To answer your question, as far as I know there is not really any such thing as a single country Schengen ban, they are for the entire region as it functions as one large, contiguous immigration zone. Well Im happy to say we just passed through immigration, I was questioned about my length of stay in Schengen, and I had a printout of proof when I left, dates and days in between. Thanks. When I first booked our tickets, I understood that it as 90 in each country, so this puts us entering France on June 13 and leaving from Italy on Sept 28. So they speak me that you cross the border illegally (they took ticket print where I came). Or do I chance it? You need to actually apply for the Schengen Visa to be in Finland as well since you just need 1 Schengen Visa to visit any of the countries, you can apply in Finland. The problem is this: Theres nothing on the relevant Romanian government website confirming what the embassy told me. If they say something is the case, then it probably is, and they told me that two offices in the Romanian government gave them this information. Cheers! Due to refugee crisis, its been a bit tough and they definitely flip through your stamps and scan your passport. This is the legal way of doing this. Thanks, Lindsey! What is the maximum fine in Spain? Hi Lindsey, Can I just ring up any American embassy or consulate in any other country to ask about this? i moved to turkey last 2015 to obtain citizenship, now i have turkish passport. (it is not an european country) I was thinking enter via Spain or Italy.. confused as I already kinda made a slight mistake. The expiration of the Schengen visa will be on Nov 2019. I fell in love with the country and decided I didnt want to leave. Another website travel writer / expat confirms that Portugal allows two 90 day extensions, the 1st can be for the simple reason of extending ones holiday, the 2nd extension must be for a specific acceptable purpose of stay such as applying for a student visa, residence visa, etc. Well, it has happened what meant to happen. Thanks for stopping by. I wish you the best of luck and health! Im from the US and currently living in Bulgaria (which is EU but not Schengen yet). For this reason, I made Legal entry to Portugal immigration office, made Finance paper (NIF) by Portuguese citizen as a grantor. The thing is, no one wants to actually overstay their visa, so it is important to think about realistic options and eventually leaving before racking up too much overstayed time. Lindsey! (i didnt respect the duration of stay but still within the validity period of the visa). Carry with you at all times, a On the surface it seems the same 90 day rule is in effect, but Ive heard conflicting stories as to whether or not is as simple as 90 days on/ 90 days off. My position now is in Indonesia. My question is, If I have my renewed Passport, can I use my Schengen visa which was stamped from my old passport? Enjoy your travels this spring/summer . hello Lindsey, I am Alpi from Turkey. Im so stressed that maybe Police will arrest me when i request for a new Passport. It doesnt have to be a non-Schengen country. Meanwhile I applied to renew my NIE with the student status but it has been rejected as I am working now. Because if you dont apply for the visa, you cannot stay after your 90 days are up even if you are married. its indonesian passport, im planning to go to france from finland this september, If your Au Pair visa has expired, you absolutly will need to re-apply for a Schengen Tourist Visa before you go traveling. I applied in the Portuguese Consulate and with the necessary documents, including a confirmed itinerary of 12-20 November stay, the gave me 8 days. But if you apply, you will need to enter on that student visa (aka you will need to wait outside the country for it to be approved before entering). I had to head back to the U.S. unexpectedly and left Spain on the day my visa expired. Your friend should understand that he needs to leave when the visa ends not when his work contract ends. Of course you can try to hire an immigration lawyer, but I am not sure how that will effect the outcome. They didnt say anything to me. I have done some Research in Internet. You dont want to overstay any tourist visa because you were impatient in going about it the legal way So if you were unable to get a visa, you will absolutely need to leave Spain (and Schengen) before your 90 days are up to avoid getting a fine and having it be on your travel record. I want to stay for 20 days. After my contract with the family is terminated, must I immediately return to the US? You can always appeal if you get denied, and plead your case about the confusion. If we get married or work as an aupair do I still pay the fine for overstating my tourist visa? I tried to renew my visa but for some weird reason, they wouldnt accept 2 of my documents because they werent official enough? I would be flying out of Malaga or Madrid. During the immigration time, Germany police catch me and show me to stay 1 day extra, this is crimes ans so on. In Italy, you might have to pay between 5,000 and 10,000. Be warned people, and I am an older guy 55 at the time and very normal looking. I COMPLETELY overlooked the fact that everything is now computerized and that they could scan my new passport and see all the data from my old passportand see that Ive overstayed. i have the below question: we got married before my aupair permit ended. They didnt stamp my passport, didnt file any report, they only asked me if I had cash in me, credit cards so I could change my return ticket to London or back to the U.S. , Hi, I wish you the best of luck during this difficult time. Otherwise, you should call the Portugal Embassy in the U.S. to ask about this officially: http://portugal.usembassy.gov/. So if they deny your visa due to this reason, you will have to appeal and explain your case. Today I went to extend my visa and it is impossible (because it expired). They should have more information. Not sure why other people recommended Francethat country is a big no-no to try and leave from. I believe Denmark is one of the only countries I have seen it officially documented, and I confirmed it on the phone with their immigration board. Or can I use the two weeks (or even just a few days) remaining out of the 90 to travel a bit before flying back? I think youll be fine, only because of your citizenship could allow you to get away with it. I am assuming you are from a Schengen country? Hello Lindsey! 