Travelling in Europe With an Irish Passport and British Spouse: Schengen Rules Explained

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Find out how to travel in the EU as the spouse of an EU citizen

In our years of full-time travelling in Europe, this is one of the questions we get asked most often.

If you’re a British citizen travelling with, or joining, your EU spouse in another EU country, the usual Schengen 90-days-in-180 limit may not apply to you. Under EU free movement rules, qualifying non-EU family members can accompany or join an EU citizen for consecutive periods of up to three months in each EU country visited, without those stays being subject to the overall Schengen 90/180 limit.

There are some important conditions and distinctions to understand, particularly around travelling alone, staying for more than three months in one country and visiting the EU citizen’s own country of nationality.

We’ve been navigating these rules ourselves since Brexit. Phil is a dual British and Irish citizen, and we’ve travelled together extensively across Europe using his Irish citizenship and my rights as his British spouse. In this guide, we’ll explain the rules, share the information we’ve received directly from the EU and add what we’ve learned from our own border crossings.

Irish Passport & British Spouse: Key Facts

90/180 rule: A British spouse accompanying or joining an EU citizen exercising free movement rights is not subject to the normal overall Schengen 90-days-in-180 limit for those qualifying stays.
Three-month rule: You can generally stay together for up to three months in each EU country without residence formalities, although some countries may require you to report your presence. Longer stays can trigger residence registration requirements.
Important exception: EU free movement rules generally apply when the EU citizen travels to or lives in an EU country other than their country of nationality. National immigration rules normally apply in their own country.
First-hand experience: The Gap Decaders have travelled extensively in Europe since Brexit as an Irish passport holder and British spouse, using these EU free movement rights and crossing numerous land and sea borders.

What is the Schengen Area?

The Schengen Area is a border-free travel zone covering 29 European countries. It includes 25 EU member states plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Bulgaria and Romania became full members on 1 January 2025.

For most British visitors, the important rule is that time spent across the Schengen Area is combined. Since Brexit, British citizens travelling as ordinary visitors can generally spend up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period across the Schengen Area.

However, different rules can apply when a British citizen is travelling as the qualifying family member of an EU citizen exercising their right to free movement. That’s the distinction we’re exploring in this guide.

How does the Schengen affect travel in Europe as a UK citizen?

Many of us became used to spending the whole winter in southern Europe, chasing the sun, living in a motorhome or working as digital nomads. Before Brexit, a European trip lasting six months or more was straightforward for British citizens, and some travelled around the EU almost permanently.

Since 1 January 2021, British citizens travelling independently as visitors have generally been limited to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period across the Schengen Area. The 90 days are shared across all Schengen countries rather than calculated separately for each country.

If you want to stay longer, individual countries offer their own long-stay visas and residence permits, with different eligibility requirements and conditions. These may allow you to remain in that particular country for longer than 90 days, but they don’t automatically give you unrestricted long-term travel throughout the rest of the Schengen Area.

There is, however, an important exception to the normal 90/180 rule for qualifying non-EU family members travelling with or joining an EU citizen exercising free movement rights. That’s the rule we’re using and the one we’ll explain in detail below.

RELATED POST: Motorhoming in Europe After Brexit: All You Need to Know!

How are EU passport holders affected?

EU citizens have the right to move freely to another EU country to live, work, study, look for work or retire. They can generally stay in another EU country for up to three months without registering as a resident, although some countries require visitors to report their presence.

If an EU citizen stays in the same country for longer than three months, they may need to register their residence and meet the relevant conditions for a longer stay. These depend on their circumstances, such as working, studying, retiring or being economically inactive.

This is different from the Schengen 90/180 rule that applies to British citizens travelling independently as visitors. An EU citizen’s free movement rights come from EU law rather than the Schengen short-stay allowance.

How does this affect a UK citizen married to an EU citizen?

If you are a British citizen married to an EU citizen, you can benefit from your spouse’s EU free movement rights when you accompany or join them in an EU country other than their country of nationality.

Under Directive 2004/38/EC, a non-EU spouse accompanying or joining an EU citizen can stay for consecutive periods of up to three months in each EU country visited without being subject to the usual Schengen limit of 90 days in any rolling 180-day period. This means you can travel together through several EU countries for longer than 90 days overall, provided you continue to meet the conditions of the EU free movement rules.

