seg49

Hi there,

Wondering if anyone can help explain the Visa situation for me.
I am planning on visiting Europe/UK next summer. Just sorting out my itinerary/budget now. I was originally planning on 7 weeks, but am now trying to extend this to 13-14 weeks.

I am a New Zealand Citizen. I understand I am able to travel 90 days in Europe Visa Free. My problem is I will be away for approx 97 days. However some of this time at least 10 days minimum will be spent in the U.K, so I will be only in the Schengen Area for less than 90 days.

How do I go about this? Does it matter where I fly in and out of (E.g. Fly into Milan and out of London Vs. Fly into Milan and out of Athens).

Do I need to include the UK part of my trip at the beginning or end, or is it okay to have it in the middle and then re-enter the Schengen Area?

Any help would be appreciated! I have read a lot of different websites and forums, but it is difficult to get clear information, and this will be my first time dealing travelling for longer than a month.

Thanks!

Blueeyedcod

It doesn't matter where you enter or exit or if you go to the UK in the middle. In fact, being a visa waiver passport holder myself, I have found it's rare that border officials examine passports to such an extend to determine when one entered or left the Schengen zone. I've never had anyone sit there and 'do the math' to see if I've overstayed the 90 days. No electronic system exists to ensure visa waiver travellers haven't overstayed their time. It's just up to a judicious immigration official to bother checking and I'm sure some do but in my many, many visits to the area I've never noticed it going on.
Bottom line - don't stress too much if you overstay by a few days as it's likely no one will check anyway.

Cowboy1968

While you can come and go to/from the Schengen area as often as you please as long as you stick to the 90d in 180d rule, I would take care to get proper entry /exit stamps or scans each time.
So if you get checked when you eventually leave the Schengen area, your time away in the UK can be deducted.
There is, of course, an electronic system in place, which is called the Schengen Information System.
And the Dutch border control agency has a pretty thorough listing of the penalities for overstaying - the same rules apply across the Schengen area for any member state (again, not an issue for you):
https://ind.nl/EN/individuals/reside...tion/entry-ban

JAMH

Doesn't New Zealand have special bi-lateral agreements with many of the countries in Europe such that the 90-day rule does not apply to time spent in those countries? In any event, even if you are limited to the 90 days, just make sure to spend 8 of your 97 days outside of the Schengen Zone. Those 8 days could be consecutive or not or at the beginning, middle or end of trip. I encourage you to make sure that your dates of entry and exit are stamped. Unlike other responders, I know a person whose entrance into the Schengen zone was not stamped and she had a problem with leaving. Ultimately, they let her and her husband catch their flight when she realized that she could prove when she entered Italy by showing her flight information from her e-mail. Take a look at https://www.safetravel.govt.nz/trave...-travel-europe for the countries that have bi-lateral agreements with New Zealand.

Thelittlestkiwi

See link and information below... A lot of the questions on this website relating to schengen zone and visa are from those from the USA, and the same restrictions do not apply, but it's still complicated..

http://www.nzembassy.com/france/nzer...nce-and-europe

Visa-free access for New Zealand visitors to Europe

New Zealand passport holders are able to spend up to three months visa-free in most European countries, and up to six months visa-free in the United Kingdom as visitors. The only European countries that require New Zealand passport holders to have a visa for a stay of less than three months are Belarus, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine.

Visa-free access for New Zealand passport holders intending to stay for more than 3 months in the Schengen area is complicated.

Schengen area countries permit most holders of passports from outside the Schengen area to stay visa-free in the Schengen area as a whole, regardless of the particular country or countries, for no more than 3 months out of a 6-month period. (This is sometimes expressed as 90 days out of a 180 day period.)

However, New Zealand has bilateral visa waiver agreements with many of the individual countries in the Schengen area. These visa waiver agreements allow New Zealanders to spend up to three months in the relevant country, without reference to time spent in other Schengen area countries. The European Commission has confirmed that these agreements continue to be valid. These agreements thus effectively override the Schengen area restriction (which would otherwise be imposed on New Zealand passport holders) of no more than 3 months out of a 6-month period in the Schengen area as a whole.

The countries with which New Zealand has bilateral visa waiver agreements are:

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden

You can, therefore, move visa-free among the above countries for periods of up to 3 months in each country. If, however, you move to other countries in the Schengen area, the restriction of no more than 3 months out of a 6-month period in the Schengen area as a whole applies. If you have already spent 3 months in one or more of the above countries, your presence in a Schengen area country with which New Zealand does not have a bilateral visa waiver agreement may be challenged by local border control, police or other authorities. You may also be accused of being an overstayer when you leave the Schengen area, or when you enter another country outside the Schengen area.

manouche

Passport requirements were recently changed (I believe around 2009) which included that all passports be updated with an electronic chip which is scanned and keeps track of your movements when you pass through Border Control.

seg49

Thanks guys, very helpful!

Alec

<I>Passport requirements were recently changed (I believe around 2009) which included that all passports be updated with an electronic chip which is scanned and <b>keeps track of your movements when you pass through Border Control.</b></I>

Wrong. Schengen hasn't yet implemented tracking and recording of individual's movement in and out of Schengen area, as it requires a complete overhaul of IT system throughout the member states, though there are plans to do so in future in order to tighten control. While your passage may be recorded by some individual states (e.g. Holland, Germany and Switzerland with sharing of data), unless there is a universal system throughout Schengen, it's impossible to count people in and out, as they easily slip through the net by entering or exiting via another state.

Blueeyedcod

Yes, and as passports are valid for ten years, and factoring in implementation of complete electronic border checking at *every single* border point in the Schengen area, I can't imagine any kind of universal passport checking system could realistically become operative in at least the next ten years or longer.