Visa & Airline Ticket
Nov 12th, 2016, 05:21 PM
#1
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Visa & Airline Ticket
Hello everyone! I'm planning to go to Belgium as a volunteer for six months with a long-stay visa. After finishing my job I would like to travel in Eastern Europe for two months. My question is whether I'm allowed to get a Schengen Travel Visa after my work visa expires, or if I have to leave the zone immediately? I've read on other sites that it can be possible to leave the area for a few days and then enter again, so it would be possible to travel for 90 days. What is the truth?
My other doubt is regarding my return flight. Since I'm planning to stay for eight months in Europe I think that a cheap return flight could be difficult to find such in advance. Is it possible to buy the ticket once I'm there or does people entering Belgium require to have a return flight?
Thanks!
My other doubt is regarding my return flight. Since I'm planning to stay for eight months in Europe I think that a cheap return flight could be difficult to find such in advance. Is it possible to buy the ticket once I'm there or does people entering Belgium require to have a return flight?
Thanks!
Nov 12th, 2016, 05:45 PM
#2
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You are not required to show a return ticket per se, but you may be subject to questioning upon making first entry into a Schengen country, and your plans for travel, why you are there, and how you will leave, may all come up.
Normally, 90 days is the maximum stay allowed, followed by 90 days out before making a re-entry. You volunteer work obviously has already allowed for a different kind of visa.
About the extension beyond those sic months, this is not the place to get binding legal information. Go to the Belgian consulate since that is where you make entry into the Schengen area.
Normally, 90 days is the maximum stay allowed, followed by 90 days out before making a re-entry. You volunteer work obviously has already allowed for a different kind of visa.
About the extension beyond those sic months, this is not the place to get binding legal information. Go to the Belgian consulate since that is where you make entry into the Schengen area.
Nov 12th, 2016, 05:48 PM
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A Schengen travel visa is not a thing - that is not a physical visa in your passport. It's just that as a US citizen (I assume) you can enter Schengen for 90 days as a tourist without getting a visa.
I'm not sure if you can just add this on without leaving Schengen - I would look at the state department web site to see what the specific rules are.
However, I would definitely have a return ticket to the US - even if you have to change it later to a different date. Arriving with no proof that you will leave is a very good reason for the Immigration authorities to deny you entry.
I'm not sure if you can just add this on without leaving Schengen - I would look at the state department web site to see what the specific rules are.
However, I would definitely have a return ticket to the US - even if you have to change it later to a different date. Arriving with no proof that you will leave is a very good reason for the Immigration authorities to deny you entry.
Nov 12th, 2016, 06:07 PM
#4
You do not say what nationality you are . . . American?
Do you already have the long stay visa?
If so, it is my understanding that once your volunteer assignment and visa are expired, you could leave Schengen for as little as one day and just re-enter as a regular tourist for the normal 90 days. But you would need to leave first.
(The US State Department website is really of no use, since they are Schengen regulations, nothing to do w/ the US)
Hopefully alec or one of the other knowledgable Fodorites will see your question.
I would assume that by the end of your visa period you will have purchased your return flight so that would not be an issue.
Do you already have the long stay visa?
If so, it is my understanding that once your volunteer assignment and visa are expired, you could leave Schengen for as little as one day and just re-enter as a regular tourist for the normal 90 days. But you would need to leave first.
(The US State Department website is really of no use, since they are Schengen regulations, nothing to do w/ the US)
Hopefully alec or one of the other knowledgable Fodorites will see your question.
I would assume that by the end of your visa period you will have purchased your return flight so that would not be an issue.
Nov 12th, 2016, 07:03 PM
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To clarify:
By Schengen rules, it is the country where you make your first entry into the entire Schengen area that has to take care of admitting or refusing your entry, and administering any further issues like your planned extension.
That is why you must contact the Belgian consulate nearest to you, unless you booked a flight that first touches down in a different country on your way to Belgium - in that case, contact the consulate of that country.
The following countries within the Schengen area that often are referred to as being in Eastern Europe (even though the Czechs for example think of themselves as being in Central Europe...) are:
Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia.
By visiting any of those you would not be leaving the Schengen area.
Again, ask the Belgian consulate if re-entry is possible soon after exiting the Schengen area to, for example, Belarus or Russia
By Schengen rules, it is the country where you make your first entry into the entire Schengen area that has to take care of admitting or refusing your entry, and administering any further issues like your planned extension.
That is why you must contact the Belgian consulate nearest to you, unless you booked a flight that first touches down in a different country on your way to Belgium - in that case, contact the consulate of that country.
The following countries within the Schengen area that often are referred to as being in Eastern Europe (even though the Czechs for example think of themselves as being in Central Europe...) are:
Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia.
By visiting any of those you would not be leaving the Schengen area.
Again, ask the Belgian consulate if re-entry is possible soon after exiting the Schengen area to, for example, Belarus or Russia
Nov 13th, 2016, 02:43 AM
#6
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<i>A Schengen travel visa is not a thing - that is not a physical visa in your passport.</I>
A Schengen visa is a "thing" that is a physical visa in a passport.
US citizens do not need a Schengen visa as they are free to travel within the Schengen states for a max stay of 90 days.
But for those nationalities that do need a visa, it is a physical visa.
I would not book a return flight, book it once you are there.
A Schengen visa is a "thing" that is a physical visa in a passport.
US citizens do not need a Schengen visa as they are free to travel within the Schengen states for a max stay of 90 days.
But for those nationalities that do need a visa, it is a physical visa.
I would not book a return flight, book it once you are there.
Nov 13th, 2016, 04:23 AM
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WoinParis,
Only Belgians who are not ordinarily resident in Belgium will have to pay.
The Belgian Government will improve employment statistics by encouraging Belgians to work abroad and send cash home frequently, but it will not allow them to return "home" if they take jobs from "Real" Belgians. Thus, the Wall.
There will be camps for such people in Picardie where they can look longingly over the border and smell the waterzooie cooking.
;-)
Only Belgians who are not ordinarily resident in Belgium will have to pay.
The Belgian Government will improve employment statistics by encouraging Belgians to work abroad and send cash home frequently, but it will not allow them to return "home" if they take jobs from "Real" Belgians. Thus, the Wall.
There will be camps for such people in Picardie where they can look longingly over the border and smell the waterzooie cooking.
;-)
