Greetings all,
help - visa has thrown a stick in my spokes.
Has anyone got any marvellous ways of getting around the 90 day limitation in the schengen area other than going to other countries?
schengen visa
火, 2013-01-15 21:35
#1
Unregistered
schengen visa
Hi. I think it depends on what country you're in and what country you're from. I'm an American and I spend winters in France and had to deal with the Schengen issue so I know something about it. If you tell me more, I might have some advice for you.
Aloha I am flying to Brussels November 6th and I'm trying to figure out more about the Visa process I want to cycle across Europe I was hoping for like a year but then I looked at the research and looks like I have to get medical insurance and I can only stay for 90 days .ah I don't know what to do now
Aloha I am flying to Brussels November 6th asnd I'm trying to figure out more about the Visa process I want to cycle across Europe I was hoping for like a year but then I looked at the research and looks like I have to get medical insurance and I can only stay for 90 days .ah I don't know what to do now
Thanks
We have from mid April to mid November 7 months to spend in europe and was hoping to cycle Spain France Germany Italy Croatia Slovenia austria Czech republic Estonia
I am concerned that if we spend 90 days initially we have to be out by mid June and not back in until mid sept when things are starting to cool down for cycling. The info online is not so clear do you know if we can enter the region for a few days starting our 180 day count then hop out to return after 90 day out then having 90 days in hop out for a few days then re enter to start our 180 day start again.
Other options? National visa for Italy Spain or France where we are likely to spend a fare amount of time? Has anyone done this?
I think the easiest thing to do is to apply for the 6 month visa for a specific primary country. That still allows you to travel outside of Italy for example. I haven't read the limitations recently but theoretically they can ask for you to prove a bit, banks statements, photographs, etc. In reality it seems they are very unconcerned with any of this. My brother spends a lot of time in Europe as he has a son there, and was in a relationship with a dutch girl for a few years. He is Canadian and goes in and out a lot. When I was planning for my trip, he told me that although he has technically overstayed a few times, there have never been any problems. IE, they just stamp you out. If you want to come back in, they do not seem to bother to match stamps and do the math, etc.
In my experience I also passed through Switzerland, and I think one other non-EU country. I was never stamped. Or was only stamped once, and realized at the time I could also exagerate the amount of time I spent in non-EU countries. Although I ended up finishing my trip in less than the 90 days, I am pretty sure it would not have been a problem. Basically if you want to be sure get a 6 month country specific visa, and be prepared to answer a few questions about how long you spent in and out of that country. Otherwise you could pass through, or pretend to pass through non-EU countries, and be prepared to answer questions about that. The last choice would be to simply enter and leave normally but with more than a 90 day stay. In my brothers case it was not a problem. He may have gotten lucky, but I think they are not at all concerned about this. I also think if your passport has a lot of other stamps in it, they are not likely to look for the date of the entry stamp. It is sort of funny because I am pretty sure they scanned my passport when I arrived, and you would think the data would be matched for arrival, and departure, etc. but I am not sure this is the case. I think you are best off with a single country visa, and a plausible story. You can also try google searches for entry and exit formalities, for EU countries and try and get some info on the procedure they use. Also googling overstay schengzen, or more than 90 days type of searches.
Hey,
Sorry I was just reading this that from awhile back. I was traveling and now back home, but I had a similar problem in 2010. I came cycling from the east to the west into Europe. I stopped to visit a friend as well in Germany for a few weeks in winter waiting for spring.
I was also worried about the visa, and in Germany they offered me a sort of visa that would allow me to work there, thus increasing my time in Europe. That was nice, but I was cycling!
In France when I inquired, they told me that the only solution was to go back home and apply for a visa (I'm american). I was headed for Spain..just a month more of cycling and THAT was not my solution either. In the end, in the French office, they told me that it probably wouldn't be a problem and if someone asked me, "I could say I didn't know about it." Haha!!!
Anyway, THAT is what I did. I ignored it, and cycled onward to Spain, spent about another month or more and when I flew home, there was no big To-Do....
This is just my experience. The Schengen thing can put a wrench in cycling trips there, but maybe it's not so strictly enforced with people from countries, like the U.S.
I'd be interested to hear what your experience is too!
corinne
There is zero wiggle room with schengen. Trust me. You can come and go for a total 90 out of 180 days (the 180 days are all in a row, no game playing allowed).
Once your time is up, the only thing to do is run outside for 90 days. Then you can come back.
Ireland and UK make a good escape, if you like rain. Croatia and that lot are nice biking too, I read.
People do overstay, and slip past lazy (read: usually southern) officers on the way out, unnoticed, but it gets tougher to get away with. Fines can be huge, and they can blacklist you from schengen for years.
Watch out for the swiss. They are totally on the ball, from what I read. Cops all have computers with visa info right there, up to date.
Ja, schengen visas can really put the kabosh on traveling in europe.
Good luck!
So I can only stay for 90 days and I have to get insurance to get visa, this is a wrench