hikerchick73

I currently have a ticket bought to & from Spain for 6 months.
I contacted the Spanish Consulate in the USA to discuss any visa requirements needed.
The Visa Dept of the Spanish Consulate told me that NO American Citizen can stay ANYWHERE in the European Union for more then 90 days. EXCEPTIONS (which require a Visa): school, business, work & to "live" for 1 full year.
I CAN'T believe this to be true!!
ANSWERS???
I called British Airways & asked how could they sell a 6 month ticket to an AM Citizen -all their supervisors said they'd never heard of that.
Thanks!!

rkkwan

Why can't that be true? No country allows other citizens to stay there forever!

And it's really not BA's problem. It's the traveler's responsibility to get the required visa.

nessundorma

Am I reading this right? You called the consulate and asked if you needed a visa, and they told you did. So now you are freaked out?

Get a visa.

If you don't want to get a visa, visit Portugal or France every 89 days.

kybourbon

Traveling to Portugal or France will not extend your visa - they are part of the EU.

You must go to the consulate in person to appy after making an appointment.

WillTravel

You will just have to spend three months of your stay in a non-Schengen country or countries, if you don't want to get a visa. Offhand, the UK, Switzerland, Norway, most of the former Soviet Bloc countries, are all non-Schengen, but look it up.

People do "cheat" and overstay, but that's hardly advisable, because if caught you would face serious travel restrictions in the future at best, and I'm not sure what the worst is.

Cicerone

Are you planning on living in Spain for the entire 6 months? If so I agree that you should get a lng-stay visa, as this will be the easiest way to avoid problems. You should be able to get a long-term tourist visa. You cannot work with such a visa.

The Spanish consulate was correct in stating that you can only spend 90 days in Spain witout a visa , however I think they are incorrect in stating that this limit applies to the entire EU; as I believe it applies to just to certain countries in the EU (it does not for example, apply to the UK or Ireland which may explain why BA did not know about it.)

As per the US State Department's s website at http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p.../cis_1024.html, "U.S. citizens can stay without a visa for a tourist/business stay of up to 90 days. That period begins when you enter any of the Schengen countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden."

The above countries have signed the Schengen Treaty and have agreed to certain immigration and other travel restrictions, including the 90-day limit on tourist travel without visas for non-EU passport holders. The UK and Ireland are not parties to this treaty.

Theoretically, all you would need to do in Spain after 89 days is travel to Gilbratar, Morocco, the UK or Switzerland or another non-EU or non-Schengen country. However, when you initially arrive in Spain no one will stamp your passport (they may if you expressly ask) so there will be no evidence as to the date you arrived, and when you go to Gilbratar, Morocco, the UK or Switzerland, they are unlikely to stamp your passport (possible for Morocco, but I suspect travellers going into Spain from Morocco are going to be scurtinized, due to lots of illegal immigration, you probably need a visa for Morocco anyway), so no one will know when you left Spain. Therefore, it could be difficult for you to prove that you left Spain before the 90-day limit and arrived again from another non-Schengen country and therefore are entitled to another 90-day stay in Spain. That is why getting a long-term tourist visa would be the best way to go, it will avoid these hassles if you plan to stay in Spain for the entire 6 months.

If you want to try to get new 90-day visas on a revloving basis, Gilbratar may work best, you might want to post a qestion on this, maybe on Lonely Planet at lonelyplanet.com. You can get there by bus fro, Spain. I live in Hong Kong, and people on 90-day tourists visas used to go to Macau for the day (when it was a Portugese possession) and then come back and be issued a new 90-day visa for Hong Kong. Worked very well. As a US citizen, you don't need a visa to enter Gilbratar.

laclaire

Cicerone, where have you done your research?

<However, when you initially arrive in Spain no one will stamp your passport (they may if you expressly ask) so there will be no evidence as to the date you arrived>

If you are traveling from the United States, you will most likely be stamped. The only time I have not been stamped (and I have entered the country dozens of times) has been when entering from Portugal while driving after the EU was established and the borders dissolved. Count on being stamped.