For us, Phil is a dual British and Irish citizen and I am British. When we travel together in countries such as France, Spain, Germany or Italy, Phil is an Irish citizen exercising his EU free movement rights in another EU country, and I am travelling as his non-EU spouse.

There is an important exception. These EU free movement rules don’t normally apply when the EU citizen and their non-EU spouse travel to the EU citizen’s own country of nationality. In that situation, national immigration rules generally apply. So, in our case, travelling to Ireland is different from travelling together in France or Spain.

Back in February 2020, before the Brexit transition period ended, I contacted the Europe Direct Contact Centre (EDCC) and asked them to clarify exactly how these rules would apply to us. This is the correspondence we received:

Me: I am a British citizen, married to an Irish citizen. The Directive 2004/38/EC seems to say that as a spouse I have the same rights to freedom of movement as my husband in the EU. Please can you confirm the position regarding this directive? If it does not mean that I have the same rights as my husband regarding freedom of movement, can you confirm what freedom of movement rights I do have as the spouse of a citizen of an EU member state?

EDCC: Thank you for contacting the Europe Direct Contact Centre. To enable our service to assist you, please provide us with the following information:

• Do you plan to move or simply travel to the EU? Please provide the specific countries that you wish to travel to.
• When would you move?
• If you will be travelling together or not when you do?

Me: You asked me to confirm the following:

• Do you plan to move or simply travel to the EU? Please provide the specific countries that you wish to travel to. We do not plan to move to the EU. We currently travel extensively in a motorhome, visiting all the EU countries but never for longer than 90 days in each, and want to continue this way of life after Brexit.
• When would you move? We do not plan to move to the EU.
• If you will be travelling together or not when you do. We will be travelling together.

EDCC: Regarding your Irish husband’s own travel, as he is still a European Union (EU) citizen he can still travel and move freely to the EU. If he stays more than 3 months in an EU country, he might however have to register there.

If you travel with your Irish husband, the conditions under which you (as his British wife who wants to accompany him) can travel for a long stay in the Schengen area, staying no longer than 3 consecutive months in any given Schengen Member State, would need to be looked at in accordance with Article 6(2) of Directive 2004/38.

According to Article 6(2) of Directive 2004/38/EC non-EU national family members of mobile EU citizens have the right of residence in another Member State for a period of up to three months if they are in possession of a passport and are accompanying or joining an EU citizen, without any limitation to 90 days in a 180-day period.

Therefore the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers considers that Schengen Member States may not refuse entry to its territory to the non-EU national family member accompanying an EU citizen because he has already been in the Schengen area for 3 months and has not left the Schengen area for another 3 months. 

My interpretation as a lay person

The EDCC response confirmed our understanding of the rules, and current European Commission guidance now makes the position even clearer.

If I travel with Phil, or join him, while he is exercising his free movement rights as an Irish citizen in another EU country, I can accompany him for consecutive periods of up to three months in each EU country we visit. Those qualifying stays are not subject to the overall Schengen limit of 90 days in any rolling 180-day period.

In practical terms, that means we can spend up to three months in France, then continue into Spain, Portugal or another EU country without my previous qualifying stay being counted towards the normal Schengen 90/180 allowance.

The important distinction is that these rights apply because I am accompanying or joining Phil while he exercises his EU free movement rights. They do not normally apply when we travel to Ireland, because that is Phil’s country of nationality and Irish national immigration rules apply there instead.

If we wanted to remain in one EU country for longer than three months, different rules would apply. As Phil’s non-EU spouse, I would generally need to register my residence and apply for a residence card in that country.

Other evidence

The European Commission Practical Handbook for Border Guards, which bizarrely is available online, states the following on page 20:

In the case of third-country nationals who are family members of EU, EEA and CH citizens, they have the right of residence in a Member State for a period of up to three months if they are in possession of a valid passport and are accompanying or joining the EU, EEA or CH citizen, without any limitation to 90 days in a 180-day period.

