Would UK ever consider Shengen visa enty
Discussion
Hello all,
Over the years I have been in China, I have had some good conversations with Chinese people.
Many of these people would be considered to be quite rich ie, having more than GBP £1,000,000 available.
When I was talking to one of them a few days ago, Mr Gin, who is having a sports leisure hotel built here in Weifang, China, and he had just returned from Europe.
His bussiness in Europe was to buy European antiques, and ship them back to China.
From there he either keeps what he wants for his restraunts, or hotels.
He has just spent 250,000 euro in Europe.
I asked him did he go to UK, and buy any UK furniture.
He said no, he is not interested in going, as he would need to apply for another visa, just for UK entry.
He said he just applied for a Shengen visa, and have access to 25 countries, and if he applied for a UK visa, the UK visa just gives hin access to 1 country.
The UK visa is more expensive than the Shengen visa.
I feel UK is missing out on so much overseas sales.
This is not an isolated case, very few Chinese will bother to apply for a UK visa as well as a Shengen visa.
vette
Over the years I have been in China, I have had some good conversations with Chinese people.
Many of these people would be considered to be quite rich ie, having more than GBP £1,000,000 available.
When I was talking to one of them a few days ago, Mr Gin, who is having a sports leisure hotel built here in Weifang, China, and he had just returned from Europe.
His bussiness in Europe was to buy European antiques, and ship them back to China.
From there he either keeps what he wants for his restraunts, or hotels.
He has just spent 250,000 euro in Europe.
I asked him did he go to UK, and buy any UK furniture.
He said no, he is not interested in going, as he would need to apply for another visa, just for UK entry.
He said he just applied for a Shengen visa, and have access to 25 countries, and if he applied for a UK visa, the UK visa just gives hin access to 1 country.
The UK visa is more expensive than the Shengen visa.
I feel UK is missing out on so much overseas sales.
This is not an isolated case, very few Chinese will bother to apply for a UK visa as well as a Shengen visa.
vette
Edited by uk_vette on Friday 4th November 11:31
i'm not sure but you just used to get a visa at the entry after a short invterview with the immigration officer, which shouldn't be a problem for a genuine business person.
it's all a bit of b
ks anyway and with current immigration paranoia among the English population this is a political no-no i suppose.
it's all a bit of b
ks anyway and with current immigration paranoia among the English population this is a political no-no i suppose.bobbylondonuk said:
The Schengen Visa came into effect when the EU had open borders between EU nations to allow free movement of goods and people from outside the EU.
Britain, Ireland and a few of the balkan countries have not signed up to that agreement.
And some countries, like Denmark, are regretting it!Britain, Ireland and a few of the balkan countries have not signed up to that agreement.
The main reason it makes sense for the Shengen countries to have the Shengen agreement is that short of deploying vast quantities of barbed wire across mainland Europe, there's no real point going to the expense of maintaining the expense of border controls across such porous borders.
I lived in France from '81-'84, and Spain from '92-'93, and then started a job post graduation which saw me making roughly 8 trips a year in '94 & '95 getting a ferry to the Netherlands and driving through to Belgium, France and occasionally Luxembourg before getting the Eurotunnel back from Calais.
In all of this time, I was only ever asked for my passport coming onto or off ferries/Eurotunnel or planes, with the one exception of sitting through hours of utter chaos on the motorway when the French decided to reactivate passport controls for people coming from Belgium to make a political point about their belief that the Belgians weren't doing enough to prevent drugs being smuggled into France from the Netherlands via Belgium.
All of this was prior to the implementation of the Shengen Agreement in 1995. There was already a de-facto free travel zone in place, because there were hundreds if not thousands of roads, rivers and footpaths, so trying to actually police them would've been like trying to keep water in a sieve. I've had plenty of experiences walking in the Alps or Pyrenees, for example, without actually being completely sure of which country I was in at any given time.
The UK, on the other hand, by virtue of being an island, actually can control the flow of people (although you wouldn't believe it if you read the Daily Wail), so it makes sense to stay out.
I lived in France from '81-'84, and Spain from '92-'93, and then started a job post graduation which saw me making roughly 8 trips a year in '94 & '95 getting a ferry to the Netherlands and driving through to Belgium, France and occasionally Luxembourg before getting the Eurotunnel back from Calais.