<and when you go to Gilbratar, Morocco, the UK or Switzerland, they are unlikely to stamp your passport (possible for Morocco, but I suspect travellers going into Spain from Morocco are going to be scurtinized, due to lots of illegal immigration, you probably need a visa for Morocco anyway)>

From experience (aside from Switzerland) I can say that coming from Spain, each of the aforementioned countries do indeed stamp passports if you are arriving by air. Train is a little more doubtful, but when you ferry over to Morocco, the stamp is unavoidable. No visa is needed for Morocco. I don't know why anyone would say that.

<no one will know when you left Spain. Therefore, it could be difficult for you to prove that you left Spain before the 90-day limit and arrived again from another non-Schengen country and therefore are entitled to another 90-day stay in Spain.> Of course there are ways to know how and when people enter and leave a country. Upon entering you fill out a form and turn it in and it goes into the system. If time goes by and they never get evidence of you leaving the country, a red flag goes up with your name on it.

I recommend going for the long term non-lucrative visa (you can't work) or hopping over to Morocco for a while. Not only is it an amazing country, but it will renew your visa for Spain. I did that last year after mine ran out and had a really eye opening experience.

Neopolitan

I've visited Europe for 5 months at a time several times. On each time, when re-entering the US, they've asked me how long we were gone. On each time, I've told them 5 months. On each time the official has said welcome back, stamped my passport and waved me through.

hikerchick73

Thanks for ALL your help guys!

I'm not stressed, for those who were under the impression I was, and did not feel it was British Airways "fault" for issuing me a 6mo ticket. Just thought it was all so weird. The ticket agent & I had a good laugh.

When I called the consulate she informed me there was NO Visa (no type) I could get in this situation, because I asked about a 'Tourist Visa' &/or applying for an Extension once in Spain(my family there could 'sponsor' me if possible). She just kept re-emphasizing that it wasn't possible to do my trip.

I have thought about just going & dealing w/it there. I have family there (my dad is Spanish, but lives here) & if that holds any ground I have that.

I have thought about the idea of just getting out to another country that will "restart" my 90 days. I think that's a cool idea -- may have me go somewhere I would not have gone.

A few people have mentioned a 'long-term/long-stay' Visa. The only Visa the consulate mentioned or referred to was a student & work visa (or going on business) & a visa to "live in Europe for 1year" (which I'm not doing). Is there something else?

I appreciate your feedback -- and am continuing my quest for any questions to be answered.

ANOTHER Question Regarding this: Would at any point my ticket be looked at (to see it's length of stay), at which that would prohibit me from traveling on. Such as any of the airports or customs or that. I'm going from Seattle thru London (change planes) then to Madrid--all thru British Air.
THANKS!!

CotswoldScouser

You CANNOT &quot;restart&quot; your visa. On arrival in Spain - unless you apply for and get a 1-year 'non-lucrative' visa before you leave home - you will be given permission to stay in the Schengen area for 90 days. <b> This permission will not be renewed for 180 days</b>

So on day 89 you can go anywhere outside Schengen you like. <b> But you cannot return to anywhere to Schengen until day 181 </b> No amount of frontier-hopping will change this - and we told you all this two weeks ago.

You have three choices:
- Apply for a one-year 'non-lucrative' visa <b> before you leave home </b>
- Go to Spain for three months and not a minute more
- Decide now to break Spasnish law. Which you may or may not get away with

WillTravel

As to whether you might be questioned about your ticket at some point, it's certainly possible. Anytime a government official looks at your passport to decide whether to allow you to cross, or not cross, a border, you might be questioned at length about your plans. Most incidents I have read about involve tourists going to the UK who either lack a visible means of support or who have a one-way ticket, but it could happen anywhere. And people are sent back if they do not answer the questions satisfactorily. Whether that would happen to you, and what the odds are, who knows.

elina

&quot;a visa to &quot;live in Europe for 1 year&quot;

Why donīt you just get that one? It does not mean that you are a prisoner of Schengen for a year, you can leave whenever you want, but if you stay, you are in Spain legally.

