Expired schengen visa
 

I came to Europe in August to work in prague and became a bit lazy about the visa process and now my schengen visa is long expired. I know it was dumb so if anyone wants to post about me being stupid please keep it to yourself as all I'm asking for is information. I'm not worried about travel in schengen area as I have never been checked and I don't travel too often. My question is I want to go back to USA in April and what country will I have the most luck flying out of? I have been reading up on the subject and it seems that Germany and England are definite no's. I'm based out of prague but can really get to any airport as I don't want to have to pay the fine or be banned from Europe for a period of time. I have seen Italy as maybe the best place but does anyone have any advice as to Portugal or any other countries? All information is greatly appreciated. Thanks

Why would you expect us to help you flout the law?

You have already overstayed your visa - and know you want to stay 4 months longer - and have us help you how to figure out the easiest way to do this - so you don't have to pay the fine and be banned from Schengen.

This is the height of irresponsiblility - and you should get out now - and take your punishment.

And sorry if you don't want to hear this - but we don't get to break laws and then tell people not to chastise us about it. You're lucky you didn't do this in a country where a jail sentence is involved.

Is the UK a Schengen country?

Uk not Schengen so going there will not help. Not sure if you want to discuss working in Prague if you were on a tourist visa. If it were me I'd fess up to the US Embassy and ask for their best advice.

Sounds like there is more to this story than just what you've told. I am not going to lecture you because in all honestly things do happen and people do forget to follow up etc. I know a person whose visa expired for Japan and when he went back (his wife lived here) he had some issues but was able to get them worked out so didn't get into trouble and is allowed to visit there.

There was a thread on here not too long ago where this was discussed. I can't find it at this time but you might want to reach the topic in the search function. Not that I am saying what you should do. It sounds like at this point, you have 2 options. 1. Fessing up the US Embassy and take your chances or 2. Try and return and take your chances.

First, US embassy is of little help as they don't advise you on another country's immigration rules and don't interfere with foreign legal systems.
Secondly, the best thing to do is to leave Schengen from Czech Republic without further delay. Chances are they won't check your stamps and just let you board your flight. If your overstay is detected, show remorse and hope they will let you off. Border officials aren't too concerned about people leaving the area, and go after those who try to stay on in Schengen, probably working illegally. Try to get on a direct flight to US. Delta flies non-stop to JFK.

I know somebody who did that but in the US. He was Danish and overstayed his work visa, also. He was deported but had a couple months to leave, as I recall. He just bit the bullet as he was a professional and had to be concerned about companies hiring him, he couldn't be on the lam. So he just went back to Europe and worked there until he was allowed back into the US (I think he wasn't even allowed back in just for business during that time period). I don't remember it being that long, maybe a year that he was banned. Maybe two at most.

So if it is something like that, maybe you might consider just accepting the fact you can't go back for a while.

I'm certainly no expert, but don't know how you expect to get away with this as I thought all of that stuff was computerized nowadays and they could tell when you left Europe no matter where you did it. I could see maybe they couldn't tell if you were just floating around Europe and a citizen of some country over there, but it sounds like you are an American and plan to come back to the US. Regardless of where they do that, don't you think there will be a record of it? Although I don't think the person I knew had that much of an issue with paying the fine, that was just a cost of doing business (he did get transferred to a location in Germany).

okay, if I had to best on the country to try, I'd actually suggest Denmark, from what I've heard from my friend, and then maybe Turkey.

Turkey not in the schengen

The sooner you leave the better the chance you have of getting away with an OOPS!

The longer you stay - and if they find out you have been working - the greater the chance of a large fine and lengthy ban (just a if you were an illegal immigrant in the US).

Well, disappointing that this has occurred... yet I'd agree - get out as soon as you can... but be prepared for some serious consequences. Living in Europe for 12+ years, we had many friends who deliberately or mistakenly overstayed their visa restrictions.

In most cases, they got out of Europe and back to the US without any issues. But in the past few years, perhaps with the advent of electronic tracking, more and more have been "detained."

