>>In my experience your info re landing cards and airlines caring about return dates is not correct. If your experience is different please inform us.<<

My experience is different. I am an American passport holder living in England, and travel back to the US for family visits about once a year. I have been asked by the airline to show my visa before being allowed to board for my return to the UK.

Airlines certainly do care about entry requirements, because if immigration refuses entry, the airline is required to fly the passenger back at its expense. There may be other penalties for all I know. The entry requirement for a six month stay in France would be an extended visa.

First, I agree that the OP's friends should get in touch with the French consulate and should follow the rules.

However our experience with passport control has been much less strict than some of you talk about - it's interesting how arbitrary the enforcement seems to be.

DH and I are US passport holders and we are currently living in Amsterdam for a year where DH is doing a sabbatical. We came with no special visa. The sponsoring university here in Amsterdam told us to do it that way and that we could complete all the necessary paperwork after we were here, with their help. We came on a one-way ticket. Got absolutely no questions of any sort when we entered the country even though we had no date for returning to the States, and no long-stay visa, or anything else.

We have been here for longer than 90 days and we have traveled back and forth to France, Germany, Belgium and Spain (all Schengen countries) and NEVER been questioned or asked to show our Netherlands residence permits (which we now do have). In our experience, no one usually even looks at passports as long as you stay within the Schengen zone - that's the whole point of the Schengen agreement anyway, I thought - to allow more free travel between those countries.

A couple of weeks ago, a bus we were on was stopped at the French border and every one had to get off while dogs sniffed our suitcases and we all had to go into an office to be questioned by police (it was the day after the scare in Paris). They looked at the first page of our passport to make sure it was ours but never looked at the date of entry or asked any questions about how long we've been here. We never even showed them our residence permits.

Meanwhile, DD (20) is studying in Paris for the year. She has encountered the same situation. She has traveled to Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain with never a question, or even a look at her passport. No one has been the least bit interested in how long she's been here.

I think the issue comes up more often when you leave or enter the Schengen zone from a non-Schengen country (which includes the UK I believe).

Anyway, we have followed the rules and I believe it would certainly behoove anyone else to do the same, but the idea that you are checked up on all the time (or ever, in our experience) is just not the case.

To take NorCalif's points, there are indeed minimum checks when travelling within Schengen zone - that's the whole point of Schengen with the abolition of border controls. But the difference now is that the control has shifted from border to internal, and there is now more frequent, random checks away from airports and land borders. So you could easily get stopped in the middle of Paris or Munich and asked to produce your passports. Admittedly, Americans and other Westerners aren't really targeted in internal clampdowns, but they are not immune to them. Also there is a likelihood of being caught without a long-stay or other appropriate visa whenever you come into contact with officialdom - from speeding fines to being a victim of crime.
While I don't want to exaggerate the danger of being caught in Schengen with inadequate documentation, it's still a criminal offence and the authorities can, and probably will, take action when a case is presented to them - just to show the law applies to everyone, not just to travellers from the Third World.

Just because you haven't been checked isn't any reason to ignore the rules, sorry but that's hardly helpful advice imho.

I appreciate all the advice, including the fact that they probably, or might, or likely won't, have a problem, but, since they have 6 months before they leave, I've advised them to get the long-stay visa ---I just see no reason why they shouldn't do so, especially since they have round-trip tickets, and an apartment for the whole 6 months, and plenty of money/income, etc.

Interesting responses.

If you stay beyond the allowed 90 days the authorities will find out when you leave. There is a significant chance they will check your passport, find out that you have (long) overstayed your visa - and put you on a computerized list of people who will no longer be admitted to Schengen.

Since you have overstayed once, show a complete disregard of local laws, and are potential illegal immigrants - why would they want to allow you back in?

My family recently spent a year in Germany, and after much research we entered the country without a pre-arranged visa. We had a return flight booked 10 or 11 months out. There were no issues at all with the airlines - not even a question about our plans. Once in Germany we went to the local government office and applied for a 1 year Visa. This did not allow us to seek employment, but we were legal to stay for a year. It could not have been easier to obtain. At the recommendation of a knowledgeable friend we took a letter from our bank, and a copy of our health coverage, and a copy of our local rental agreement. The agent flipped though the papers, but they appeared to be entirely irrelevant to him. We just paid the fee and picked up the passports with the newly added visas a couple of days later. We were concerned to head over without prearranged visas, but it all worked out perfectly.

Different Schengen countries have different rules about long-stay visas. Some, like Germany, allow members of certain nationalities (including US, Canada, Japan, Australia etc) to arrive without a pre-arranged visa and apply in-country. Others insist everyone who isn't an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen to obtain a visa before arrival, and I think France will fall into that category.
So in the case in question, they should make an inquiry at the nearest French consulate for their exact requirement.

<i>So in the case in question, they should make an inquiry at the nearest French consulate for their exact requirement.</i>


Which is what I've told them they should do!

I think it has been said before, but the problem of being in the Schengen zone without a valid visa isn't getting caught by random controls.

The problem is that you have a status as an illegal alien. This means problems whenever you have to deal with the authorities, possibly including medical care.

In my opinion, the possible risks outweigh the trouble of applying for a visa. Another point is that this process works in a way as a checking list that everything necessary is provided, as for example a valid medical insurance.