Catch - 22. HELP

Not sure what you mean by Wing it past Border Control but i’m sure Brittany ferries want to make money and they wouldn’t just not let you book unless Border control were of the same official stance. I really feel for you though and wish you all the luck in the world , please let us know how it all goes. I feel sure Someone on here will know something. good luck.  

First call to Brittany ferry, resulted in... neg PCR, Passport, good to go, second call I got them to check, cannot now get on the boat without TIE/Green Card..  the Winging is now more relevant to getting into Spain via France.. Does anyone know if this has been done recently?

Don't quote me but I just read an article on Olive Press that says the travel ban from UK is by sea and air and doesn't include road entrance. I honestly don't want to advise you either way because you could meet police road stops at any point through your drive through Spain, and I'm sure there is a similar situation in France. We have had to travel to Murcia for healthcare and have permission to travel letters for each appointment and have yet to see a single police stop but that's probably just luck. Travel between areas is mostly locked down. Do you have a solicitor here? They might be able to help obtain permission for you to travel and provide documentation but again that's probably not going yo help you in France. Good Luck. That is a real Catch 22.

 Condolences on your loss.   If you have a lawyer here, then give them POA, then they can get your residencia for you and email you a copy which you can print out and show to Boarder Control and Brittany Ferries. If this can be done then you wont need Travel permission letters. or 'winging' it and facing a heafty fine. I hope this is helpful. 

My apologies for contradicting, but only initial presentation of documents can be done online or with applicant absent.  The subsequent application process requires the applicant to present in person for fingerprints to be taken and I believe the collection of the TIE must also be in person

Hi Mike,

A close friend of mine here in Spain had  similar problem when she travelled over to the UK 10 days before Christmas.

Sadly she tested positive for Covid the day before her flight back & therefore had to self isolate for 14 days. During that time the Spanish authorities placed the travel ban for all but Spanish residents which restricted her to remain in the UK. Her situation was identical to yours in that she had a Bona fide Padron, rental contract, proof of utilities paid for the previous 4 months & also a letter from the Spanish authorities proving her application for residency.

However the Spanish government allowed a 7 day window from the 04/01/21 in order to allow people to travel back to Spain if they held acceptable proof of applied for residency which she had.

However Ryan Air due to ignorance of this decision by the Spanish Government refused her to fly without a valid residency card or TIE. Undaunted she wrote an email to the Spanish Embassy in London & secured a letter supporting her request to travel with the documents she had in her possession.

Ironically her residency acceptance letter was in her mailbox upon arrival back in Spain on 09/01/21.

It may be worthwhile contacting the embassy to advise of your predicament as they may help.  I wouldn’t advise ‘Winging It’ to be honest as there are restrictions in place between the municipality’s & Provinces due to the current spike in infections which means the Police are monitoring traffic & operating multiple roadblocks to curb unauthorised movement.

Hope this helps & Good Luck 😉👍☘️

Steve

 You dont need to apologies Dario..............But he doesn't need a TIE, does he,?   couldn't he just get a green card for now , or have those been discontinued for new people????

My thinking was that he already has a Padron and Bank Account and documentation proof of applying for residencia, so if he used a lawyer to help him get those, he could go back to that lawyer and give them POA.

Spanish embassy and consulate in the UK have both said, no access under any circumstances other than for Nationals or TIE/Green Card holders, so thats that. Solicitor has POA, so she will hopefully sort out the residencia appt, maybe get a later appt due to the covid issues.  Entering Spain via France looks too risky, so we have put everything back to March 16th .  Lets pray that access to Spain has been opened up a bit... thanks everyone👍

The British Consulate & Embassy in Madrid is very helpful for this kind of question.  If you find their facebook page (search "britsinspain") you can send them a message from there, and in my experience they reply quite quickly.

I suspect the simple answer is no, as your residency has not yet been approved, however you could at least ask the question on the basis that you have "documentation to show that we have applied for residencia", but probably a long shot.

IMHO Brittany Ferries could do/have done a lot more to help customers, but they have refused to engage with the issue of Covid testing pre boarding, and I suspect now with the residency issue.  Their approach seems to be "you booked, we have your money, if you can't travel it's not our problem".

I am not making a recommendation, however we drove UK to Spain via the tunnel after Christmas.  At Folkestone they asked where we were going, we said we were Spanish residents, and that was good enough.  Driving from France in to Spain is not a border, it is a motorway toll booth.  Go through one of the unmanned booths and pay by card and you don't even have to speak to anyone.  The rules are tighter now, so maybe the checks are, but we drove all the way up to Santander and all the way back through France without question.