A thank you to Brexiteers.

[Bahnhof Strasse]

If they're seriously going to investigate means of support at entry, the queues at Calais will be phenomenal.
I mean, I could flash a credit card, but checking whether or not it's valid, blocked or what credit limit etc?

A valid credit card is the universally accepted form of demonstrating means to support yourself, and no, they can't check if you have already maxed it out.

 

[Pickman's model]

I'm guessing that it will probably all be a bit of a box-ticking exercise. But it is worth remembering that the French have inconveniencing people via bureaucracy down to a fine art, and if they decide that they're going to take 10 minutes processing every entry to the country, they damn well will .

I mean, it's the work of a few moments to edit the image of a bank statement to add a couple of extra digits, and I imagine that there will be no simple way of them verifying that, either...

You will be walked to a cashpoint and your balance checked

 

[existentialist]

yeah, this will probably not be applied much if you're white and from uk etc. Maybe though, if Brits who own houses over there piss their french neighbours off enough it could be enforced just out of spite sometimes?

Quite possibly, yes. But then that would not be something unique to France - look at how eager the Benefits Agency (ETA: or Home Office ) is to encourage people to grass on those they think are trying it on.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Good to hear that but I assume you are dealing with business travellers?

Not in the corporate sense, no.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Credit card has been mentioned a couple of times now - is a debit card good enough? i dont have a credit card

Usually, yes. I don't have a credit card, but do have a charge card as well as a debit card. Have never been asked to prove I have fund or an onward ticket. Of course it helps to be white, but not looking like a shifty fucker who can't give a plausible reason for travelling is the key.

 

[brogdale]

You will be walked to a cashpoint and your balance checked

Queues will start at Swanley

 

[brogdale]

A valid credit card is the universally accepted form of demonstrating means to support yourself, and no, they can't check if you have already maxed it out.

So entirely symbolic, rather than meaningful, then?

 

[existentialist]

Credit card has been mentioned a couple of times now - is a debit card good enough? i dont have a credit card

From Means of Subsistence - How much money do you need for a Schengen Visa (although this refers to Schengen visa applications, these are the EU rules regarding subsistence, and are applied generally, not just in France)

Generally, there are several recognized ways to prove your financial sufficiency:

• A personal bank statement indicating your financial movements (for at least 3 last months)
• Credit card
• Cash
• Traveller’s cheques
• Pay slips
• Proof of employment
• Supporting document to attest sponsor’s readiness to cover your expenses during your stay
• Proof of prepaid accommodation
• Document about accommodation in private
• Proof of prepaid transport
• Other

I would interpret the absence of "debit card" on that list as a significant thing.

Remember, you will also need proof of an adequate level of travel insurance cover, as well.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

So entirely symbolic, rather than meaningful, then?

Yep.

I presume you're aware of the epic thread on entry to the US? Same now applies to the EU.

 

[brogdale]

Yep.

I presume you're aware of the epic thread on entry to the US? Same now applies to the EU.

Can't say that I am familiar with anything to do with the US; never been there and have no plans to.
I like pissing around in France, though.

 

[existentialist]

You will be walked to a cashpoint and your balance checked

Given that, if you're hit with a driving fine in France, SOP seems to be to do exactly that - taking you to a cashpoint - your idea is not beyond the realm of possibility

 

[dessiato]

Along with many folk, when I rock up in Calais in me camper, I don't even know where I'm heading for (exactly) let alone have any proof of booking etc.

Utterly unworkable if they want to retain a touring industry.

There is a small number of people here who don't want the British back. The drunken, loutish behaviour is not missed and certainly not wanted again.

The large number of camper vans still driving around, with UK plates, which have been here illegally, are starting to be noticed. I wonder how long it will be before they are stopped.

Now passports are being stamped again there is a clear record of when a person enters EU and can be easily checked on leaving. What used to be a simple case of crossing a border to another country and continuing to stay over here no longer is possible. At some point you will leave to go home, and there's the incriminating passport stamp.

 

[existentialist]

So entirely symbolic, rather than meaningful, then?

Entirely symbolic...until it isn't.

 

[MrSki]

When I was a nipper the way round this was to buy travellers cheques & lose them. Have them cancelled & re-issued & you then have a load of travellers cheques you can't cash but can wave around as proof of funds along with the ones you can cash. Just don't confuse the two & try and cash the cancelled ones.

 

[brogdale]

There is a small number of people here who don't want the British back. The drunken, loutish behaviour is not missed and certainly not wanted again.

The large number of camper vans still driving around, with UK plates, which have been here illegally, are starting to be noticed. I wonder how long it will be before they are stopped.

Now passports are being stamped again there is a clear record of when a person enters EU and can be easily checked on leaving. What used to be a simple case of crossing a border to another country and continuing to stay over here no longer is possible. At some point you will leave to go home, and there's the incriminating passport stamp.

