 Poster: A snowHead
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British holidaymakers heading to France have been warned of delays from Nov 1, when border checks will be reintroduced to combat illegal migration and terrorism.
France has joined six other countries in reintroducing Schengen Area border checks, which will be carried out on travellers entering by road or train from neighbouring countries.
They are being introduced for an initial six-month period on its borders with Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Italy.
They will be spot checks rather than being carried out on every person, but travel experts said they would add to delays at the border.
This is from the Telegraph. Hopefully not too common between Geneva and France!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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That's great news
I'm more than happy to be 'randomly' stopped at a border if it means that someone who shouldn't be in Spain in the first place isn't allowed entry into France and subsequently doesn't attempt to enter the UK illegally (or should that be irregularly?)
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Mike Pow, with 50k vehicles a day crossing at Bardonnex the potential disruption is massive depending how many random checks they do (and when). My mate who runs a transfer company is “concerned”, shall we say…
I wonder if we need to carry passports round the Portes du Soleil?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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There will be very little impact because there will be very few checks. Even during COVID border checks were few and far between.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Wed 23-10-24 16:47; edited 2 times in total
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@MAthert, hopefully. Will definitely have to remember my passport if doing an airport run - I know you’re supposed to take it but I quite often forget.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Mike Pow,
They'll go via Andorra.
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THis is GROSSLY unfair!! Why should skiers get away with it yet us poor old boarders have to put up with additional checks. It's stereotype profiling; that's what it is!
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Shengen. May as well scrap it now. Another ideology. Open borders do not work on massive scale.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Richard_Sideways wrote: |
| THis is GROSSLY unfair!! Why should skiers get away with it yet us poor old boarders have to put up with additional checks. It's stereotype profiling; that's what it is! |
Anyone who likes to come down sideways should be checked out 
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@Richard_Sideways, that is the price to pay for putting the fun back in fundamentalism
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I think it is a token gesture to appease the extreme right wing in France rather than having any real value.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Lol.
EU is copying Brexit.
Closing borders and stopping immigrants.
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| johnE wrote: |
| I think it is a token gesture to appease the extreme right wing in France rather than having any real value. |
"Extreme Right" ...........oh you mean normal working people who generally pay taxes and abide by the law of the land.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Other than perhaps for British holidaymakers flying to Geneva and then crossing into France, the new restrictions will have zero impact on the vast majority of British travellers because it only impacts people crossing into France from a Schengen country.
Most British holidaymakers will have had the usual post-Brexit checks carried out at St Pancras, Dover or at Eurotunnel - or when they land at the airports in Paris, Lyon etc. and these checks have nothing to do with the "new" border checks described in the Telegraph article.
The other key phrase is "spot checks" and if these are anything like those carried out by Germany they will also have little impact. I've crossed the German border on multiple occasions in the last few months and most of the time there are no checks at all. When there are, these are carried out by slowing the traffic down to about 20 km/h over a 100m-200m stretch of road and by waving those cars to be checked into a lay-by or bay while everyone else continues on their way. Not everyone is stopped and the delays have been minimal.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Kenzie wrote: |
@Mike Pow,
They'll go via Andorra. |
Just because Andorra isn’t listed, doesn’t mean to say there won’t be checks at the border there too. It’s probably the easiest border to control.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Oh goody, as though getting from GVA to Les Deux Alpes isn't going to be enough of a schlep on the 28th Dec
Flying in the night before so wondering if it's worth getting the border out the way and stay in a hotel just the other side... anyone done that before?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| quinton wrote: |
Other than perhaps for British holidaymakers flying to Geneva and then crossing into France, the new restrictions will have zero impact on the vast majority of British travellers because it only impacts people crossing into France from a Schengen country.
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Yes, but a very large number of UK skiers do exactly that - fly into GVA and drive/are driven to France. The motorway crossing at Bardonnex will be interesting - my transfer co mate is hoping that because there’s so much traffic (50k vehicles per day) and a lot is cross-border workers, the checks will be very rare. But imagine a transfer coach where everyone has to dig out their passports again. It could be very disruptive for a transfer company having to to do 2 or 3 trips a day.
