Travelling with EEA Swiss partner

Got this answer back from the EU counsel today, we are not married but in a durable relationship of 20 years, so hoping this falls under the term spouse,so I can travel to several member countries in the Bloc and not have to worry about the 90/180 day rule.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Please find below the reply to your enquiry. Please note that the advice given by Your Europe Advice is an independent advice and cannot be considered to be the opinion of the European Commission, of any other EU institution or its staff nor will this advice be binding upon the European Commission, any other EU or national institution.

Dear Sir,

Thank you for getting in touch with Your Europe Advice.

Your question relates to the formalities you must comply under the following circumstances.

You are a UK national with a UK passport and you are married to a Swiss national. It appears that you are currently a resident in the UK. You wonder whether you might be allowed to remain in any member state of the EU (within the Schengen area) for more than 90 days, after the end of the transitional period laid down under the Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and the UK.

Effectively, you are asking whether you may continue to benefit from EU Free Movement law, after Brexit, and once the UK is no longer bound by the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement.

The short answer is yes, on the proviso that you invoke your rights as the family member of a Swiss national by virtue of the Agreement between the EU and Switzerland (for more on this, please see below).

On the 1st January 2021, as a UK citizen and on your own, you are a third country citizen devoid of any rights to EU free movement, (subject to the transitional period under the WA lasting until the end of 2020). Accordingly, as a third country citizen and on your own, you are limited to 90 days in a period of 180 days for the whole Schengen area.

This is in stark contrast to rights of free movement which you currently enjoy on your own, as a UK citizen, by virtue of the Withdrawal Agreement with a Transitional period (lasting until the end of December 2020), where you are allowed stays with periods of up to 90 days in each member state of the EU.

Rights to Free Movement as the family member of a Swiss citizen:

A. Rights of admission.

As the spouse of a Swiss national, you derive rights to free movement, provided you travel with your wife or join your spouse in another member state of the EU, by virtue of the Agreement between the EU and Switzerland.

An agreement was ratified between the EU and Switzerland "the Vaduz Agreement of 21 June 1999 between the Swiss Confederation and the European Community and its Member States on the free movement of persons (AFMP)". The Vaduz Agreement of 21 June 2001 amends the Convention of 4 January 1960 establishing the European Free Trade Association and extends the personal scope of the AFMP to cover also citizens of EEA Member States.

On the 1st January 2021, you will benefit from a visa waiver when travelling into the Schengen area because of your UK nationality. Thus, you will not be subject to having to process and obtain a Schengen visa. You will however be compelled to process and obtain a pre-clearance ETIAS before embarking on your trip. As the spouse of a Swiss citizen, travelling with your spouse or joining her, you will also benefit from the right to stay up to 90 days per Schengen member state, (thus, not subject to the normal rule of 90 days in a 180 day period for the whole of the Schengen area).

B Rights of residence.

If you were to remain in any member state for more than 90 days, you would be under the obligation to register as a resident in the member state in question, which you would do on the grounds that you are the family member of a Swiss national who is resident in the same member state.

Should you feel the need for an immigration adviser, please follow the link to contact an Immigration lawyer, which you may find through the following:

https://www.gov.uk/find-an-immigration-adviser

I hope this serves to clarify the issues raised in your query and thank you again for getting in touch with Your Europe Advice.

Yours truly. Your Europe Advice.

To submit another enquiry, please visit Your Europe Advice, but do not reply to this e-mail.

Your original enquiry was: As from 1st January 2021, can I accompany my EEA spouse (Swiss) in the Schengen zone for more than 90 days?

Yours sincerely,

Your Europe Advice

Assuming your partnership is not registered, you will be able to benefit from the free movement directive only after your partnership is "duly attested," meaning that you have presented evidence of your relationship to the authorities and they have accepted that it is a "durable relationship" for the purpose of the directive. In practice, you wouldn't do that for a short trip (since you will be able to travel in the Schengen area for 90 days out of 180 anyway). This means that you will not have an automatic right of free movement when traveling with your Swiss partner, but you would be able to apply for a residence card under the directive should you plan to stay somewhere for longer than three months.

If your partnership is registered, however, or if you register it or get married, your right of free movement would be automatic.