Brexit has happened more than 2,5 years ago. Still today’s when I use the country filter European Union I still have to deal with the UK included. Very annoying if for whatever soever reason I don’t want to travel there. Also because of visa rules, it would be useful to filter Schengen countries.
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Hi @Lieve,
I think you are referring to Schengen visa rules? Which includes more than 26 countries but If you just want to search for countries outside the UK you can narrow the map function so that you search only within a certain radius. I also find that this is a very helpful thread on narrowing searches.
All that being said I too agree that it would be useful to do an overall search of sits outside the Schengen countries.
Kelly
Sorry but there mapfunction is not working property if your are looking for the Netherlands or Belgium. What concerns there chengen countries 26 is far from correct as many EU are not in Schengen.
@Lieve I apologize I must not be understanding you correctly… are simply requesting that THS creates a search filter for the “EU” that no longer includes the UK?
If that’s the case then I am happy to pass that request along. Maybe @Vanessa_A has some input on this she can provide the next time she is online.
Kelly
Hi @Lieve and I agree that the UK still appears in many online searches on Google and there is much confusion and discussion online generally about the fact that the UK is still a part of Europe, just not the European Union.
Within the TrustedHousesitters country search filters I don’t believe (I have checked my account on both the desktop and the app this morning) that you can search “Europe” per se. Only individual countries. But using the map feature you can hone in on the areas of Europe you are interested in. I can do this for both The Netherlands and Belgium - are you still having that as an issue?
This doesn’t solve your Schengen filter request but I think it’s unlikely to be included because all aspects of visa related travel must be carefully considered by different nationalities depending on their own personal situation and regulations can change at any time. The UK and France are still arguing about whether travel visas should be extended to Brits despite Brexit. However, I will pass your feedback back to the wider team.
For anyone wondering what this is all about, here are a few handy links to official websites that contain all the information about Schengen and the imminent ETIAS visa (delayed I think until beginning of 2023 due to the pandemic).
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Iceland Liechtenstein and Switserland certainly don’t belongs NOT to Schengen, as they don’t even belong to the European Union. This also excludes Andorra. Croatian belongs to the EU, but not to Schengen.
@Lieve - @Goolly is correct in that Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are Schengen Area countries. You’ll find the full list here:
- 22 members fully implement the Schengen acquis,
- Four of them – members of the EFTA, implement Schengen acquis through specific agreements related to the Schengen agreement.
- Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Lichtenstein are associate members of the Schengen Area but are not members of the EU. They are part of the EFTA and implement the Schengen acquis through specific agreements related to the Schengen agreement.
- Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City have opened their borders with, but are not members of the visa-free zone.
- The Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands are special members of the EU and part of the Schengen Zone even though they are located outside the European continent.
- There are five more EU members, that have not joined the Schengen zone: Ireland – which still maintains opt-outs and Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Cyprus – that are seeking to join soon.
It’s so complicated!
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On the app and Web you can selected:European Union.
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Hi @Lieve that’s very odd as I just checked with membership services, and several of the team have tried this and we can’t get the results you mention when searching for sits - no map, no list of sits or a dropdown menu.
However, I’ve just had a thought, are you talking about the list of countries in your profile where you can indicate preferences for where you would like to sit?
As shown here:
We are in the US and planning to go to Europe primarily doing pet sitting for 2 years or more. We know Schengen visas are for a maximum of 90 days in a 180 day time period. If we want to stay longer, we apparently need a national visa for the specific country we plan to visit.
So, any suggestions for the best way to stay in various Schengen countries over a 2+ year period? Do we just get a bunch of national visas even thought we don;t know exzctly where we’ll be?
This site goes over much of what I summarized previously. We appreciate any ideas and hope to get to Europe about April, 2023.
Thanks!
@Wetravel we are US citizens and traveled around Europe for the first 2 years of our nomadic lifestyle (pre-house sitting). We carefully calculated our Schengen days and went to non-Schengen countries to re-set our time. Its very do-able. If you wish to stay longer in a specific country, then yes, you will need to apply for the appropriate visa and it’s not that easy. It takes time, money and can be a very lengthy process.
We attempted to get a retirement visa for Italy when we first started our travels. We submitted mountains of paperwork and financial documents to the Italian consulate, in person. After 9 weeks we were denied and they don’t tell you why. Our plan B was to move in and out of Schengen. Its worked beautifully for 6 years.
