90 day rule with EU/Spain Visa
 

Hello, I am a college student studying abroad in Barcelona this Fall. The semester is less than 90 days (Aug 31st to Nov 29th), so I do not need a Spanish visa, however, some friends and I wanted to travel around Europe afterwards from Nov 30th to Dec 22nd, requiring a Schengen Visa. However, it requires me to send an itinerary with the hotel and train tickets booked for the 3 extra weeks in December. I do not have the money yet to book it and the trains don't have tickets that ahead in advanced. Could we leave Spain on the 29th and then go to Morocco or even Tunisia for 3 weeks without a Spain or Morocco Visa. We would be in Spain and Morocco separately less the 90 days, but do I need a Visa so I can get back to the US? Also, could I fly into Barcelona on Aug 31st, leave before 90 days to Morocco and then fly back into Barcelona after 3 weeks to fly back to the US without breaking the 30-day rule? Or do I need two one-way tickets, one for Barcelona and one leaving Marrakesh? Thanks for the help.

It doesn't work like that. You have to leave the Schengen area for 90 days after your 90 have elapsed.
You can't duck off to Morocco or Croatia or another non-Schengen country for a day or two and 're-set the clock' thinking you'll get another 90 days.

That is what I thought. Thanks. Do I need a visa to return to the US? How long am I allowed out of America?

If you're an American citizen of course you don't need a visa to get back into your own country. How long you allowed out of America depends entirely on where you plan to go and what the requirements of that/those country/countries are. Theoretically, you are allowed out forever, but you must meet the requirements of your destination/s.

Good to see that our collegians still cannot do math.

<b>Your semester in Spain is 91 days. You need a visa.</b>

August 31 = 1 day
September = 30 days
October = 31 days
November 1-29 = 29 days

1 + 30 + 31 + 29 = 91.

The Schengen allowance is NOT calculated on months, it is calculated on days. If you spend 91 days but less than three calendar months (like June 1-August 31 = 92 days), you're in violation. Your semester is 91 days. You need a visa.

<<Do I need a visa to return to the US? How long am I allowed out of America?>>

Are you an American? If yes, you don't need a visa to come home. For some unknown reason, CIS will welcome you back. Maybe they think you'll be a productive member of society, which would assume you don't go to Oberlin.

You're allowed out of the US for as long as any other country will put up with you based on its agreements with the US regarding the need for visas.

The only way your plan at the top would have worked is if "travel around Europe" means either (1) "visit the UK and/or Ireland" or some combination of (2) "visit the UK, Ireland, Cyprus, Turkey, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Ukraine, and/or the fragments of the former Yugoslavia."

But your semester is <b>91 days</b>, therefore you will violate Schengen if you don't get the proper paperwork.

Sorry, I meant I fly from America on Aug 31st but get to Spain Sept 1st. So it is only a 90 day stay.

I have a week off in October, so if I spend that week in Instanbul or London that would not count as any days in Schengen so it would allow me to get a round flight. Therefore I can go to Morocco fir 3 weeks and back to Barcelona for a day to fly back home.

jritch, you're not getting it. Taking a week off to go to a non-Schengen country does not stop the clock on your 90 days. You have to actually leave the Schengen Zone for an entire 90 days before you can return. You can't just pop off to another non-Schengen country and subtract those days from your original 90-day allotment.

Sounds like you'd better make an appointment with the Spanish consulate in your area so you get clear on this.

That isn't correct as I understand it St.Cirq. Leaving Schengen for a few days doesn't restart the clock at zero but it does suspend the clock for the days you are out of Schengen. The rule is any 90 days in 180days (not any 180 days), where the 180 days start on day one - the day you arrive. If you leave and return within the 180 day period the clock restarts.

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs...ulator_en.html

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs..._manual_en.pdf

No - it's 90 days in any 180 days. If you go to the UK for a week - those 7 days don;t count in Schengen. But it does not restart the schengen clock at zero. And the rest of those 83 days are still on the clock until they age out - past 180 days.

For instance, at the end of 90 days you can't then leave Schengen for two weeks and return for another 90 days - you would still have used your max of 90 in 180 and need to wait another 76 days to return.

Just remember, there's no need to go back to Barcelona in order to fly back to the US. Fly out of Lonon, Casablanca, wherever.

He will be in Spain for 90 days. However, if in the middle of that period he goes to Casablanca for seven days, that would be subtracted, so when his studies are over he'll have seven days left before he becomes an illegal immigrant.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I will get a one way ticket to Barcelona and out either the UK or Morocco. How bad is the weather in the UK during December. I know it will be cold, rainy, and short days but is it still good to visit in December. I thought maybe Edinburgh, London, and Morocco in 3 weeks. Or should I stick with Morocco? Is the UK affordable during December?

Why would the UK be more or less affordable in December as opposed to any other time? Yes, it will likely be cold and rainy...or it could be nice...who's to say? Morocco weather will almost certainly be nicer. And Morocco is certainly cheaper.

My first memory of London is flying into Gatwick in freezing fog in late December.

London has winter in December. There are a million fascinating things to do indoors and you may get some days that are sunny and not too cold. But don;t go expecting summer in winter. Edinburgh is likely to be colder and wetter than London (I was there once in July and the high temp was about 45 and it was windy/raining sideways - and had been about 80 in London 4 days before.)

Morocco will be much warmer and much cheaper.

London is great in December...yes it will likely be cool and rainy but the Christmas markets and lights make it great fun!

Is London or the UK any cheaper than usual during December or Christmas because it is the off-season or is it more expensive because of Christmas? It is cheaper to fly from London to the US then Morocco, but I need to see if I can afford the UK and Ireland. I would probably spend the entire 4 weeks in either the UK or Morocco to keep flight costs down. Or I could spend two weeks in one and two weeks in the other. It will probably be from Nov 30th to Dec 28th. Thanks for all of the suggestions so far.

Morocco will definitely be cheaper than London. No question there.

Christmas itself will be more expensive almost anywhere.