I am working in spain learning to cook. I have not overstayed my visa yet, but I am planning on staying another year. I have tried to get the legal papers for work but it means I will have to return home to work them out. And this is something that I can´t do at this point. After I plan to go to France for another year. Does anyone know the specifics of this and if I will run in to any trouble when I decide to return?

Hi bc,

If you are not caught before you decide to go home, the worst they will do to you when you decide to go home is deport you.

Avoid getting deported if possible. This will make you 'persona non grata', making return visits difficult, if not impossible.

Have you considred going to France once your visa to Spain is about to expire or is that simply out of the question as well?

I don't know anything about Spain, but I would do everything by the book if I were you. You never know where life will take you, and who knows, you may want to end up in Spain. If you overstay your visa, that may work against you in the future.

&quot;<i> this is something that I can´t do at this point</i>&quot;

Well, you really need to figure out some way to go home to re-new your visa. As I read it you plan on overstaying a year in Spain, and then an additional year in France.

Who on earth knows what immigration rules will be in force 2 years from now? You could really end up in a mess and on &quot;no fly&quot; lists or have other problems.

Even if you have to borrow money to go home that is what you should do. (Of course, many people DO work and stay illegally in almost every country - but this could follow you and mess you up for years to come)

If you overstay, you will become an illegal immigrant. It is a criminal offence. You may or may not be caught, but you will be in deep do do if you are.

&quot;Have you considred going to France once your visa to Spain is about to expire&quot;

That does not help. Spain and France are both Schengen. A Schengen visa is 90 days out of 180 consecutive days, therefore in any 180 day period you can only stay legally in all Schengen countries for a total of 90 days.

But are you talking about an actual visa? Or the time you are allowed to stay without a visa? Why don´t you just apply a visa for the time you are staying?

If you are an illegal what happens when you get sick? There is an accident? You will be in any contact with police or any other official?

applying for a visa to work is no easy deal. it would take months to get it even approved, then waiting for months here to actually get the residency card.

being illegal in spain must not have many serious repercusions as we are flooded with illegals.

i will only tell you what a civil guard at immigration at madrid airport once told me about people overstaying their time here.

if you are going DIRECTLY non-stop to your home nation.. they wll let you just GO.

however, if you are connecting through another country, it is their responsibility to NOT let an illegal person into another country.

now, if you have overstayed a YEAR... thre might be a hefty fine first,. i imagine.

no one can answer your question as who knows what will happen. it may go unnoticed to a certain extenet.

i doubt you can work here legally no matter what.. it is too complicated unless you are an EU member, and few businesses are willing to deal with the paperwork involved.

so, nothing anyone can tell you can clear this up .. since the legal way is cumbersome and written in stone.

your choice.

france may not be as tolerant as here. our judicial system is sooooo slow.. but i do not know theirs.

It seems that you have already made up your mind. You are right, there are lots of illegal immigrants. But that does not mean it is accepted. Just a couple of weeks ago Spain, France and Italy had a joint operation: They collected illegals from different countries and flew planeloads to their countries of origin.

You should read the news today if you are in Spain. France and Spain are drafting a new immigration plan to crack down on illegals which they are going to submit to the EU.

They will let you &quot;go&quot;...as of now, who knows a year from now. Plus, I wouldn't plan on ever coming back if you are that blatantly ignoring the regulations...one month is one thing...a year or more is an entirely different matter, and yes, Spain is going to start keeping track of overstays.

You say that you are already working but you don't have the papers? This means you are in Spain on a tourist visa? And you are working? If that's the case, then you are already breaking the law.

This was easier to do several years ago and I did know an American who lived in spain illegally and left along after the Visa expired, went to another plavce and then re-applied and got another tourist visa. It is more difficult these days and once you are deported that is it. Can you get sponsored by anyone for a job even if it not your cup of tea it can prolong your stay. What are you doing at present for a living?

I can hardly believe that all this &quot;lenience&quot; exists in Spain. If you're cought as an illeagal immigrant in Germany, you will be arrested, may stay up to several months in prision (&quot;Abschiebehaft&quot and will be deported unless, you claim to be seeking for political asylum. This won't work for US citizens of course. Working illegally? You'll have a hard time. Being in the street, looking &quot;foreign&quot;, and not getting cought someday is very unlikely.