The traffic goes through the border at c20kph anyway, and the French on occasion seem to run random breathalyser stops which cause big queues.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@andy from embsay,
The travellers arriving at Geneva and going on to France will have already have gone through passport control into Schengen at Geneva airport, so there is little reason for the French border force to do the same checks again on a liveried transfer coach that is obviously going to a ski resort. Even if they stop the coach, it will take a matter of seconds to establish that the passengers are all holidaymakers going skiing. Likewise any hire cars that clearly have skiers en route to the mountains. There is the risk that some queues arise, just as they might when there are breathalyser spot checks, but in the main the border forces elsewhere appear to be conducting spot checks based on profiling and random samples rather than stopping everyone and causing tailbacks.
As others have hinted, the purposes of announcing that border checks are being re-introduced seem to be a) political ("the government is doing something") and b) to let people who might be trying to illegally enter the country know that the border controls are being tightened in order to deter them.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Given the amount of 'fronteliers' that cross the border every day at Bardonnex and other posts in Geneva & Vaud for work (and I imagine elsewhere on the German and Italian borders) as others have said I doubt it will be too rigorously checked as queues can be bad enough anyway during peak hours. That said, the Swiss are also reducing duty free allowances so there might be more checks going the other way too
I have had one of the random breathalyser checks too, but it was on a Saturday evening so it wasn't too busy. I've probably been asked for ID when crossing the border twice in the 14 years I've lived here, one occasion I'm sure was relating to a Dad who had run off with his two daughters and given my daughter was in the back seat I probably fitted the profile too well!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| quinton wrote: |
As others have hinted, the purposes of announcing that border checks are being re-introduced seem to be a) political ("the government is doing something") and b) to let people who might be trying to illegally enter the country know that the border controls are being tightened in order to deter them. |
I used to travel daily to Geneva before Schengen back when the controls were stricter and it wasn't the end of the world.
I have difficulty believing there are huge hoards of Swiss fleeing the country into France or it even being used as a transit country. Generally it is the other direction.
That said, and something for the spliff smoking Snowheads to be aware of. The French customs will be especially vigalant about people arriving in luxury cars for ski holidays this season - in particular couples in their 30s to 40s as they have intellgence this profile is being used as drug mules to ship large quantities of drugs into France.
No idea if they will look at a transfer drivers though - could be a sideline for some.
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@davidof,
I have fond memories of a Sunday morning at CMF when two separate passengers waiting for their bags to appear on the "carousel" were escorted away by terminal staff. The lady passenger wan't too fussed but the male was a bit stroppy - until I pointed out who wanted to see him!
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| andy from embsay wrote: |
I wonder if we need to carry passports round the Portes du Soleil? |
In theory you always did. Other Schengen ID is acceptable.
I look forward to them introducing real checks on the piste though, would be most entertaining. I always have my Swiss driving licence with me anyway. It would be mainly Brits who'd be caught out, I imagine, most other nationalities being used to always having an ID with them as a matter of course.
| andy from embsay wrote: |
| Will definitely have to remember my passport if doing an airport run - I know you’re supposed to take it but I quite often forget. |
It's not that unusual for drivers to be stopped between France and CH for customs checks, so I'm surprised you've never been asked for it. We do border crossings at least a couple of time per week, probably get asked for papers three or four times a year.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Chaletbeauroc, I knew the theory but nobody ever does, do they? It’d seem a bit of a waste of resources really!
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| davidof wrote: |
That said, and something for the spliff smoking Snowheads to be aware of. The French customs will be especially vigalant about people arriving in luxury cars for ski holidays this season - in particular couples in their 30s to 40s as they have intellgence this profile is being used as drug mules to ship large quantities of drugs into France.
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With a new Checkpoint at Chambery around Cham Nord and another at Albertville I hear,
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@davidof, ha, haven't seen "spliff" for quite a while 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| andy from embsay wrote: |
| I wonder if we need to carry passports round the Portes du Soleil? |
My wife and I fortunately had our passports on us when we were stopped by the Swiss border control in Zermatt. On a recent SnowHeads trip we saw border police in the wood looking for immigrants that use them as cover to cross the border between France and Italy.
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Weird.
We're told there are no borders in the EU.
I don't understand.
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FAQ