In every case they were leaving Italy and were "stopped" in a connecting country - primarily the UK, Germany, Switzerland, and Finland (yes, Finn Air was always a inexpensive flight but you had to connect through Helsinki - not the best place to be detained).

Every situation was handled differently, so I don't think there's any set rules (or at least they were interpreted differently). There were monetary fines in EVERY case, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand euro.

The worst case was the wife of an International School Administrator who was heading home for a funeral. She was detained for a day and then "kicked out of Europe." She was not allowed to return to Europe for I believe 5 years (the dreaded "Black-Mark" on her passport). Yet her husband was still under contract so he had to stay in Italy. And she was also fined heavily (It was at an airport, connecting in Switzerland).

As mentioned, the US Embassy will not help you. The consequences are clearly dictated by international agreements and ignorance is not an acceptable argument - (although one female friend cried and cried until they let her go with a fine!). Nope, I'd be looking for help from a local lawyer rather than the US embassy.

So make your "what if I get caught" plans, get legal support (if necessary) and get out on a direct flight to the USA. I've flown in/out and connected at PRG many times but always on intra-Schengen flights... so I can't comment on the level of security for non-domestic flights. But if you're busted... well, it will be a long and perhaps expensive day.

I guess the question on which country to leave from could be also be asked as: "Which country - if busted - do you want to possibly spend time in jail?"

Not the best remainder of your Europe experience...

Getting back INTO the US after an extended time was never an issue for anyone I've ever known... it was just clearing (getting out of) the Schengen zone.

You've exceeded the "time" and should be prepared for the consequences. If you DO get out, I'm sure you'll be more aware on your next extended stay.

No experience at all, but if you're nervous to fly out of Prague, I'd instead take a local bus in Slovenia or Hungary to cross the Schengen border and then fly out of Zagreb or Bukarest.

Hans,

It's so strange your post popped up when it did. I was just logging in to tell the OP <i><red>not</i></red> to leave the Schengen zone by going from Slovenia to Croatia. I've traveled in/out of the Schengen zone at least 3 dozen times and the only place where I have ever been asked to show my entry stamp was when I went from Slovenia to Croatia.

I don't recall ever being asked to show my stamp at an airport.

This could be a great business, smuggling affluent American tourists out of the Schengen zone. Expect I won't be able to call them tourists -- it might damage their self esteem. I could offer various plans, for example, "The Casablanca" where we make a clandestine departure from Spain, cross the straits of Gibraltar in a small boat, and land in Morocco, where corrupt immigration officials back date the entry stamp to show a timely exit, then off to Casablanca and of course the fabled plane to Lisbon before making the transatlantic flight home.

What do you think? For a little extra we could arrange "Letters of Transit" -- really, just access to the business class lounge.

The procedure (at least in airports) is go through exit passport control when leaving any Schengen zone country to go to one outside of Schengen. So Portugal or Spain wouldn't be any different. I don't know what do they do if flight originates in Schengen and then there is transit plane change in another Schengen airport to fly outside of Schengen (for example PRG-FRA-NYC). But probably someone thought of that.

http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-bl...-than-90-days/

I read this article last week. It may clarify your (limited) options.

I stated above that I don't recall being asked to show my stamp at an airport, but it occurred to me later that the information might be in a computer, hence there is no need for them to see the actual stamp. Maybe when I crossed from Slovenia into Croatia the computer was unavailable so they wanted to see the stamp. Just a thought, I don't know how accurate that is.

Yes it is in a computer. This is the 21st century.

American passports have contained an RFID tag for at least the past five years. Look at page 28 of your passport to see if yours is tagged. With RFID (radio frequency identification) the passport officer does not even need to see your passport. The information is automatically transferred to the officer's computer when you are in proximity. That is probably why I never received a stamp in or out of France on my last visit a few years ago.

It is reasonable to believe that the *bad guys* can obtain the hardware and software to read passports remotely, also, and steal part of your identity. Therefore it is a good idea to carry your passport in an RFID blocking wallet.