Risky of not being allowed on a flight, nothing else. I totally understand bouncing around his stomping grounds without his passport... but traveling.. no.. that was all I was saying.. and yes,.. he MUST have taken his passport when flying ryaniar. no other way to get on that plane.

My head hurts after reading everything here! WOW! so much confusion! Of course, I have my own situation - I am an American citizen and I arrived in Germany on April 28, 2014. I applied for and was granted temporary residence under the "German as a foreign language" application. My residence permit expires on December 4, 2014, the end of my initial class. I can extend if I sign up for another class or find a job, at least that is what i was told by the German official; but the person I'm living with may return to the states in early 2015, so I don't want to go through the hassle of extending my permit (including health insurance, bank accounts, paying for another course) if I don't have a place to live. So, from what I have read on this forum, if I leave the Schengen area before my residence permit expires, get my passport stamped upon exit and entry, then I can revert to the Schengen tourist visa? I thought I would have to leave the Schengen area for 90 days before i could legally return and start my 90/180 days. I am going to London this week, Oct 9-14. Will that "restart" my Schengen tourist visa? I wouldn't think so but again I'm so confused I don't know what to think. I want to stay here and travel as long as I can, so any advice is very much appreciated!!

What you are planning to do is how I have understood it.. as residency permits do NOT eliminate the subsequent tourist stay as long as you exit before the end of residency and come back in .. now considered a 90 day tourist.

It would be nice if they wrote this out clearly on webpages of each country since many people do want to come in early or leave later after their courses.Of course, I am talking here of a tourist that does NOT need a tourist visa in his passport.

For people from eligible countries, a WHV valid for a year would often be a better option than a student visa.

I am a Canadian registering for a long stay visa in France to take a year long French language course which starts Jan 5/15.
As a means of making extra money I was going to take a tefl course which runs Nov 24 - Dec 23/14.
My question is - when submitting my long stay visa application should I show copies of both course registration so I can enter France in November (6 weeks before my course start date) or can I enter this much in advance of my official course.
I've tried to find out but am not getting any answers from either the school or the French embassy in either Canada or France.
Thanks very much Alec!!
Regards,
Shelley

This post has been extremely helpful! Thank you! It's been made quite apparent that an American citizen can stay within the Schengen Zone for 90 days following the expiration of a long stay visa, but I'd like to confirm that a 90 day stay on the front end of a long stay visa would also not be a problem. My intention is to secure a 1 year long stay Italian visa, and to travel within the Schengen Zone for 90 days on the front and back end of the 1 year visa. Will this be OK?
Also, how far in advance can you apply for a long stay Italian visa? Since I plan on traveling for 90 days on the front end, my intention was to apply roughly 6 months early. Is this OK?

Great question! i also spent approx. 82 days in Schengen Zone prior to my residency permit being granted (April 28-July 18). my permit is valid from July 18-Dec 4. I plan to leave on Dec 3 and return on a tourist 90/180 visa. So will a portion of those 82 days count towards my second tourist visa? In other words, taking out the dates covered on my permit, all of June and part of July would be included in the 180 day look back if I return to Schengen on Dec 10. So are these days counted in my "new" 180 visa?

This post is so helpful!
Thank you!
Of course, I have my own question. My daughter will be in Belgium beginning of January 2015 (till May 2015). Unfortunately, university does not help much with getting a visa; only list of documents are there and that is it. Anybody has an agency (I live in NYC) that can help through the process.
Thank you!

If you fulfill the requirements just take/send everything to the Belgium Embassy. Check out their website to see about appointments if necessary and contrast info from the university.. not really difficult.But start now as it can be a long process.

Thank you!
I have trouble to get Medical certificate for visa. I printed out the form and my daughter physician signed it but to get it notarized - I cannot ask my doctor to go with me to the bank... Supposedly, there is a list of doctors, authorized by Belgium consulate which I have trouble to find. Can anyone share what did you do?

We had the same issue with Italy and Spain. In both cases it was okay to get the medical form notarized without the physician being present as long as the form is on the doctor's letterhead. But I would check with your student's program to see if this is the case for Belgium. (In our case the university was fairly clueless about CA rules, which were different from NY.)

You can also ask a visa expeditor, although many won't do student visas.

This whole process is just ridiculous, considering the kids can enter the Schengen area as tourists for 90 days (only 20 days shorter than most programs) without any documentation at all.

