Talk Quesada forum

I am new here and hopefully somebody might have an answer to a question nobody seems to have an answer too.
Here goes.
I am a UK resident with a UK passport and my wife who is Japanese has a Japanese passport with indefinate travel to and from the UK. We have a house in Nerja ,which the family has owned since 1996.We are also French residents, both with Carte de Sejour cards with 10 yea status having lived in French on and off for 14 years. My question is ,We have been in France because of covid restrictions for about a year, we now would like to visit our home in Spain, the 90 rule applies we understand that, but the question is as we have been in the Shengen zone for a long time are we allowed to visit our house for a further 90 days?
I would really appreciate a legal answer to this as we don't want to be stopped at the Spanish border on the way down.

Travels within the Schengen area


The residence permits and ‘documents de circulation’ issued in France under the terms of the withdrawal agreement allow their holders to travel to other States that are part of the Schengen area for periods not exceeding three months per semester.

A tool has been created by the European Commission to facilitate this counting.

Days spent in your country of residence do not count towards your visa free period (90 days in 180 etc) in the Schengen area. So yes, as a French resident, you can visit Spain, just as those of us resident in Spain can visit France. However, you also say you are a UK resident. If you mean 'resident' rather than 'citizen' then no you can't, but you can't be officially resident in two places. With the Carte de Sejour you should be OK as this confirms your French residency. I can't be sure if the Japanese passport complicates things, but I don't see why it should.

As stated by Paul Uden, you can’t have residency in two countries at the same time. If you clarify which country you are officially resident, you will get more accurate advice.

You can have residency in 2 countries but in Special circumstances
https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/mig ... -residence

Notwithstanding the taxation issue, the fact that they both have the Carte de Sejour confirming they are permanent residents in France will determine their ability to travel within the Schengen area when they cross borders. If the French state has issued it to them, I doubt a border guard is going to challenge its validity or ask for proof of their tax status. The original post is nevertheless a little confusing on the question of residency. I think a permanent resident can leave their adopted country for up to five years though and still retain their residency so perhaps that is their situation. I can't see a problem with their planned trip to Nerja anyway.

sorry for confusion i should of said UK citizen not resident.Very helpful

Hi, we (myself and wife) travelled from our home in France to Cuidad Quesada at the beginning of November there were no checks at the border when we crossed at Irun, cheers Martin