To be noted that third-country nationals who are family members of EU, EEA and CH citizens are entitled to accompany or join the EU, EEA or CH citizen for consecutive periods of up to three months per Schengen State without any conditions or formalities (except the need to have a visa for third-country nationals from a country subject to a visa requirement (of which the UK is not) where the person is not in possession of a valid residence card or a residence permit).

Our own experience since Brexit supports this interpretation. We have travelled extensively throughout Europe together since 1 January 2021, with Phil travelling on his Irish passport and me as his British spouse. During that time, my overall time in the Schengen Area has exceeded the normal 90 days in 180, and we have crossed numerous external Schengen borders without this causing an issue.

A Note for Dual British and EU Nationals Travelling Back to the UK: If you are a dual British and EU citizen, there’s another passport rule to be aware of when travelling back to the UK.

British citizens, including dual nationals, cannot apply for a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). Since ETA checks became fully enforced in February 2026, dual British citizens travelling to the UK should normally use a valid British passport, or another passport containing a Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode.

There is an important exception for British-Irish dual nationals. Irish citizens don’t need an ETA, and a valid Irish passport can be used to travel to the UK. This means Phil can continue to travel back to the UK using his Irish passport even though he is also a British citizen.

If you hold British citizenship alongside another EU nationality, such as French, Spanish or German, don’t assume you can simply travel to the UK on your EU passport and obtain an ETA. As a British citizen you aren’t eligible for an ETA, so make sure you have the correct documentation before travelling.

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What if the UK spouse needs to travel alone?

There may be occasions when the British spouse needs to travel separately from their EU partner. This was something I was particularly concerned about when we first investigated the rules. What would happen if I needed to fly back to the UK alone and then re-enter the EU to rejoin Phil, having already spent more than 90 days in the Schengen Area?

EU guidance makes an important distinction here. If you’re travelling independently and not accompanying or joining your EU spouse, the normal 90-days-in-180 Schengen rules apply.

However, if you’re travelling separately specifically to join your EU spouse who is exercising their free movement rights in another EU country, you can still derive your right of entry from them. Your previous qualifying stays travelling together should not be counted towards the 90/180 allowance for an independent short stay.

This is also what the EDCC confirmed when I asked them specifically about returning to the EU alone to rejoin Phil.

Me: Many thanks for your responses regarding my queries regarding Article 6(2) of Directive 2004/38/EC. Please can you clarify a further point?

As a UK citizen, there may be times when I need to travel alone (eg back to the UK in an emergency). On re-entering the Schengen area to rejoin my Irish husband (having spent less than 90 days in the UK) could I be challenged as to the legitimacy of my previous stay in the Schengen, which may exceed the 90 days allowed for non-EU citizens?  

I understand that I can travel independently visa-free in the Schengen area for up to 90 days, but that is assuming I have spent the previous 90 days outside of the Schengen area. 

How can I evidence to border control that I have been in the Schengen under Article 6(2) of Directive 2004/38/EC conditions? I am worried that I may be denied entry if the above scenario were ever to happen.

EDCC: As previously stated, the Free Movement Directive applies not only to EU citizens who move to or reside in a host Member State but also to their family members. You will thus derive a right of entry and residence from your husband when accompanying or joining him in the territories of EU Member States of which he is not a national. 

Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 has been amended to exempt UK nationals intending to visit the EU from the visa requirement for stays of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period. This amendment will enter into force on the day after the end of the transition period. This means that you will be able to travel visa free in your own right for a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period in the EU. 

It also means that you will be exempted from the entry visa requirement when accompanying or joining your husband to visit the EU, without any limitation to 90 days in a 180-day period (Article 6(2) of the Free Movement Directive).
When you are travelling alone from the UK to the EU with the purpose to join your husband, you would derive your right to entry from your husband, as non-EU national spouse of an EU mobile citizen. You will not have to wait 90 days before re-entering the EU, after already having spent there 90 days. 

In order to verify whether you have a derived right of entry and residence, the host Member State may only require you to present a valid passport, a proof of family ties with him (i.e. your marriage certificate) and proof that you, as the non-EU national spouse of a mobile EU citizen, are (or will be) joining your EU citizen husband who is exercising free movement rights in a host Member State.

Please be aware, however, that in this case, you might need to have documentation to show when you were travelling together and when you were not.

