Sweden: Accidental visa overstay - am I screwed for good?
 

Hello,

I'm hoping someone with insight into work visas / vacation visas can help.
I wish this was shorter, but trust me, I made this as short as I could.

- I'm American, and was hired by a Swedish temp agency to work for a Swedish firm. The idea was 'try him out to see if he's *lagom* and if he is out let's hire him.'
- After six months, I was offered the permanent job. I took it and canceled my agency contract.
- I turns out my visa was overlooked during the hiring process. Nobody thought to re-apply to match my new employer. We discovered this after I'd been accidentally working illegally in Sweden for several months.
- We notified Migrationsverket as soon as we found out. I immediately left the country while they tried to fix my visa. So, we did our best once we knew.
- Migrationsverket denied me a new work visa. The sense we're getting is Migrationsverket is really pissed at my hiring company and refuses to believe the whole screw-up was in good faith. We appealed, but it's been stalled for months.
- Due to all of this, and no sign of it working out, I'm leaving the company.

Still with me? Thanks for hanging on. :-)

I LOVE Sweden, I have an apartment in Stockholm (talk about winning the lottery), several incredibly good friends, etc. - my whole life is there. I'm trying my hardest to get back in. (Hell, Jag studerade svenska på SFI i fyra månader. My hope was to someday become fluent.)

I'm in a hot field (software UX), and I'm getting a bunch of interest from companies all over Sweden, so I don't think finding a job will be a problem. I just don't know if I *can* get back in.

Am I banned from Sweden for a while, or maybe even forever?
Is this whole thing a mark on me, or on my company?
If I fly into Arlanda with a round-trip ticket out of Sweden and a list of invites to job interviews, will I be stopped and told to leave?
Is the flood of asylum refugees making this whole thing a fool's errand?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

Why the obvious source of information is eluding you really makes me wonder if this is some sort of troll post.

Get a flight to Tripoli.

Pay $2000 for a shady character on a street corner and receive a one way ticket to Sicily.

An accommodating Italian naval officer will pick you up somewhere near Lampedusa, not review your expired visa but simply give you a lift over to Catania and supply you with a map as how to make it to Northern Europe.

African economic migrants seem to get a far better welcome to the EU than Americans.

Hire a Swedish immigration attorney may be your best bet - besides British Caicos' suggestion that is.

and I think the word "troll" should be used carefully - there is no reason to believe this is a troll IMO - Dukey what is the obvious source of information?

Apparently, when a google search is done for "visa over stay" [or some variation of those words] Fodor's must come up at top of the list since this seems to be a very popular question.

No one on here is going to be able to help you sort this out - you need a lawyer, an embassy or whatever, not a travel board.

Curious, what kind of visa did you originally have when you first went to Sweden?

Thanks for the people that took this seriously. Yeah, I came here because of the Google results, also because the community seemed more mature than TheLocal.

I'm already seeking legal help, but I'm looking for second (and third) opinions though - hopefully someone who's been in my shoes. Believe me, this isn't the only place I'm checking.

I had a 2-year work visa.

Opinions of tourists - or even locals - are NOT going to help you.

This is a legal issue and only an attorney specializing in visa issues - hopefully the best you can find - can help you navigate the issues here.

My GUESS - is that the Swedish authorities will still be really pissed - at you, not your former company - and will not want to give you another visa. But my opinion is worth nothing.

Thank you.

You need professional advice. Did you actually post your question on the Local, can you get help from a Swedish lawyer specialising in this field, you can google to find some firms to help you.

hey buddy we have the same problem. i overstayed for 5 days because my employer screwed me and i run out of visa. i went to the migration verket to ask for some papers to present during the external border control when you leave europe but they did not give me a piece of paper. they told me to leave the country right away so i booked my ticket july 7. As far as I understand when i have spoken with the officer there is a grace period when you are in a work permit. however, they are very strict on overstaying with a tourist visa. they did not give me a piece of paper that i have to pay a penalty or signed that I am banned for years.

Karl,if they give a grace period for a work permit but not tourist visa - which did you have ?

work permit. they are very strict with tourist visa.

OK, karl, that's useful.

I think I was in a similar spot, at Arlanda I presented my immigration and personnummer cards, and the immigration person said "huh, in my computer it still says your work visa is still good, so everything's OK, I hope it works out for you" and sent me on my way. She didn't even mention my Schengen visa.

Just so everyone knows, yes I am working with a lawyer. I got the news that my appeal was rejected, and was told 'make sure next time your employer advertises the job for 10 days and does everything else right'. I'm awaiting the final letter for anything else, but if they're giving minor advice like that I hope that means they're not going to bar me for years or anything like that.

i hope it works out for me. she asked my visa and she said nothing. she stamped on my passport the date of my departure. if I had to pay fines or get banned they should have informed me. they said nothing. it only took a minute

I don't believe that your employer was acting in good faith either.

From reading online stories the bad stuff happens at departure. You are no longer violating anything, that's what matters.

Well, closure - I heard back from my lawyers, and it's all good.

Since I didn't get popped on departure, nobody put anything on my record, so I'm fine for Schengen.

Immigration said 'oh he's fine just make sure his employer follows procedure next time'. There's a lot of subtext there, I think my employers screwed up in other ways and now immigration has their number, so I'm looking for a new job.

Good for you. I didn't ahve any advice but I knew someone in the exact same situation in the US. They were Danish, working in the US under some visa and changing companies. For some bizarre reason, the new company (which was German, but he was working in the US office) didn't handle the visa properly or something. And given tghey were foreign, they must have had plenty of foreigners working there and should have known it. And it made me wonder about him, as he wasn't dumb, either, if you are in that situation, you need to be aware the visa goes with the job.

So he got deported from the US, actually, although he had a few months before he had to leave, he didn't have to go the next day or anything. He then went to work in their German plant for a year or two, and then he could come back to the US and get another visa. Which he did, and now he is back working in their US office again. Presumably with the right visa.

So you were lucky you didn't have to leave for a year or more.

help
 

i am in a similar situation, I'll like to contact you to ask you some questions

american2020, you are answering a post from 5 years ago. VERY unlikely you'll get a response.

I suggest you look at the EU website on Coronavirus
https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-...assengerrights

Of course it depends on whether your overstay is caused by current travel restrictions or you choosing to ignore the visa rules.