scrubbedexpat077

They probably will have to, at one point, if you come from extra-EU and want to stay for more than 6 months.

HADENOUGHPIZZA

The border between the UK and the EU will still have checks . Whenever I arrive from or depart for the UK via an Italian airport they ask to see my passport , after January they will have every right to stamp it unless I can show I'm exempt . The stamps show the date of entry / exit from the EU / UK . In the event of any authority contesting your right to be in the EU or worse the tax authorities wanting to establish which country you are resident in this will be the first thing they look at . Within the EU there will not be border checks as such but dont forget spot checks can occur and your italian id card is marked as not valid as a travel document outside Italy . After Brexit its 90 days in the EU any one 180 period after that you must apply for residency .

Geordieborn

I think this sounds about right, but would think your ID card is valid for travel in Italy and would therefore expect would be accepted if an "exception" is indeed needed.

Listen Very Carefully

In January Brits entering the EU will have their passport stamped at the entry point They will be able to stay for 90 days in any rolling 180 day period any longer than that then they are in the EU illegally and could be fined/jailed The passport is checked and stamped on exit so the border authorities know when you are coming and going If you want to stay longer then you have to apply for the relevant visa UNLESS you have a WA ID card or paper indicating that you are a lawful resident of a particular EU country in which case your passport will not be stamped BUT you must have both the passport and the WA card with you at the border otherwise the passport will be stamped Any Brit with a right to live in one EU country can the spend up to 90 days in any rolling 180 days in another EU country before they have to leave or apply for residency In respect of travel within a country's borders then you would still need to have your WA card with you to show that you are in the country legally
So no it is not a joke It is Brexit -which is a joke actually

PSG2014

Thanks, I totally agree with your Brexit 'joke' view, a point of clarification for me please? You mention 'WA card' more than once, I have the latest piece of residency paperwork all stamped and paid for in my hands, I have an 'old type' ID card (I believe this gets 'updated' to a slick credit card type when it runs out).

What is the 'WA card' ?

PSG

Listen Very Carefully

Sorry I am referring to the attestazione that you will get in Italy other EU countries are actually issuing cards but it was easier to write card than attestazione TBH
This is the link to the official EU website if that helps
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info...nal_public.pdf

heritagestanley

By "WA card" I think is meant the Attestazione di iscrizione anagrafica, whch specifically refers to the W(ithdrawal) A(greement)
I have another question, though. I have this Attestazione. So if I want to drive from the UK to Italy via Calais then the French authorities should not stamp my passport, right? Because it's at that point that I cross the Schengen border en route to Italy, and there are no further checks within the Schengen area. tBut suppose that I then want to fly from Italy to Tenerife for a week's holiday via the UK. Will/should the Spanish immigration people stamp my passport at Tenerife airport? Does it depend on whether I'm planning to fly back to the UK or on to Italy?

Serrano

Please can you give us a link to an official EU source that confirms this

Casagialla

Wow this is complicated! I have two passports an italian one and a british one. I normally travel to Italy using my Italian passport and travel back to the UK with my British passport in my case what will be stamped and where ??

philat98

These rules might change depending on whether there is an agreement with the EU by the end of the year. With the EU team isolating for Covid there is not much time left to make an agreement.
I wonder if this document might be used to control access to the S1 healthcare?

C.2s

I wonder if all the cards will be in the same format ?(in the way that driving licences and id cards are)

The WA letter we get in italy is in Italian (of course) and legal jargon and I reckon won't mean much to someone in any country where they don't speak Italian.

I agree with the comments about brexit. I definitely though don't want to be in the position of defending it. But isn't it the case that the reality of travel isn't going to change much for anyone who has a British passport and lives in italy? There are no (or virtually no) checks when you drive. I always take my passport when i travel abroad (outside italy) and my id card in italy . The only place I have ever been checked is every single time I entered and exited the UK (which is quite ironic really ). When you fly you do have to take your passport. In the future I might have my passport stamped. Doesn't seem to be a big deal

modicasa

It could become a big deal. The right to travel freely throughout member states stops on 31 December for British passport holders (if there is no specific treaty in the next 6 weeks). As a non EU national you will be subject to all the rules and regs, from length of stay to tax liability. If you do a search for what Americans have to go through, you'll get an idea of what the future holds.

philat98

I was reading an American's blog talking about the difficulty of getting the Permesso di Soggiorno Permanente. As a Non EU citizen you are going to need a lot of money to retire to Italy.

C.2s

Well yes...but hang on a minute...

I have a few American friends here in Italy, family in Australia and lots of contacts (through my work) with people all over the world, so I've had lots of conversations about the difficulties people face without free movement (or how much they value free movement for those who live in the EU). Therefore we could talk at length about the principle of the right of free movement, and I could tell you the views of those people who remember living in communist countries, and how they can't comprehend why we (UK citizens) would give this away. We could discuss how it is a great shame that the EU didn't unilaterally offer us some form of EU citizenship. We could discuss the problems for those businesses that operate in different countries. For example, a musician or comedian or theatre group organising a tour now face a nightmare of bureaucracy. We could talk about the future for those who move to Italy next year. We could talk about different rules that our fellow expats face in other EU countries (which is where I think this talk of a "WA card" comes from) and how things are changing for them. We could speculate on what happens if there is 'no deal'. We would probably agree that the section of the British people who voted for Brexit in order to prevent free movement of people was an example of collectively cutting off one's nose to spite one's face. So, yes this is a big deal.

BUT this is thread about British citizens who are currently resident in Italy and what the WA attestation means (because the WA letter is only relevant to that group of people). And therefore presupposes that there is a deal. And specifically the point was made about "travel" - not work or tax or changing residency. And the suggestion that we will need to carry the WA letter with us.

What will really change in that respect? The reality is that once you enter the EU has no system for checking where you are. It only checks when you enter and when you leave the EU zone. So if I drove out of Italy on January 1st and was stopped by the police in say, Poland, on the 7th June, how could they establish how long I had been in Poland (or outside Italy)? I would have my passport and EU issued ID card, so how much use would it be to show the Polish police my WA letter? And anyway it's not exactly onerous to take it with me when I travel in other EU states. For travel to and from the UK they will check my passport - exactly as they have done every single time I entered/exited the UK in the past 15 years. So, no this is not a big deal.

Geordieborn

For some anything to do with travel is a hassle, just wish we had the choices we used to have.