J00ls

Red Eric - having re-read the bit about the covid certificate, you could be right, I think I jumped to the wrong conclusion. However I'm still concerned given that quite a lot of my fit to fly tests have been carried out by Unilab, who as far as I know are a pretty large and reputable company here in PT. It sounds like some rather nasty nit picking by the Frankfurt officialdom. Personally I avoid that airport like the plague.

sportpix

Correct. There was a pre-boarding screening station in Frankfurt airport to destinations such as HK, South Africa and others. To get through I needed my boarding pass, vaccine certificate to show I am double jabbed, a test certificate taken within 72 hours and then another certificate to indicate that unilabs is accredited by something called the IPAC. Not having the final one I spent about half an hour on my phone trying to find a listing for unilabs on the IPAC website, however it wasn't there or I simply couldn't find it.
While I was standing to the side doing this a British couple approached the desk and when the guy was asked where they'd been for the previous 14 days he replied, "Portugal". When he was asked for his certificate he showed it to the guy checking docs and so I immediately approached him to see if he'd used unilabs. Sadly, he'd used another company. When I asked him how he got the certificate he said that the test centre printed it out for him. Given that the test cost me 100 euros it wouldn't have been unreadable to expect unilabs to ask of my destination and for them to print out a certificate, but sadly they're just raking in millions of euro for doing very little.
As far as avoiding Frankfurt is concerned, I didn't have many options as most countries are on HK's red list meaning three weeks hotel quarantine. Portugal and Germany are on the two-week list, and as I can't fly directly from PT to HK I needed a third country. I would have preferred LHR, but the UK is on the three-week list.
I'm now on day four of 14 in quarantine and while it's a form of torture, having spent three months in a wheelchair in the summer I've had to learn patience. I hope it lasts.
HK is following China's zero cases policy so hence the mandatory hotel quarantine. The airport, which is normally very busy and extremely efficient, is practically dead. From getting off the plane and then boarding a hotel shuttle bus I walked all of 5kms (according to my Garmin) to go through the various testing processes. This and the waiting for the test result took all of FIVE HOURS! I miss my life in Lagos...
With regard to the immigration guy stamping (or chopping, as we say in HK) my passport, I will just have to try harder to emphasise the SEF document with the QR code that states that "an application for a residence permit has been requested in favor (sic) of ... It doesn't actually say I've got one (although I have), which is not very helpful. Hopefully the new cards will be being distributed by the time I get back in January (more patience needed...).

J00ls

Wow - HK airport is so vast, it must be really weird place when its empty - can't really imagine it. Sorry to learn about the wheelchair scenario - 2021 has not been a great year and I will very happy to wave it goodbye. I hope the time in lock up goes quickly for you. I will certainly be paying more attention to any Unilabs certificates in future (they seem to be a major local provider where I live in the East Algarve). I had never given it a thought before.

Red Eric

Pedant here

It states that a residence permit has been applied for under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, so you won't have one of those yet.

What you have is not a residence permit at all, since EU citizens (as was the case for UK nationals who moved to PT prior to 31st December 2020) do not require them.

sportpix

Confused. So I am or I am not a resident of Portugal 🇵🇹? Do you have a PT ID card presumably given before Brexit?

J00ls

Red Eric, I'm confused as well - surely the thing with the gold stars is my Residencia? Trying to look on the bright side, I can only hope that all the mental gymnastics of the past year and more must surely be helping to stave off Alzheimers.....Its like a game of snakes and ladders.

Bomber Harris

You registered you were residing in PT with the camara as an EU citizen. After Brexit you are no longer an EU citizen so you need to apply for a resident's permit as a third country citizen, which presumably you did by submitting your request on the SEF website and were issued a QR code confirming your application.
Until we are issued the new biometric card none of us Brits have a resident's permit, those who have been here less than 5 years will have a CRUE (camara registration), those who have been here more than 5 years have a Cartão de Residência Permanente. Neither of which is a resident's permit as such.

J00ls

Oh dear, I think I see what you mean. More and more confusing - the wheel just keeps on turning doesn't it....Now if only I could get my brain to turn over as well perhaps I might get somewhere,

sportpix

Thanks Bomber, I think …. So was the German immigration officer right to chop my passport or not? I was tired and in pain from my leg break from endless walking when I stood before this guy so I was not in the mood to be buggered around. However I knew it would not help things to get stroppy so I said my bit and kept it short.

Stingychips

Do stamps even matter if everything is digitally logged. I’m sure someone once said on here that the swipe of the passport is for checking for international arrest warrants and can’t tell them dates of entries and when and where.? The way they are being anal about ink stamps it makes me think that post was right.

Red Eric

No, he wasn't, since you are a resident of a Schengen state, covered by the terms of the WA and were carrying both your resident registration certificate and the document with the QR code which confirms that you have applied for the relevant post-Brexit document.

However, if it's any consolation, it shouldn't be of any real significance. This is in relation to France but the same applies anywhere :
Should Brits living in France have passports stamped at borders?

Red Eric

That's correct, I suspect - I'm fairly sure every entry to and exit from Schengen are not electronically logged in one integrated system at the moment, even though some national authorities may be using their own systems. Some people will be entering at one point and leaving from another, hence the norm being to stamp passports of visitors.

sportpix

Thanks Red. Again, do you have a PT resident's card, assuming you've been there a long time?

Red Eric

Sorry - forgot to respond to that.

Yes, I've got a EU citizen permanent resident card and have applied for the new model card, as, contrary to earlier pronouncements, it appears to have become de facto required.

sportpix

I should have borrowed yours ...