3 years: 2) Change flights by flying from Tegel to London and from London to NYC.Pro The advantage would be that EU > UK flights tend to get less scrutiny, is that the case and would it work to my advantage?Con My main concern here is that supposedly the UK officials can and will send people back to Germany for a Schengen overstay, from which I'd be deported at my eventual expense to the U.S. Is that a significant enough risk to nix this option? I have a speaking engagement in the Netherlands in a few weeks. NZ citizens have something called Bilateral agreements () which means you can actually extend your time in Schengen due to pre-existing travel agreements. Best of luck! If you are denied, you appeal it. Heres my story. Hi Lindsey, do you by chance have links to any of the bilateral agreements mentioned? Im American, have overstayed my D visa in Greece by about 3 years Im married (but separated) from an EU citizen. If your permit expires, you do need to leave Austria. So, if you made 4 trips within 6 months and for 20 days each trip, that means you surpassed to 90 day rule of your visa because it pauses each time you come/go within 6 months. However, Australian citizens have something called a bilateral agreement with many countries (you can read my post on it here)so this basically gives you the right to stay in many countries for 90 days each (France being one of them). I thought this was fine. I thought that then I would be able to obtain my Irish passport and use it to return to the U.S. A non-EU national who stays in the Schengen region for more than 90 days (without a residence permit or long-stay visa) is in the region illegally and may face a re-entry ban. As you can see, a lot of people are confused by this. I would call the Spanish immigration board and ask this before you leave. I was supposed to get a residence permit here, but the husband never came to help with that. Hi Lindsey, and can you maybe give me a solution? Hello! What do you think about my situation? Thanks for these amazing blog! When I came back to the UAE, they checked the visa in my old passport and stamped the new passport. Thanks so much for the response Lindsey just a couple of quick follow-up questions: 1. Sweden is very strict on visas and will most likely ask him to leave if he does not leave himself first. Hello there! unpaid for entrepreneurs. Have you thought about leaving from a non-Schengen countryas long as you dont have a layover again in Schengen! Im an American and my flight back home leaves form London-but not until 18 days after my 90 day limit is up. In case of a prison sentence of 6 months and more He asked me some questions in Spanish while flipping through my passport. Plan A is to try and get back into Portugal having blown her 90 days already only to see if she can get her visa extended out or a different visaand Plan B if that fails is to try out for another job in London and spend the remaining days there of the 180 needed in total and then get back into Europe on the Schengen again as a fresh start. We did not tell anything, and we went on as if we were still planning to get married. The officer spoke with another officer then made a photocopy of my passport including stamps, he then stamped my passport with the normal exit stamp and sent me on my way. However, I dont think you can technically re-enter Schengen due to you having exited without a visa processing, and 6 days left on your Schengen visa. I was here on Youth Mobility Visa, that expired so then the 90 day tourist visa kicks in. For those curious NIE is the tax number in Spain so my question is when did your student visa expire? Thanks for coming back and telling your story! When they say that you are banned they generally mean it. Hey, Lindsey I come across ur site after searching about overstayed visa. Your U.S. friend can stay 6 months as a tourist in U.K, and if you combine that with going in and out of Schengen countries, like Croatia, they could technically beat the system of 90 days. They can take a few weeks or months to process depending, and you cannot work or literally do anything until you have it. Im not concerned about getting back into Europe any time soon, or the potential fine, my concern is getting a black mark on my passport that may cause New Zealand officials to turn me away when i get there, even though I have a NZ Visa. If they are forced to do so, by an act of godso technically, you needed to apply for a visa extension (prolongation de visa) before your tourist visa expired. Maybe I could marry a friend, or somebody out of convenience. Also, make sure you do not enter any schengen country for the next 90 days to clear your stay duration. You are a UK citizen, which is part of the EU (for now), which means you can stay as long as you want or even live in another EU country or Schengen country, such as Hungary. I do know a bit of German, so that could be helpful. If you have more questions, you can always use my contact page to email me. I suggest consulting a lawyer. Now Im heading into Morocco and wanted to travel back into Europe for 3 weeks or so, but I realize this overstay might cause an issue. Ive sent several emails to the relevant Romanian ministry asking for clarification and have received no response. Unfortunately, without taking pre-cautions by asking for an extension, this could negatively impact the decision for granting a new visa. Im writing to you with a hope u will be able to help me and answer my question about Shengen Visa. People can be caught in other countries if the guards look at the stamps and do the math but it wouldnt be written down electronically if youve never been caught before or you are in a different country. Its if you are exiting (at border control at the airport in a Schengen country) and you do get caught. You cannot stay in Netherlands for 6 months on an Italian residence visa. Thank you so much for this blogpost! But, i was wrong and i got stopped by Immigration officer. we have Netherlands visa and we exit from Italy i was in Italy when my daughter was ill and that is the main reason we have not extend visas anyhow there are some people who told me different ides to re-apply for the visa for example some people told me embassy do not have any record for entry or