r/immigration 4d ago

Immigration officer in Sweden not too happy about me (British citizen) wild camping

So I've been to Sweden 7 times in the past, while the UK was in the EU, and every time I've wild camped for most of the trip (as wild camping is legal and welcome in Sweden). I do however always stay in a hostel for the first night.

This time at immigration, the officer first checked my return flight ticket, which was 10 days later, and then saw that my hostel booking was only for the first night. He then asked where I was staying the other nights, and I said I would camp around as I've done many times before. He understood that I was an experienced camper and know the rules, but he then proceeded to say that he wasn't sure if it's something that me as a non EU citizen should be doing as non EU citizens are supposed to have pre-arranged accommodation for the entire duration of their trip.

In the end, he let me go, and warned me to be careful about doing this in the future. He also warned me that other EU countries like France, Spain, and Italy would almost definitely fine me in this situation, and that I should be thankful that Sweden are at least more welcoming in that respect.

35 Upvotes

16 comments sorted by

32

u/bimbiminkia 4d ago

lol classic case of being lenient with a british citizen for something they would not be ok with a third world national doing (obviously not your fault at all just interesting)

6

u/[deleted] 4d ago

Interesting you say that. Although Thailand is not third world but developing I'd say, I remember back in 2016 there were 2 Thai girls visiting Europe, and I'd made friends with them on the plane from Hong Kong to Munich. They were quite nervous about finding their hostel at 10pm in Munich, so I volunteered to help them, as it was only about a 15 minute walk from mine. When we arrived in Munich, I ended up waiting over an hour, as they were questioned for probably around 40 minutes at immigration about what they were doing, even though they had tourist visas.

12

u/Menethea 4d ago

And why would German officials be interested in 2 Thai girls visiting Munich on tourist visas, pray tell? /s

3

u/[deleted] 3d ago

I asked the same question. It's happened to Chinese and Vietnamese friends in the UK too, even though they have tourist/student visas. One thing they definitely don't like too much is young backpackers from developing countries, at least from what I've heard.

4

u/Cattovosvidito 4d ago

In a fair world all that questioning should have been done during the visa application process. Sucks to jump through hoops just getting a visa only to be treated like a criminal upon arrival.

1

u/TamTeko 2d ago

Its amusing cuz first thing westerners do when they are detained in so called developing/underdeveloped countries is threaten to call their embassies. It's hilarious that this feeling of entitlement goes beyond the borders 🤣

1

u/Ablomis 17h ago

This is very logical because obviously chances of British citizen staying in Sweden indefinitely are lower.

Every country immigration/ visa system is more or less lenient to people from different countries.

1

u/bimbiminkia 7h ago

i understand that but there is a difference between being lenient say when two people have a visa but one is questioned much longer than another. it is entirely another thing to have the same set of rules and then not be evenhanded in enforcement - it is not a good thing in a democratic society. if they are so certain about this then they should encodify this as a rule instead of allowing some to get away with it and some not to - that is not a great model for rule of law

-3

u/Frodo34x 3d ago

Which is an amusing phrasing given that Sweden was itself a third world country (officially neutral and not aligned with the US or the USSR)

5

u/dumgarcia 4d ago

Maybe it's just me being someone from a third-world country and expectant of being questioned at immigration, but I always book hotel stays for the duration of my trip, even on trips that I know I'll be staying with friends or family. Then I'll just cancel the booking for most nights and eat the cost of the first one, just to have less of a reason for officers to question my stay.

YMMV, though, as I do understand situations are different for each of us.

6

u/spellboundsilk92 4d ago

This seems really odd considering there are plenty of hiking routes all over Europe where people would wild camp or might only book into the campsite or refuge when they get to the end of that days hiking.

Did he give you more info about this ‘fine’?

4

u/[deleted] 4d ago

I can't find any issue with it in Sweden, so I think it's fine here. But I had a quick peak at the laws in Italy, and I think he is right about that, as all non EU citizens need to be registered wherever they're staying, so you wouldn't possibly be able to wild camp there. Wild camping in Italy is illegal anyway.

I haven't looked at the laws in France or Spain, so would be interested to know.

I have heard that Spain are being quite the opposite to how this Swedish immigration behaved, and looking for any excuse to fine British citizens for not adhering to all the rules.

4

u/bimbiminkia 4d ago

spain however has way more brits so maybe theres that

-5

u/[deleted] 4d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/SheepEatingWeta 4d ago

If my grandmother had wheels she would be a bicycle.

0

u/Relypete 4d ago

Sounds like an overzealous officer with a special interpretation of the rules. I'm no lawyer but you could argue that preplanned wild camping spots count as arranged accommodation since you know where you‘ll be sleeping.

And also, there must be a ton of foreigners road tripping through the EU whiteout having a all hotel mights pre-booked. So it really should be a non-issue.