairly new form.

Dee

if you have a meu1/3 then you don't need a photo so it'll give the immigration officer something to think about.
Back in January when I arrived he wanted to see the original yellow slip and threatened next time he'll send me back
Andy

alewfin1 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 09, 2023 9:08 am Yesterday we flew from Cyprus to Athens.

At Athens airport the authorities insisted that they stamp our British passports, which they did, explaining that we Brits were now outside the EU.

We told them that we were permanent residents of Cyprus and showed them our MEU3 documents but they wouldn’t have it explaining that the stamp was a Schengen stamp.

Is this Schengen stamp a different stamp to that which Cyprus authorities use on British passports of people who do not have a MEU3?

Many thanks in advance.

The greek authorities were quite right to stamp your passports... this has nothing to do with Schengen.

Your residence status in Cyprus only applies to Cyprus.

If you travel to any other EU state you are treated like any other UK citizen and will thus be stamped in and out.

Just like any other UK citizen the amount of time you are allowed to stay without a visa depends upon the 90 day rule as applied to schengen / non schengen countries.

Dominic wrote: ↑Mon Oct 09, 2023 7:12 pm I popped to the UK and back a couple of weeks ago. When I arrived back in Paphos I showed immigration my passport and the biometric MUKW3, and he still stamped my passport.

I think some of them just like stamping stuff.

He was wrong to do so..

mark4007 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 4:04 am

alewfin1 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 09, 2023 9:08 am Yesterday we flew from Cyprus to Athens.

At Athens airport the authorities insisted that they stamp our British passports, which they did, explaining that we Brits were now outside the EU.

We told them that we were permanent residents of Cyprus and showed them our MEU3 documents but they wouldn’t have it explaining that the stamp was a Schengen stamp.

Is this Schengen stamp a different stamp to that which Cyprus authorities use on British passports of people who do not have a MEU3?

Many thanks in advance.

The greek authorities were quite right to stamp your passports... this has nothing to do with Schengen.

Your residence status in Cyprus only applies to Cyprus.

If you travel to any other EU state you are treated like any other UK citizen and will thus be stamped in and out.

Just like any other UK citizen the amount of time you are allowed to stay without a visa depends upon the 90 day rule as applied to schengen / non schengen countries.

Many thanks for the clarification. A question:

What are the implications, having had our passport stamped in Greece, when we return to Cyprus where the immigration officials will (hopefully) not stamp our passport as we present our MEU3?

Does it actually matter if your passport is stamped or not.

Having your passport stamped on entry to a country will prima facia start the 90 day rule.

I would have thought that technically it should not matter whether your passport is stamped or not. Personally I would always try to avoid it being stamped.

It easy to see a scenario where you are a resident of cyprus, you have your passport stamped on entry by mistake and then you either stay longer than 90 days and/or dont get it stamped on exit and then have to explain to officals why you have an entry stamp but no exit stamp within 90 days to a border control offical either in cyprus or another EU.

mark4007 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 4:07 am

Dominic wrote: ↑Mon Oct 09, 2023 7:12 pm I popped to the UK and back a couple of weeks ago. When I arrived back in Paphos I showed immigration my passport and the biometric MUKW3, and he still stamped my passport.

I think some of them just like stamping stuff.

He was wrong to do so..

Nothing to be concerned about, well not for me anyway.

alewfin1 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 9:25 am

mark4007 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 4:04 am

alewfin1 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 09, 2023 9:08 am Yesterday we flew from Cyprus to Athens.

At Athens airport the authorities insisted that they stamp our British passports, which they did, explaining that we Brits were now outside the EU.

We told them that we were permanent residents of Cyprus and showed them our MEU3 documents but they wouldn’t have it explaining that the stamp was a Schengen stamp.

Is this Schengen stamp a different stamp to that which Cyprus authorities use on British passports of people who do not have a MEU3?

Many thanks in advance.

The greek authorities were quite right to stamp your passports... this has nothing to do with Schengen.

Your residence status in Cyprus only applies to Cyprus.

If you travel to any other EU state you are treated like any other UK citizen and will thus be stamped in and out.

Just like any other UK citizen the amount of time you are allowed to stay without a visa depends upon the 90 day rule as applied to schengen / non schengen countries.

Many thanks for the clarification. A question:

What are the implications, having had our passport stamped in Greece, when we return to Cyprus where the immigration officials will (hopefully) not stamp our passport as we present our MEU3?

When you leave greece (or exit the schengen area) your passport should be stamped again on exit.

The number of days you spent in the schengen area will then be included in your 90 day rule calculation. In practice this should not be an issue unless you are planning a prolonged period (more than 90 days in any 180 day) in schengen.

mark4007 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 10:07 am

alewfin1 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 9:25 am

mark4007 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 4:04 am

The greek authorities were quite right to stamp your passports... this has nothing to do with Schengen.

Your residence status in Cyprus only applies to Cyprus.

If you travel to any other EU state you are treated like any other UK citizen and will thus be stamped in and out.