My interpretation as a lay person

The important distinction is the purpose of the journey. If I fly into the EU alone simply to have a holiday without Phil, I am travelling as an ordinary British visitor and the normal 90/180 rule applies.

If I travel into the EU alone specifically to rejoin Phil while he is exercising his free movement rights as an Irish citizen, I can derive my right of entry from him. The challenge is being able to demonstrate that relationship and that I really am travelling to join him.

Current EU guidance says a non-EU family member may be asked for a valid passport, proof of the EU citizen’s identity, proof of the family relationship and evidence that they are accompanying or joining the EU citizen.

For that reason, if I were travelling alone to rejoin Phil today, I would carry:

Does the marriage certificate need to be notarised? I can’t find anything in the current EU guidance saying that a marriage certificate must routinely be notarised for this purpose. The official guidance simply refers to a document proving the family relationship, giving a marriage certificate as the example.

We carry our original marriage certificate and have never been asked for a notarised copy. However, individual border authorities may need to satisfy themselves that documents are genuine, so if you’re concerned about a particular crossing or unusual circumstances, check the requirements of the country you’re entering before travelling.

We also keep a record of our travels together, including dated photographs and location history. This isn’t an official requirement, but it could provide additional evidence of our movements if we were ever asked to explain which periods I had spent travelling with Phil and which I had spent travelling independently.

Other evidence

The European Commission Practical Handbook for Border Guards states the following on page 20:

When the family member travels on his/her own and does not hold a valid residence card or a residence permit (see point 2.8 of this Section), the normal regime concerning the length of the short stay will (re)start to apply, as the conditions for benefiting from the facilitations concerning the free movement of the EU, EEA and CH citizens and their families are not met anymore.

The previous stays performed in the area without internal border controls accompanying or joining the EU, EEA or CH citizen should not be taken into account for the sake of the calculation of compliance with the 90/180-day rule which is applicable to the short stay only.

What do EES and ETIAS mean if you’re travelling with an EU spouse?

There are now two separate EU border systems that British travellers need to understand: EES and ETIAS. They do different jobs, and the rules are slightly different if you are travelling as the non-EU family member of an EU citizen.

What is EES?

The Entry/Exit System, usually shortened to EES, is an electronic border system that records the entry and exit of non-EU nationals travelling to participating European countries for a short stay.

EES began its phased introduction in October 2025 and has been fully operational since 10 April 2026.

Instead of relying on passport stamps, the system records information electronically, including your passport details, the date and place you entered or left, and biometric information such as a facial image and fingerprints.

If you are travelling on a British passport, you are generally within the scope of EES. An Irish or other EU passport holder is not.

For most British visitors, EES also helps border authorities monitor compliance with the normal 90 days in any rolling 180-day Schengen limit.

EU rules give qualifying non-EU family members additional rights when they are accompanying or joining an EU citizen in another EU country. This means that the usual 90/180 calculation does not necessarily apply to those journeys in the same way as it does when travelling independently.

That does not mean EES can simply be ignored. My British passport and border crossings have still been recorded electronically, so we continue to carry evidence that we are travelling together, including our marriage certificate.

The introduction of EES actually makes keeping your own records more important rather than less. An automated system can record when you crossed an external border, but it cannot necessarily establish from that information alone that you were travelling under EU family-member rights.

What is ETIAS?

ETIAS is the European Travel Information and Authorisation System. It is not a visa, but a pre-travel authorisation for people from visa-exempt non-EU countries, including most British passport holders.

As of September 2026, ETIAS is not yet operational. The EU says it will begin in the final quarter of 2026, but a specific start date has not yet been announced.

Once ETIAS launches, most British visitors travelling to the participating European countries will need to obtain an authorisation before travelling.

An ETIAS authorisation will be linked electronically to your passport and will normally remain valid for up to three years, or until that passport expires, whichever comes first. If you change your passport, you will need a new ETIAS.

Will I need ETIAS if I’m the British spouse of an EU citizen?

Yes, in circumstances like ours, you will still need an ETIAS authorisation once the system becomes operational.

However, ETIAS specifically provides for people travelling as family members of EU citizens who are exercising free movement rights.

To qualify for family-member status, you generally need to be travelling with or joining your EU family member in an EU country other than the country of which they are a national, be visa exempt and not already hold the relevant EU residence card or residence permit.

