Passport Stamps

[Unregistered]

Hello Patricia,

I have applied for long term resident card .I travel a lot and on one occasions my my passport was not stamped entry on coming through France .I was stamped out on departure from South Africa but as a family card holder I was not stamped on arrival in France . Could this affect my application as the authorities might think I have been out of the country for over 6 months . I have my flight tickets and a welcome back mail from KLM indicating my return to Spain though.Could I be denied on this basis or is it possible I am asked to explain why my passport was not stamped on returning to the EU ? Will the return tickets be enough evidence ?Thank you

Regards

[Patricia]

Hello,

Even if you hold a residence card, you must have your passport stamped once you enter Spain, as it is the way immigration authorities can control entry and exit of non EU nationals. As you may know, you can move within the Schengen area without a problem, and your passport is not stamped, but it is very strange that after returning from a Non EU country, the French authorities did not stamp your passport, as it is the norm, at least in Spain.

I cannot guarantee you won´t have problems, so I recommend you to gather all the documentation you can, to prove you entered Spain on the indicated date on the flight ticket, in case the Immigration office considers you did not return from South Africa.

Regards,

[Unregistered]

Thank you for your reply Patricia , Most times ,I get my passport stamped but on this occasion I was with my Ex Wife who is an EU member. We passed EU control gate and were just ushered in .

Also I have read in

DIRECTIVE 2004/38/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 29 April 2004

Article 5(3)

The host Member State shall not place an entry or exit stamp in the passport of family members
who are not nationals of a Member State provided that they present the residence card provided for
in Article 10.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2004:158:0077:0123:en:PDF


Is the above mentioned directive in force ? Would I be given a chance to explain or is it possible it may result in an automatic denial ?

Regards

John

[Patricia]

Hello,

The mentioned directive is still in force.

As long as you can explain, I believe you won´t be in trouble as you are a resident card holder.

Regards,