Staying over visa expiration.
 

I'm currently in Spain on a 180 day au pair visa which expires on July 18th of this year. I don't have plans to return to the US until August 1st. I was wondering if I enter a non-schengen country like the UK BEFORE my visa expires if that would automatically grant me a new 90 day tourist visa? Or would I have to wait until my visa expires to travel to the UK? I tried contacting the American Embassy and the Spanish Embassy, but they won't answer any questions about visas over the phone nor answer my email.

What are you really on about? Are you asking if you can legally enter the UK for two weeks or if you can go to the UK and then bounce back into the Schengen zone?

I suppose there is some reason why you "don't have any plans" and those reasons I suspect are fascinating.

"I was wondering if I enter a non-schengen country like the UK BEFORE my visa expires if that would automatically grant me a new 90 day tourist visa?"

In one word - NO!

I guess you could plead ignorance, not knowing your visa expired, but you would probably be deported, have your passport confiscated by US Customs and not have to worry about traveling anywhere that requires a passport anytime in the near future.

Yes, I suggest you leave Spain for UK/Ireland on or before 18th July and re-enter Schengen after 18th. You should then get 90 days in Schengen area.

I originally was planning to go to the UK for a week then return to Spain before my visa expired. My plan was to go to Denmark and Germany for all of July. But if it's necessary, I guess I'll have to push my trip to the UK to July instead of earlier if it means getting a 90 day tourist visa for the 7 days I plan to be in Denmark.

It is not at all clear that you will be able to do so. You have one yes and one no and no way to choose between them. I would suggest you contact the Spanish Home Office, or whatever they call it. Spanish embassies are overseas. Failing that, talk to the people who arranged your au pair visa.

Personally, I think the answer will be no, but it's worth asking.

I'm not sure of the rules of an au pair visa -which matters a lot.

If on a tourist visa going to the UK for a week would NOT reset the visa - and you would only have a couple of days left in Schengen (whatever you had not used of the 180).

But au pair visa may have different rules. Can you not look online to see what info there is on this? You may have to pay a few $ to ask a local immigration attorney to clarify this for you.

In doing some research, the Au Pair visa depends on several issues, one being the state (for some reason) you're from. One visa is issued for 90 days, another for 180, but there is no reference to a tourist visa.

http://www.aupair-world.net/au_pair_...izens_in_spain

I think I'd totally trust Alec on this one. He seems to be very knowledgeable about visas and his advice has been validated by many students with the same situation. It appears that after your Au Pair or student visa, you DO have the 90 days, but must leave to non-schengen country before visa expires and re-enter after expiration date, according to him.

Wouldn't it be simple if the visa issuing country wrote this down and attached it to your returned visa/ application? It shouldn't be this confusing for everyone. I find this very disheartening that so many students and visa holders either "mess up" their possibility of traveling in Schengen after their visa expires or need to spend hours scouring the internet hoping to get an answer.

The fact that embassies do not post this exact frequent situation on their websites is also unusual. Why make life so difficult?