I couldn't find the list of US doctors, either, although I did find such a list for other countries (Phillipines, INdia, etc). They had it right on their embassies webpage, in the section of getting a visa.

I can't see that it says it has to be notarized myself, but if you have something that says that, of course. I just see that it says it has to be signed by a doctor who they consider accredited to do it. And in those other countries (where I'm sure, they are concerned about what diseases they could have), they give a list of names and addresses of such accredited doctors. I guess you should call your closest embassy/consulate, to ask. I suspect that for Americans, if the doctor has an authorized medical degree and is licensed to practice, they would consider that accredited, but I'm just guessing (I"m sure they are more concerned about TB, etc., from these other countries).

All I can see on the form (in English and in French, which I can read), is the doctor signs it agreeing to no diseases, whatever it says, and it has a place for the doctor's "cachet" or seal/stamp.

Thank you!
I have the form downloaded and signed, but I will also add list of her shots.
I've tried to call the consulate but they will only answer questions by appointment (which we have on the 21st).
Unfortunately, no help from university...

Update:
Ask my doctor to drive to the local bank and she signed the form. You need to do what you've asked.
Had an appointment for visa last Friday and it went good. Hoping to get passport back next week with Visa.

Thanks you all for your ideas!

Hey!

I am Canadian studying in France holding a type D visa, however mine says I had to apply for the residency card within my first two months in the country, which I did. However, it might take a while before I receive the it and without the residency card, I cannot leave France. I booked all my trips already because someone told me I could travel with a first 'récépissé.' But I guess this is not the case and I can't get a refund.

I was wondering if the rule of getting out of the Schengen zone before the expiry of my visa in my passport (ignoring my residency card demand) and come back as a tourist for 90 days still applied in my case. France immigration services are not very helpful.

Thank you so much for your help!

Salomé

I'm pretty certain that the rule requiring you to get residence permit before being allowed to travel in other Schengen states has been abolished, and your Type D visa is proof enough of your eligibility since April 2010.
You are also allowed to leave Schengen on or before your type D visa expiry and re-enter as tourist for 90-in-180 days if you are not a visa national, like US citizen. You may need to show adequate funds.

This is what I found on the French government website regarding students studying in the country (2013):


If your nationality is subject to visa and you leave France, you cannot travel freely (or in another Schengen country) if you go with:

a receipt of your 1st residence card.

This is why I am confused.

Thanks a lot!

Awesome thread! Can I also get in a question? These are the facts:

- DH is Swiss though he also has a US passport

- I'm a US citizen (no Swiss passport yet)

- I would be able -as a wife- to stay indefinitely in Switzerland (though paperwork would still be involved, of course)

- The Swiss are able to stay in Spain without major difficulties, after 6 months they would need to register but this seems to be quite doable

- We are looking at extended stays in Spain, preferably just under 6 month stints to start out with (we do not need working visas).

My question phrased in three different ways: Would the same rules apply to me in Spain? Can I piggyback my stay on him? Would I -as the US citizen wife of a nonEU Schengen citizen- be able to stay in Spain under the same premises he would?

I have googled for countless hours on this one to no avail.

You cannot piggy back onto him until he registers.. so your stay is Spain is still 90 days until you either have the Swiss papers or he is registered and becomes resident and then you do, too, with all the papers/apostille seals/ etc.

And I BELIEVE while one is in Switzerland now, it DOES count towards the Schengen 90 day limit.

Even though your husband is Swiss and not an EU citizen, because of bilateral agreement between EU and Switzerland, similar rights exists for him and his family member including you. He can stay and live without limit in Spain, and as his wife you have the right to accompany him. There is nothing to do before you both arrive in Spain, but once over there, within 3 months your husband must register as Swiss citizen and you as family member of Swiss citizen at the nearest oficina de extranjero (foreigners' office) or police station (Policia Nacional if there is no foreigners' office, i.e. in smaller towns) to obtain certificate of registration (certificado de registro) for your husband and residence card (tarjeta de residencia) for you. There are certain documents you need to present apart from your passports, such as evidence of work or sufficient income/funds, health insurance, marriage certificate and passport-sized photos. Once registered, you can work without permit, and the card is valid for 5 years. After 5 years you can obtain confirmation of permanent residence (like green card).
There is a separate registration requirement as resident in a particular locality. This is for everyone including Spanish as well as foreigners. The list of residents is called padrón, and registration is done at the nearest town hall (ayuntamiento).
http://spain.angloinfo.com/moving/re...y/eu-citizens/