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This comment deserves lots of these 
and a massive thunder of these 
I also travelled long term in and out and now as I am exploring another region of the globe am learning to do all these very clever things. It’s just fascinating when you discover the things you once thought you couldn’t do are very possible.
But sorry that doesn’t help the map search 
I just zoom in and out with my little fingies and that in itself shows up places I never knew existed.
As of March 31, 2024, Bulgaria and Romania will become the newest member states of the Schengen Area. This will partially expand the Schengen Area, which is a free movement zone that includes most EU countries, except for Cyprus and Ireland.
When we are in Europe we travel as non-EU spouse of an EU citizen, but we have never tested the freedom of movement clause, so we have always stayed only 90 days, adhering to the 90/180 days rule.
According to the Schengen Handbook for Border Guards
In the case of third-country nationals who are family members of EU, EEA and CH citizens, they have the right of residence in a Member State for a period of up to three months if they are in possession of a valid passport and are accompanying or joining the EU, EEA or CH citizen, without any limitation to 90 days in a 180-day period.
From what I am reading since this is only a guidance but not an explicit law we may still get challenged at the border and fined for overstaying. The fine could be appealed and reversed however we could potentially miss over flights. The key is to always travel together, carry and an apostilled marriage /domestic partnership certificate and emphasize on entry and exit that we are using the freedom of movement.
Any other THS couples who are in the same situation and who have tested the 90/180 rule?
Examples from the Guide (in all these examples, the third country national is not in possession of a valid residence card or a residence permit as further explained in point 2.8 of this Section):
An Indian national married to a French citizen may accompany his French spouse to Germany for three months, Spain for two months and Italy for three months, thus staying in the area without internal border controls for a total consecutive period of eight months.
A Japanese citizen is married with an Estonian citizen and has never come to the EU before. The Japanese citizen accompanies his Estonian spouse to Italy for one month. Just after that month, the Estonian spouse leaves Italy and returns to Japan to work. The Japanese citizen can remain alone for another 90 days (the limit of 90 days in any 180-day applies).
A Chinese citizen married to a Swedish citizen spends alone, for business purposes, 15 days in Austria. The Swedish citizen then joins him and they spend one month in Portugal. Just after that month, the Swedish spouse leaves the EU. The Chinese citizen can remain alone for the remaining 75 days in the 180-day period (the limit of 90 days in any 180-day period applies, but the stay performed together with the EU citizen should not be counted (in this example, the one month period) when assessing the respect of the limit of 90 days in any 180-day period).
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Ive done so much research into this that my head hurts, I keep get given or read different possibilities.
I am British, My husband is Greek.
It would be amazing if I can piggyback off his Greek passport but so far, we’ve been too nervous to test it.
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We will probably test it this summer and here are some tips based on our research:
- Always carry an apostilled marriage/partnership certificate.
- Always go together to the border agent when entering and exiting an European country. ( I’ve been guilty of using the automatic border gates
) - Always keep boarding passes/tickets and receipts as a proof you didn’t stay longer than 3 months in any single EU country.
- Have a copy of the EU Border Guards Handbook, especially the pages where it explains that the 90/180 rule doesn’t apply to Non-EU spouses based on the Freedom of movement.
- Be prepared to talk to a border agent supervisor if there is an issue.
- Allow sufficient time for any train/plane connections. Ideally this could be tested after a pet sit and between sits, rather than at the beginning to avoid delays.
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Hi @Colin
Are you not entitled to stay in Greece indefinitely as your husband’s spouse?
Anyone have any recommendations of non Schengen countries in Europe to visit? I’ll be in Europe this summer and I need to leave Schengen for about a week in between sits to ensure not going over my 90 days. I have two weeks open in June after a sit in Germany and I can go anywhere. Any favorite destinations?
Yes, we could move to Greece if we wanted to but I dont think being married to him gives me any privilege anywhere else, although @BunnyCat has got me thinking again about testing the freedom of movement rule.
Non-EU spouses can only spend 3 months in any EU single country. After that they will need to file for temporary resident status, which involves a lot of paperwork and jumping through hoops, plus they will have to start paying taxes on any income. We tried that route and was very time consuming, frustrating and costly. Even after securing the temp permit we ended up not renewing it because you are required to remain in the country for at least 9 months, which currently doesn’t fit our plans.
We were thinking of checking out Georgia - we have heard a lot of great things about the culture, food, wine and sights. Sits are rare there, but it is relatively cheap to get hotel/Airbnb ($25-40 a night). As far as sits we will be looking at Ireland, Cyprus and Turkey.