That distinction matters in our case. Phil is an Irish citizen, but when we travel together through countries such as France, Spain, Germany or Italy, he is exercising his EU freedom of movement rights outside Ireland.

When ETIAS becomes operational, I will therefore apply on the basis that I am travelling as the family member of an EU citizen when we travel together.

If I travelled independently and was not joining Phil, I would instead be travelling under the normal rules applying to a British visitor.

Because ETIAS has not yet launched, there is nothing British travellers need to apply for at the moment. Be wary of commercial websites already offering to obtain an ETIAS for you. Applications cannot yet be made through the official system.

EES, ETIAS and the 90/180 rule

It is worth separating the three concepts because they are often confused.

EES records border movements and helps authorities identify overstays.

ETIAS is a travel authorisation that eligible visa-exempt visitors will obtain before travelling.

The 90 days in any 180-day period rule determines how long most non-EU short-stay visitors can remain within Schengen.

None of those systems removes the separate rights enjoyed by qualifying family members travelling with an EU citizen under EU freedom of movement law.

For us, that means Phil travels using his Irish passport and I travel using my British passport as his spouse. We carry our marriage certificate and supporting evidence and make it clear, if necessary, that we are travelling together.

As these systems are new and their practical application at individual border crossings will continue to develop, we’ll keep this section updated as we experience EES ourselves and once ETIAS actually goes live.

My interpretation as a lay person

The official guidance confirms that I will need ETIAS because I travel on a British passport, but I wanted clarification about whether I should apply as the family member of an EU citizen.

This matters because Phil is an Irish citizen but lives in the UK, and we generally enter the EU together through countries such as France or Spain rather than Ireland.

I contacted the Europe Direct Contact Centre (EDCC) to ask specifically how I should apply. This was their response.

My question: I am a UK spouse of an Irish passport holder. My spouse is not a resident of Ireland but the UK, as he is also a UK national. If we wish to travel into the Schengen together, with France or Spain as our first country to visit (followed by many others) do I apply for ETIAS as a family member or without declaring family member status?

EDCC: You are required to carry an ETIAS when you travel to the EU. If you are travelling with your spouse or to meet your spouse, you should apply as a family member and the EUR 7 application fee will be waived. If you are travelling alone using your 90 in 180 day allowance, you will need to re-apply as a non-family member and pay the EUR 7 application fee.

September 2026 update: The EDCC response above was received before the ETIAS application fee was increased from €7 to €20. The principle remains relevant: qualifying family members of EU citizens are exempt from paying the application fee.

So, based on the advice we received, when Phil and I travel together I will apply for ETIAS as the family member of an EU citizen. If I travel independently and am not travelling to join him, I will need an ETIAS on the normal basis.

ETIAS is not yet operational, so we haven’t been able to test how this works in practice. Once the system launches and I’ve made my first application, I’ll update this article with our experience.

How does it affect my vehicle if I’m travelling long-term?

Your right to travel in the EU as the family member of an EU citizen is separate from the rules governing a UK-registered vehicle.

This matters if, like us, you’re travelling long-term in a British-registered motorhome, campervan or overland truck. Since Brexit, a UK-registered vehicle entering the EU is a non-EU vehicle and is subject to customs rules on temporary admission.

Under EU customs legislation, a privately used road vehicle can generally remain under temporary admission for up to six months. One of the key conditions is that the person using the vehicle normally lives outside the EU customs territory.

This six-month vehicle rule is completely separate from the Schengen 90/180 rule and from the free movement rights discussed elsewhere in this article. Being entitled to remain in Europe for longer as the spouse of an EU citizen does not automatically extend the temporary admission period for your UK-registered vehicle.

Phil: I am a dual UK/Irish citizen, residing in the UK. I have a motorhome which is UK registered and regularly travel to Europe. As an Irish citizen, I intend spending at least nine months of the year in the EU, no longer than three months in any country. Is there a limit as to how long I can keep my UK-registered motorhome in the EU? If it is time-limited, what actions would I have to take to re-set that time limit? i.e. If the limit is six months, can I spend one day in a non-EU country and then return to the EU restart the clock?