All this passport stamping has been quite rare in the past years. They donīt stamp, they usually glide your passport over a reader, and the information goes straight to Schengen database.

nukesafe

hikerchick,

My advice is GET THE VISA! I speak from some small experience when I tell you that you really do not want to be embroiled with the Spanish police.

Granted, my experience dates from many years ago when the Guardia was a much more visable and abrasive part of Spanish life but, believe me, those fellows do not fool around!

Intrepid1

Neopolitan: since none of the officials apparently asked you <b>which countries in Europe</b> you visited, the fact that you have been gone five or 105 months really isn't relevant since you could have been in non-Schengen/non-EU nations.

This is either a wonderful troll post or the OP is too infatuated with wearing flip-flops to respond.

laclaire

&lt;&lt;This is either a wonderful troll post or the OP is too infatuated with wearing flip-flops to respond.&gt;&gt;

Intrepid, this is definitely one of the top Fodor's sentences.

lincasanova

it IS true, butf it is of any value to anyone:

i am a legal resident of spain, (USA citizenship) but my residency card has been expired for over a year.

i am STILL waiting for the new one (they need to send me a letter to go get fingerprinted).

anyway.. i am saying this because i have been in this country more than 90 days, of course, and have come and gone SEVERAL times to other EU countries AND the USA this past year, and never done anything except presented my US passport.

If they HAD asked for my residency card at check-in counter,(which they only do for people who require a TOURIST visa to be in country,.. this does not apply to US citizens) they would have seen it is expired and i would pull out some papers i have proving i have applied for a new one.
but all in all, as far as immigration and airline counter people are ocncerned.. i am a tourist ( there is nothing in my us papssport that indicates i am a legal spanish resident.)

so... take it for what it is worth.

i have gone through so many controls without ONCE being asked what i was doing here for more than 90 days...

and if they ever said anything.. maybe you should be asked to be treated like the other 1,000īs of illegals here.( the ones who blew up the train in madrid, were watched for MONTHS as suspects of terrorism, but the civil guards came to the conclusion that &quot;they were just illegal immigrants&quot; and did nothing about them).

i am sure the process for any kind of a visa on short notice would make it impossible to do.. PLUS,THAT is step ONE of another process once you hit spain... more papers.. more proof of solvency, etc. etc. and many hours in endless lines to be told you are missing something a particular agent wants to see.

if they made the process simple.. it certainly would solve a lot of problems. but comparing it to the U.S... don't imagine it is much different.

hikerchick73

Thanks elina for letting me know about the &quot;live for 1yr Visa&quot; NOT binding you to 1 full year - that was my reason for not believing that would work for me.
My departure date is in 2 weeks &amp; yes, I am to blame for not thinking of this (too much other 'To Dos' got the best of me). I may have to bump my trip out or choose another option - depending on things I guess.
Thanks again for all the Replies - more welcome of course, it's helpful!

Pausanias

You may also be a Spanish citizen. Two weeks probably isn't enough time to pursue it, and doing so might set off alarms since you will be applying for a visitor visa, but you may have inherited your father's nationality. Look into it when you get back or if you decide to stay.

kybourbon

It takes about one month AFTER your appointment to get your visa. You can't just drop into the consulate and get one. First you have to call and schedule your appointment to bring all the required documents - passport (they keep it), proof of medical insurance thats covers you in their country, etc. They will keep all your documents including your passport and give them back to you with the visa in about a month.

nytraveler

Each country has the right to it's own rules - which may not be convenient for you. That's your problem. Typically tourist visas are 90 days - which in fact is plenty of time for a vacation.

If you want to LIVE in another country (ie stay for more than 90 days) you often have to get another type of visa - dependng on your circumstances and their rules.

Why is this a big deal? Just follow the rules. Or don;t - and risk the consequences if you're caught in this crime.

FYI - the US has the same type of rules - and anyone found overtaying their tourist visa is summarily deported - with longer term travel consequences in some cases.

You can't simply live wherever you want in the world - almost all governments have strict rules about illegal immigration - for a variety of very obvious reasons.