Lordy, as well as going through my bank statements, they're planning on stamping passports at Calais?
Revise my comment about Swanley; looks like we'll have to drive back to Swindon to join the queue for Dover.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Can't say that I am familiar with anything to do with the US; never been there and have no plans to.
I like pissing around in France, though.

Fill yer boots: Travelling from the UK to the USA with a criminal record

 

[brogdale]

Fill yer boots: Travelling from the UK to the USA with a criminal record

I'm so bored with the U.S.A.
But what can I do?

 

[existentialist]

There is a small number of people here who don't want the British back. The drunken, loutish behaviour is not missed and certainly not wanted again.

The large number of camper vans still driving around, with UK plates, which have been here illegally, are starting to be noticed. I wonder how long it will be before they are stopped.

Now passports are being stamped again there is a clear record of when a person enters EU and can be easily checked on leaving. What used to be a simple case of crossing a border to another country and continuing to stay over here no longer is possible. At some point you will leave to go home, and there's the incriminating passport stamp.

In all matters, I tend to operate on the basis that, if there exists any kind of documentation that disproves some claim I'm making, then the possibility exists, however remotely, that I will be caught out. So I could flash a maxed-out credit card, because I'm not making any kind of formal statement that I do have the funds...but if I faked a bank statement and they did check, by some means, that'd be a gotcha.

Even if it all settles down after a while, those rules are still there, and it only takes - for example - getting stranded in France and not having the financial resources to support yourself to expose the untruth.

 

[dessiato]

Lordy, as well as going through my bank statements, they're planning on stamping passports at Calais?
Revise my comment about Swanley; looks like we'll have to drive back to Swindon to join the queue for Dover.

I don't know about Calais, but it is happening here now.

 

[Artaxerxes]

When I was a nipper the way round this was to buy travellers cheques & lose them. Have them cancelled & re-issued & you then have a load of travellers cheques you can't cash but can wave around as proof of funds along with the ones you can cash. Just don't confuse the two & try and cash the cancelled ones.

Are travellers cheques even still a thing?

 

[brogdale]

I don't know about Calais, but it is happening here now.

It'll all be ANPR stuff, won't it?

 

[Yossarian]

Usually, yes. I don't have a credit card, but do have a charge card as well as a debit card. Have never been asked to prove I have fund or an onward ticket. Of course it helps to be white, but not looking like a shifty fucker who can't give a plausible reason for travelling is the key.

Seems to be an age element as well - I used to get stopped all the time but airport officials stopped showing any interest in where I was planning to go, what I was planning to do, how much money I had, or what was in my suitcase around the time I turned 30.

 

[dessiato]

It'll all be ANPR stuff, won't it?

Good point. I don't know but would expect so, especially as there are plans to expand the number of toll roads.

Of course it is simpler if you fly in. A quick stamp and off you go.

My understanding is that, like when you fly to US there will be a form you can complete during the flight.

 

[MrSki]

Are travellers cheques even still a thing?

Don't ask me. My passport expired in 2006!

 

[Artaxerxes]

Don't ask me. My passport expired in 2006!

Time for a bold Blue British Passport.

May as well get that single Brexit benefit.

 

[existentialist]

Lordy, as well as going through my bank statements, they're planning on stamping passports at Calais?
Revise my comment about Swanley; looks like we'll have to drive back to Swindon to join the queue for Dover.

To which the official French response will be...

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Seems to be an age element as well - I used to get stopped all the time but airport officials stopped showing any interest in where I was planning to go, what I was planning to do, how much money I had, or what was in my suitcase around the time I turned 30.

Not so sure, as it never happened to me in my teens or 20's either, and that included a lot of travel to Asia and the US as well as Europe.

 

[The39thStep]

i'm such an arsehole that i hope this rule does apply to my next door neighbour, who owns a house in the french alps where he does yoga holidays for paying guests from uk. Idk if he voted leave or not but remember him saying nothing would change at all in his opinion by which me meant nothing that would impact him personally. If it were to be applied it would probably make him cry because it would be inconvenient and that would be nice, i don't like him.

Jesus , one week it's a friend who owns a house in Liverpool and a static home in Spain , this week its a neighbour who owns the house next door and has a yoga retreat in France. Ever thought about writing for the Guardian?

 

[bimble]

Jesus , one week it's a friend who owns a house in Liverpool and a static home in Spain , this week its a neighbour who owns the house next door and has a yoga retreat in France. Ever thought about writing for the Guardian?

yes, they foolishly rejected my short and hilarious piece about how difficult it is since brexit to find decent massage therapists for your cat .

 

[Artaxerxes]

Bloke who negotiated the Brexit deal has now gone from Force Majeure to having to sign the deal under duress




Reminder the Conservatives have an 80 seat majority and could have done whatever the fuck they liked with the deal.