EDCC: The harmonisation of Union law in the area of car taxation is far from being complete. The relevant piece of Union law would normally be the Council Directive of 28 March 1983 on tax exemptions within the Community for certain means of transport temporarily imported into one Member State from another. 

However, since the end of the Brexit transition period, that Directive is no longer applicable when it comes to UK-registered cars used on the territory of EU Member States (the same applies even if the motor vehicle is registered in Northern Ireland).

The situation you have described falls no longer under Union law and EU Member States are free to apply, in principle, their own national rules governing the conditions for the registration of motor vehicles originating in third countries. Therefore, we advise you to contact directly the national authorities of the Member State(s) where you intend to stay for a longer period of time with your motorhome.

My interpretation as a lay person

This is where things get more complicated.

Although my right to travel with Phil can take us beyond the normal Schengen 90/180 limit, our UK-registered vehicle has its own customs status. The general EU temporary admission period for a privately used road vehicle is six months.

This isn’t necessarily six months in each EU country. Temporary admission is an EU customs procedure, so simply driving from France into Spain, for example, doesn’t mean you’ve exported the vehicle from the EU customs territory and started again.

Spain’s tax authority illustrates this clearly in its current guidance: a private vehicle brought in by a visitor can remain for a maximum of six consecutive months and must then be re-exported. It also states that the maximum period under the EU temporary import regime is six months.

For long-term travellers like us, that means we need to consider both clocks separately: my immigration status as Phil’s British spouse and the temporary admission status of our UK-registered truck.

Important: Vehicle customs and registration rules can become complicated, particularly if you become resident in an EU country, the registered keeper is an EU citizen, someone other than the registered keeper drives the vehicle, or the vehicle remains in the EU for an extended period. If you’re approaching the six-month temporary admission limit, check the position with the customs authority for the country you’re in rather than relying on Schengen immigration rules.

We were also concerned that our truck is registered in the UK in Phil’s name while he travels on his Irish passport. We’ve crossed numerous EU borders as well as borders into Morocco, Turkey, Georgia and Armenia and have never had the combination of his Irish passport and UK vehicle registration questioned. That’s our experience rather than confirmation of the legal position, though, and we wouldn’t rely on border-crossing experience alone when deciding how long to keep a UK-registered vehicle in the EU.

Our Tips for Crossing Schengen Borders

The rules around EU freedom of movement, EES and ETIAS can sound complicated, but in practice our border crossings have generally been straightforward.

When we enter or leave the Schengen area together, Phil presents his Irish passport and I present my British passport. We also carry our marriage certificate so we can show that I am travelling as the spouse of an EU citizen if we’re asked.

EES doesn’t change the underlying EU free movement rights described in this article. Because I don’t hold an EU residence card, my entries and exits can still be registered in EES, but the EU’s own guidance confirms that non-EU family members accompanying an EU citizen can have different rules regarding the calculation of their authorised stay.

It’s also worth remembering that these rights apply when the EU citizen is travelling to or living in an EU country other than their country of nationality. In our case, Phil is Irish, so this is relevant when we travel together in countries such as France, Spain, Germany or Italy. Different rules apply when travelling to Ireland.

If you’re travelling in similar circumstances, these are our tips:

Final Thoughts

Using Phil’s Irish passport has made a huge difference to the way we can travel in Europe after Brexit. As his British spouse, I can accompany him while he exercises his EU freedom of movement rights, rather than being restricted in exactly the same way as a British tourist travelling independently.

That doesn’t mean we simply ignore the 90/180 rule. The important distinction is that when I’m travelling with Phil, I’m travelling as the non-EU spouse of an EU citizen exercising his free movement rights. When I travel without him and I’m not travelling to join him, the normal rules for British visitors apply.

EES and ETIAS don’t remove those rights, but they do mean there is more information held electronically about our journeys and, once ETIAS launches, another piece of travel admin to deal with.

We always carry the documents that show why the EU family-member rules apply to us and keep our own records of where we’ve been and when.

This is still an area where the legislation can seem much clearer on paper than it does when you’re standing in front of a border officer. We’ll continue to update this post as EES beds in and, once ETIAS launches, we’ll share exactly what happens when I apply as Phil’s family member and how that works at the border.

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