Just like any other UK citizen the amount of time you are allowed to stay without a visa depends upon the 90 day rule as applied to schengen / non schengen countries.

Many thanks for the clarification. A question:

What are the implications, having had our passport stamped in Greece, when we return to Cyprus where the immigration officials will (hopefully) not stamp our passport as we present our MEU3?

When you leave greece (or exit the schengen area) your passport should be stamped again on exit.

The number of days you spent in the schengen area will then be included in your 90 day rule calculation. In practice this should not be an issue unless you are planning a prolonged period (more than 90 days in any 180 day) in schengen.

We had our passports stamped on entry to Greece but then boarded a cruise ship and sailed away. Weeks later we will fly back from a none EU country to Cyprus where we will show the immigration officials our MEU3 who will presumably not stamp our passports.

So is the 90 day clock still ticking?

I guess only time and officialdom will tell.

alewfin1 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 2:29 pm

mark4007 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 10:07 am

alewfin1 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 9:25 am

Many thanks for the clarification. A question:

What are the implications, having had our passport stamped in Greece, when we return to Cyprus where the immigration officials will (hopefully) not stamp our passport as we present our MEU3?

When you leave greece (or exit the schengen area) your passport should be stamped again on exit.

The number of days you spent in the schengen area will then be included in your 90 day rule calculation. In practice this should not be an issue unless you are planning a prolonged period (more than 90 days in any 180 day) in schengen.

We had our passports stamped on entry to Greece but then boarded a cruise ship and sailed away. Weeks later we will fly back from a none EU country to Cyprus where we will show the immigration officials our MEU3 who will presumably not stamp our passports.

So is the 90 day clock still ticking?

I guess only time and officialdom will tell.

It is ticking in Greece

On returning to Cyprus I always show the Paphos immigration officer my MEU3 (Yellow Card) first, then my UK passport, it has never been stamped.

alewfin1 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 2:29 pm

mark4007 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 10:07 am

alewfin1 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 9:25 am

Many thanks for the clarification. A question:

What are the implications, having had our passport stamped in Greece, when we return to Cyprus where the immigration officials will (hopefully) not stamp our passport as we present our MEU3?

When you leave greece (or exit the schengen area) your passport should be stamped again on exit.

The number of days you spent in the schengen area will then be included in your 90 day rule calculation. In practice this should not be an issue unless you are planning a prolonged period (more than 90 days in any 180 day) in schengen.

We had our passports stamped on entry to Greece but then boarded a cruise ship and sailed away. Weeks later we will fly back from a none EU country to Cyprus where we will show the immigration officials our MEU3 who will presumably not stamp our passports.

So is the 90 day clock still ticking?

I guess only time and officialdom will tell.

So your cruise left the schengen area and you did not have your passport stamped out either before departing or before disembarking to a non schengen country ?

If so I suggest contacting the cruise ship to see what their proceedure is for UK nationals leaving the schengen area and the calulation for the 90 day rule, given that you had already been stamped in on entry to greece.

At the very least you are leaving yourself open to challenge on attempted entry or exit into or from a schengen country at some point in the future. So having some form of documentation showing you left the schengen area on...... date may prove useful.

mark4007 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 11, 2023 1:04 am

alewfin1 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 2:29 pm

mark4007 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 10:07 am

When you leave greece (or exit the schengen area) your passport should be stamped again on exit.

The number of days you spent in the schengen area will then be included in your 90 day rule calculation. In practice this should not be an issue unless you are planning a prolonged period (more than 90 days in any 180 day) in schengen.

We had our passports stamped on entry to Greece but then boarded a cruise ship and sailed away. Weeks later we will fly back from a none EU country to Cyprus where we will show the immigration officials our MEU3 who will presumably not stamp our passports.

So is the 90 day clock still ticking?

I guess only time and officialdom will tell.

So your cruise left the schengen area and you did not have your passport stamped out either before departing or before disembarking to a non schengen country ?

If so I suggest contacting the cruise ship to see what their proceedure is for UK nationals leaving the schengen area and the calulation for the 90 day rule, given that you had already been stamped in on entry to greece.

At the very least you are leaving yourself open to challenge on attempted entry or exit into or from a schengen country at some point in the future. So having some form of documentation showing you left the schengen area on...... date may prove useful.

Apart from a "Stamp" being hard copy proof of entry or exit, surely the fact that immigration scan your passport that is recorded electronically on their data bases and that would be used for any 90 day rule calculations that you seem concerned about.

We spoke to the officer on the ship, responsible for customs and immigration formalities, who said that the Greek customs officials came onboard and examined all the passports and where necessary stamped them. We were shown our passports duly stamped. Issue resolved.

Whilst I had her attention I asked about using EU ID cards instead of passports, which cruise ships generally require. She said that the cruise company had discussed it and would accept an EU ID card in lieu of a passport if the ship was calling only at EU ports. However, if for whatever reason the ship had to go to a ‘third country’ there could be problems with their immigration officials for any passenger without a passport.