Bulldog Ronnie
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Dear All,
My wife and I have recently joined and would like to introduce ourselves. We have been motorhoming since about 2006 and are on our third motorhome that now suits us, a Benimar Tesoro 482. We are not antisocial but prefer wild camping as we want peace and quiet to enjoy the locations we visit, do not own a TV and infrequently listen to the radio (usually the 6pm BBC news) and prefer to read as we watch the sun set on our latest location. With our introduction we would like to provide a WARNING to anyone going to France (indeed any EU country) by car ferry from the Port of Dover that they should ensure the French border control STAMPS your passport on the day of travel. Briefly, our recent travel experience to France was as follows: On 18 June 2021 we booked a ferry crossing Dover - Calais with P&O, passed through immigration control and customs without problems and after a short wait boarded the ferry to Calais. Spent nearly a month exploring France and revisiting some of the locations we liked on previous visits. On 14 July 2021 we were booked on a return ferry to the UK on DFDS for a 0915 departure and nearly missed our ferry because of border French border control! We arrived at Calais border where they now make everyone get out of their vehicle and are escorted into their office. At this point they ask for your passport, vaccination certificate and PCR/Allergen test certificate. Fine up until then when the policeman behind the screen says “This is not valid. Where is the passport stamp proving when you left the UK?” He required positive proof that we left when, where and how we said we did. When we left the UK French border control merely glanced at our passports and waved us on so no stamp was proffered and we were unaware of the future implications of not having one. We were able to eventually provide proof of travel with an old email confirmation from P&O Ferries. The damming statement from the French policemen was “yes, this is a problem with our colleagues in Dover not stamping the passports so next time make sure you ask for a stamp.” Fortunately we had arrived two hours early for our scheduled ferry crossing and spent early 1 3/4 hours at French - Calais border control then had to repeat the same process at UK border control (that took less than 5 minutes). Our word of warning to you: if traveling to France (or EU) ensure border control stamps your passport and the date and port of exit are clearly identified.
My wife and I have recently joined and would like to introduce ourselves. We have been motorhoming since about 2006 and are on our third motorhome that now suits us, a Benimar Tesoro 482. We are not antisocial but prefer wild camping as we want peace and quiet to enjoy the locations we visit, do not own a TV and infrequently listen to the radio (usually the 6pm BBC news) and prefer to read as we watch the sun set on our latest location. With our introduction we would like to provide a WARNING to anyone going to France (indeed any EU country) by car ferry from the Port of Dover that they should ensure the French border control STAMPS your passport on the day of travel. Briefly, our recent travel experience to France was as follows: On 18 June 2021 we booked a ferry crossing Dover - Calais with P&O, passed through immigration control and customs without problems and after a short wait boarded the ferry to Calais. Spent nearly a month exploring France and revisiting some of the locations we liked on previous visits. On 14 July 2021 we were booked on a return ferry to the UK on DFDS for a 0915 departure and nearly missed our ferry because of border French border control! We arrived at Calais border where they now make everyone get out of their vehicle and are escorted into their office. At this point they ask for your passport, vaccination certificate and PCR/Allergen test certificate. Fine up until then when the policeman behind the screen says “This is not valid. Where is the passport stamp proving when you left the UK?” He required positive proof that we left when, where and how we said we did. When we left the UK French border control merely glanced at our passports and waved us on so no stamp was proffered and we were unaware of the future implications of not having one. We were able to eventually provide proof of travel with an old email confirmation from P&O Ferries. The damming statement from the French policemen was “yes, this is a problem with our colleagues in Dover not stamping the passports so next time make sure you ask for a stamp.” Fortunately we had arrived two hours early for our scheduled ferry crossing and spent early 1 3/4 hours at French - Calais border control then had to repeat the same process at UK border control (that took less than 5 minutes). Our word of warning to you: if traveling to France (or EU) ensure border control stamps your passport and the date and port of exit are clearly identified.
