BREXIT QUESTIONS

Check your passport and travel documents before you travel

Passport validity

If you are planning to travel to an EU country (except Ireland), or Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino or Vatican City, you must follow the  Schengen area passport requirements.

Your passport must be:

• issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country (check the 'date of issue')
• valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the 'expiry date')

You must check your passport meets these requirements before you travel. If your passport was issued before 1 October 2018, extra months may have been added to its expiry date.

Contact the  embassy of the country you are visiting if you think that your passport does not meet both these requirements. Renew your passport if you need to.

Visas

You can travel to countries in the  Schengen area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. This applies if you travel as a tourist, to visit family or friends, to attend business meetings, cultural or sports events, or for short-term studies or training.

If you are travelling to Spain and other Schengen countries without a visa, make sure your whole visit is within the 90-day limit. Visits to Schengen countries within the previous 180 days before you travel count towards your 90 days.

To stay longer, to work or study, for business travel or for other reasons, you will need to meet the Spanish government's entry requirements. You should check with the  Spanish consulate in the UK prior to travel regarding what type of visa and/or work permit you may need.

If you are travelling to Spain for work, read the guidance on visas and permits.

If you are unable to return to the UK before the expiry of your visa/permit or visa-free limit, you should  contact your local authority for immigration advice. You can also  call 060 from a Spanish phone line.

If you are visiting Spain and need to extend your visa-free stay for exceptional reasons, such as a medical emergency, you must  apply to the immigration authorities (Extranjería) to do so.

If you stay in Spain with a residence permit or long-stay visa, this does not count towards your 90-day visa-free limit.

Passport stamping

Check your passport is stamped if you enter or exit the Schengen area through Spain as a visitor.

Border guards will use passport stamps to check you're complying with the 90-day visa-free limit for short stays in the Schengen area. If relevant entry or exit stamps are not in your passport, border guards will presume that you have overstayed your visa-free limit.

You can show evidence of when and where you entered or exited the Schengen area, and ask the border guards to add this date and location in your passport. Examples of acceptable evidence include boarding passes and tickets.

E-gates

You should use the desks staffed by border officers. If you are aged 18 and over, and airport staff instruct you to do this, you may be able to use e-gates, if these are operating.

If you use an e-gate, make sure you get your passport stamped by a border officer.

Additional documents required by tourists

UK nationals entering the Schengen zone as tourists may need to provide additional documents at the border. As well as a valid return or onward ticket, it is possible that travellers to Spain may also be asked to:

• show you have enough money for your stay. More information is available from the  Spanish Ministry of Interior (in Spanish).

• show proof of accommodation for your stay, for example, a hotel booking confirmation, proof of address if visiting your own property (e.g. second home), or an invitation from your host or proof of their address if staying with a third party, friends or family. The Spanish government has clarified that the "carta de invitation" is one of the options available to prove that you have accommodation if staying with friends or family. More information is available from the  Spanish Ministry of Interior.