exit and we exit from another country mean Italy so just get new passport and re-apply for the vises .. what would you suggest ??? Thank you for taking the time with your question. Hello Lindsey, I decided to over stay my visa and over stayed it by 3 months. But i am not sure, if the immigation knows about it. He is not entitled to building a life in Sweden without a visa. You should be able to re-enter as a tourist for 90 days. But, I figured out I have 3 more months without any visa. I am afraid to ask the American embassy or consulate here in Hungary while I am here, overstayed. Thats why Trump wants to build that wall . They could deny him a tourist or a work visa. I was stopped by the immigrations and was taking to the back room. If there is a place on the form to explain what happened, I would explain exactly what you wrote here about the flight being cancelled. Because if you say to a border guard I couldnt leave due to Corona and the boarder guard said Why not, there were flights available for expats to leave then youre in a pickle. You are very brave! The student visa was always a sham tho, it was just a way to reside legally in spain and I never really went to any school,I was given papers stating I was a student every year by an old teacher I once had who understood my desire to live in spain so he would give me a certificate that I was his student so I could continue living as a student. Definitely check back here. Thats how it works! There is a high chance no one will catch it, which is why this is such an odd situation. After that she applied for a. DAS visa and got refused. I already paid to push my flight back once so I would really like to just enter again on a new tourist visa while I wait for the au pair visa to finish being processed Do you think Ill get any trouble going back into Denmark? Because their tourist visa will be no longer valid to re-enter on since they have to stay out 90 days before they return. Hi Lindsey, Hi, I am from Colombia and I am currently doing an internship with a company in Austria. Thanks. So I guess this is where it gets confusing. Americans can stay in the Schengen Area for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day period without requiring a visa. Some people will get away with overstaying their [Schengen] visa scot-free; some will not. I wouldnt advise trying to find out for oneself which group they belong to. Ive heard of two occasions recently where UK citizens have been fined 300 and 500 for overstaying by a few days. Im also not sure about my situation in Germany. My question is regarding leaving the EU. Hey Lindsey! My visa is obviously in the system (Ive entered several other EU countries and reentered Germany well after my 90 day mark). In frankfurt they said that he overstay for 1 day and its fine ! Im so sorry that the person informing you actually had no information at all. Should I avoid leaving Spain or will I not have an issue traveling to other countries in the Schengen region? It definitly gets more complicated when you are settling there for a longer period then you need to look into switching your residence and get a tax number. Should I Deal with it when I leave- or do I turn myself in? So if border control sees your visa is too close to the expiration date, they most likely will not even let you into Croatia. In my honest opinion, I wouldnt marry someone just for the visaunless you really, really trust them. Once you are married, you are not just given a visa to stay and work. Hello! Be safe and careful out there! Wooow Iceland! I think you will be fine since this is a different type of visa. My husband and I are USA citizens and are currently in Switzerland in a program that lasts 5 months (approx.) Thanks for sharing! Presumably most people who have been caught and disciplined are not inclined to report it to a Travel Forum. Thank you so much for your help!!! To make a short story, Ive overstayed my tourist visa in Spain, Ive been living here for 2 years and after consideration I would like to return home (Australia) and apply to a German university. What a story! I honestly suggest calling your embassy and asking for advice on this specific case to make sure if you decide to stay and hire a lawyer to appeal you are legally entitled to stay in the country. A couple times I flew out of France and they drilled me, even when I had an EU residence card. Question Im a US citizen, traveled in Europe this year and overstayed completely without realizing Id done so. However, I have an academic French exam on June 6th. . As for having issues when you re-enter, there shouldnt be an issue if they approved your newest visa. I wasnt stopped/questioned/fined any time I entered or left Schengen at all. Unless I know the exact dates for everything, I cant properly calculate for you but the rule is 90 days IN Schengen nonconsecutive and then 90 days OUT of Schengen within 180 days. So the multiple-entry visa allows its holder to go in and out of the Schengen country as pleased. Thats a good point about visa applications. I noticed you said not to fly into another European country. Now, I am wondering if am I allowed to enter Schengen till January 02, 2019. Hey Ryan! I and my fiancee want to get married in Germany. I suggest leaving via Italy. She has the right to contact the German embassy in her home country and ask if she has been added to the Schengen Information System due to this issue. Nothing in the world is worth it because it could ruin future visa chances if you are caught. If Spain deports you to your home country, chances are you will also be paying a fine. There are slight differences between the various countries in what the penalty would be. Hope this helps a bit? He also mentioned I could leave and re-enter, Id be stamped both ways, but I didnt understand. Because Spanish bureaucracy can take some time, I only just had my appointment at the beginning of December. Thank you for all you are doing to help those of us in uncomfortable positions, I am impressed by your depth of knowledge and hope you might have a few words of wisdom for me. I just wish there was a bit more solid info on this. Im just worried that they will count my days at passport control when i get my stamp out of Sweden. If you do get the new visa, please make sure to research extension possibilities so your family wont be in the position of having to overstay.