In all of this time, I was only ever asked for my passport coming onto or off ferries/Eurotunnel or planes, with the one exception of sitting through hours of utter chaos on the motorway when the French decided to reactivate passport controls for people coming from Belgium to make a political point about their belief that the Belgians weren't doing enough to prevent drugs being smuggled into France from the Netherlands via Belgium.
All of this was prior to the implementation of the Shengen Agreement in 1995. There was already a de-facto free travel zone in place, because there were hundreds if not thousands of roads, rivers and footpaths, so trying to actually police them would've been like trying to keep water in a sieve. I've had plenty of experiences walking in the Alps or Pyrenees, for example, without actually being completely sure of which country I was in at any given time.
The UK, on the other hand, by virtue of being an island, actually can control the flow of people (although you wouldn't believe it if you read the Daily Wail), so it makes sense to stay out.
chris7676 said:
i'm not sure but you just used to get a visa at the entry after a short invterview with the immigration officer, which shouldn't be a problem for a genuine business person.
it's all a bit of bks anyway and with current immigration paranoia among the English population this is a political no-no i suppose.
For non-visa nationals, yes this is the case, however there are a large number of countries (China included) that are visa mandatory.it's all a bit of b
ks anyway and with current immigration paranoia among the English population this is a political no-no i suppose.
12gauge said:
chris7676 said:
he doesn't steal it, he buys it off indivudals and businesses for money they are happy to receive.
Yes, that's why I used the word, "buy"Still think i'd rather have tighter border controls instead.
We need to keep it to the locals so there wont be money coming into the economy.
Can do without his sort.
chris7676 said:
12gauge said:
So he comes here, buys european history off already wealthy europeans, and buggers off home with it?
I think thats the kind of 'enterprise' we can do without.
he doesn't steal it, he buys it off indivudals and businesses for money they are happy to receive. I think thats the kind of 'enterprise' we can do without.
Hello 12gauge,
A little narrow minded, but I put your comments down to youth.
When these wealthy Chinese go to Europe, they give good price for good antique furniture.
Nothing wrong there.
It is the way of doing good bussiness.
I wish I was in a position to spend quarter million euro on antique furniture.
vette
uk_vette said:
Hello all,
Over the years I have been in China, I have had some good conversations with Chinese people.
Many of these people would be considered to be quite rich ie, having more than GBP £1,000,000 available.
When I was talking to one of them a few days ago, Mr Gin, who is having a sports leisure hotel built here in Weifang, China, and he had just returned from Europe.
His bussiness in Europe was to buy European antiques, and ship them back to China.
From there he either keeps what he wants for his restraunts, or hotels.
He has just spent 250,000 euro in Europe.
I asked him did he go to UK, and buy any UK furniture.
He said no, he is not interested in going, as he would need to apply for another visa, just for UK entry.
He said he just applied for a Shengen visa, and have access to 25 countries, and if he applied for a UK visa, the UK visa just gives hin access to 1 country.
The UK visa is more expensive than the Shengen visa.
I feel UK is missing out on so much overseas sales.
This is not an isolated case, very few Chinese will bother to apply for a UK visa as well as a Shengen visa.
vette
Shock "Millionaire Chinese businessman can't afford a visa"....Over the years I have been in China, I have had some good conversations with Chinese people.
Many of these people would be considered to be quite rich ie, having more than GBP £1,000,000 available.
When I was talking to one of them a few days ago, Mr Gin, who is having a sports leisure hotel built here in Weifang, China, and he had just returned from Europe.
His bussiness in Europe was to buy European antiques, and ship them back to China.
From there he either keeps what he wants for his restraunts, or hotels.
He has just spent 250,000 euro in Europe.
I asked him did he go to UK, and buy any UK furniture.
He said no, he is not interested in going, as he would need to apply for another visa, just for UK entry.
He said he just applied for a Shengen visa, and have access to 25 countries, and if he applied for a UK visa, the UK visa just gives hin access to 1 country.
The UK visa is more expensive than the Shengen visa.
I feel UK is missing out on so much overseas sales.
This is not an isolated case, very few Chinese will bother to apply for a UK visa as well as a Shengen visa.
vette
Edited by uk_vette on Friday 4th November 11:31
Go to the Lake District, the Chinese must be the No1 foreign tourists there...can't afford a visa LOL.
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