It’s much easier to have no visa at all then extend your stay by going to your nearby city council than having to go back to some embassy somewhere in some capital? usually far cheaper to go out of the country and back than going to the embassy or government offices, not sure about Schengen but I think it’s 400$ in the USA for extra 6months extension while inside the country, a quick weekend to Cuncun or Montreal will be more cheaper and fun 
dublinpilot wrote:
Are you seriously suggesting that the EU should require all British visitors to have a visa to enter the EU? That would sound very vindictive to me!
No at all, I would prefer to have relatively free movement BUT it seems that the EU is not in favour of that from what seems to be reported. I have found great freedoms for example in being able to fly to Sligo to see old friends but that may soon not be possible without a lot more hassle
I have found great freedoms for example in being able to fly to Sligo to see old friends but that may soon not be possible without a lot more hassle
That is likely to be the one journey that won’t be negatively affected by Brexit. I read some time ago that travel between the uk and Ireland won’t be negatively affected because the common travel area preceded both countries joining the EU. Hopefully that remains the case.
Ibra wrote:
not sure about Schengen but I think it’s 400$ in the USA for extra 6 months extension while inside the country, a quick weekend to Cuncun or Montreal will be more cheaper and fun
I’m not sure you can restart the clock in exactly that way. The classic method to achieve the same end is to walk or drive across the border from the US to Mexico. In doing so you are highly unlikely to talk to any official from either country. Once outside the US, nobody knows when you left.
for example in being able to fly to Sligo to see old friends but that may soon not be possible without a lot more hassle
According to the AIP (available from the EuroGA airport database ) it has C+I so you could fly there with a stolen Lear 45, which has never been serviced, from the Peoples’ Republic of Upper Volta
It’s as simple as that.
In more than one way, this could actually help in situations such as we are facing now with Covid, where the closing of borders per se won’t be the extraordinary but the normal.
It is a pandemic. I read that in a pandemic, such restrictions are useless. The virus is everywhere already. Travel restrictions and closed borders are useless now. These measures are just a political show of pseudo leadership for the mass media consuming population (and fulfill some autocratic fantasy of politicians „hindered“ in democracies).
Fully agree.
The last argument, regularly given, is the impossibility (rather : difficulty) of tracking/tracing teams following the path of an infection.
But that hasn’t worked for months, as numerous positive and C1 folks can attest who haven’t been contacted at all… possibly just because of sheer numbers, more likely because of organisational incompetence (I have some insights, more than I wanted :-( (
@Silvaire wrote "The French for example apparently require language proficiency at some point, something US citizen friends of mine did not for some inexplicable reason achieve after a number of years in the French countryside. They are back in the US now for that reason "
This is absolute BS. Yes it is useful to speak French in France but I know several Brits who have lived here for 25 years and struggle to say bonjour and they are legal residents.
You do however need to speak French to a reasonable standard and to prove it if you want French nationality.
Ps The Americans is our village speak very good French, the only problem is that the American IRS can’t seem to get their address right and I keep getting their tax demands.
@Snoopy wrote:
It is a pandemic. I read that in a pandemic, such restrictions are useless. The virus is everywhere already. Travel restrictions and closed borders are useless now. These measures are just a political show of pseudo leadership for the mass media consuming population (and fulfill some autocratic fantasy of politicians „hindered“ in democracies).
I agree 100%. Closed borders could possibly have been useful if applied very early and by countries where it is easy to enforce and do not damage the economy too much. NZ being a very good example.
For an example about “damage the economy”, people outside Scandinavia may not know that there have been efforts for decades to merge the Copenhagen region in Denmark and the Scania region in Sweden into a single metropolitan region. The Öresund bridge and integrated public transport systems are a part of this. Many tenths of thousands of people live in one of the countries and work in the other one, commuting every day. Obviously closing the borders here cause enormous damage.
Airborne_Again wrote:
Copenhagen region in Denmark and the Scania region in Sweden into a single metropolitan region.
Historically, it used to be a part of Denmark
