ATX
Well-known member
So in early Jan I'm flying out to Barcelona to get the hell off of the same continent I've been traveling around in. That's not the point though. A lot of people ask about the visa situation, including me, so I thought I might as well get a thread going on everyones different ideas and methods are. Mat had a thread up about this, but it seemed geared more towards how to extended your visa via working holidays and such. This thread is more focused on how to get away with overstaying, or which countries are nice to visit while waiting for it to renew.
To those who don't know, almost all of western and northern Europe minus the UK and Ireland are in this thing called the Schengen Zone. This means that they act like indivdual states for visa purposes. For instance, a Spanish passport stamp is valid in Germany. This sounds cool but it honestly sucks a lot. You are able to spend 90 days in the schengen area, but then must spend 90 days outside of it in order to come back. A lot of people get away with overstaying, but some people also get deported. Up to you.
Note to people with dual citizenship between two countries. I personally have a US and Canada passport, which makes me believe that I can pretty much stay indefinetely. Just have to cross the border in eastern Europe somewhere then hitch to a different border crossing and use the opposite passport. Rinse and repeat. I won't be able to take advantage of this right now though, seeing as my girlfriend can't.
I personally have no information regarding overstaying your visa, other then it appears you would want to get a return flight from a place like Spain if ever. Hopefully someone with experience in this matter would like to share.
As far as countries to go to on waiting for your visa, there's plenty of options. I mean, why stay in just western and northern Europe anyways? Small place. As far as getting there by land northern Africa and eastern Europe are your best options. Not that I've been to any of these places, and I once again hope someone shares personal experience with this and what countries they enjoyed. Which ones are good to bum in and how, good dumpsters or black work or busking, etc. Visa rules in eastern Europe at least seem pretty relaxed. Romania seems like a really awesome country to visit, and they allow 90 days for the whole country. The Ukraine allows 6 months, and has a really interesting history and culture. Anywhere in the Balkans are free game too, minus Greece which is in schegen. Americans can even stay in Albania for a year and work!
That's about all I got. Ask any questions I may be able to answer from research and feel free to share anything you may know.
To those who don't know, almost all of western and northern Europe minus the UK and Ireland are in this thing called the Schengen Zone. This means that they act like indivdual states for visa purposes. For instance, a Spanish passport stamp is valid in Germany. This sounds cool but it honestly sucks a lot. You are able to spend 90 days in the schengen area, but then must spend 90 days outside of it in order to come back. A lot of people get away with overstaying, but some people also get deported. Up to you.
Note to people with dual citizenship between two countries. I personally have a US and Canada passport, which makes me believe that I can pretty much stay indefinetely. Just have to cross the border in eastern Europe somewhere then hitch to a different border crossing and use the opposite passport. Rinse and repeat. I won't be able to take advantage of this right now though, seeing as my girlfriend can't.
I personally have no information regarding overstaying your visa, other then it appears you would want to get a return flight from a place like Spain if ever. Hopefully someone with experience in this matter would like to share.
As far as countries to go to on waiting for your visa, there's plenty of options. I mean, why stay in just western and northern Europe anyways? Small place. As far as getting there by land northern Africa and eastern Europe are your best options. Not that I've been to any of these places, and I once again hope someone shares personal experience with this and what countries they enjoyed. Which ones are good to bum in and how, good dumpsters or black work or busking, etc. Visa rules in eastern Europe at least seem pretty relaxed. Romania seems like a really awesome country to visit, and they allow 90 days for the whole country. The Ukraine allows 6 months, and has a really interesting history and culture. Anywhere in the Balkans are free game too, minus Greece which is in schegen. Americans can even stay in Albania for a year and work!
That's about all I got. Ask any questions I may be able to answer from research and feel free to share anything you may know.
