stuck in andalucia, what to do..

[clockwise5000]

hmm. so i'm not sure exactly the point of this post, but maybe something will come of it..

i got to spain just over a year ago. i realized 2.5 months into my stay about shengen rules, and yeah, i've overstayed.

i've been comfortable in a squat, the first "legitament" squat i've really seen, and have just been busking by the beach. In short, i've become a beach/home bum.

but i've been living with a bit of anxiety, and dont feel confident moving around. (i thought about heading to croatia for 3 months but.. border control, so i've read)

i don't advocate illegal stuff and really didnt intend to be illegal myself. its causing my a lot of worry, anxiety. ive been pressed about it by some polichere. but i'm so comfortable here, and i've inhereted a beautiful cat, that's so calm he comes with me to busk. he's a ragdoll.

i think i can get a flight home now. but i still dont know of i want to. if i go back to michigan. itll be cold, ill try and work without a car. and, ugh. but i'm tired of busking in front of locals with my little 10 months of guitar.

 

[roughdraft]

first of all congratulations on your success, sounds nice

I dont know each and every detail of the process but *if* you can swing that you´ve been there for a year already - you need only 4 more years to establish yourself as a permanent resident...then 5 after that for Spanish nationality..I have friends where yr from in Michigan I guess it is as rough to you as it is to them....so why not keep rolling with where yr at?

 

[clockwise5000]

hmm. 5 years here seems, unimaginable, i guess, cause i'm 23, been traveling for 5 years (on and off, sometimes working in michigan)

plus my mom and friends, so.. yeah. i know nobody can put input into that.

i could consider the 5 year thing. i may look into it. but i feel anything legitamate will be void by my initial overstay.

part of me feels like its only a matter of time til i'm caught, and i might as well get my ticket and hope for the best. maybe they'll only see the month and day and not look at the year, and i'll be good. ha-ha-ha...

 

[Sleipnir]

Hmm. Hmm, maybe you could lose all ur paperwork and pretend to be a local?

 

[Matt Derrick]

if you *do* want to come back, i would do a little bit of research into which countries don't check as hard into whether or not you've overstayed. if i remember some countries like greece and other Mediterranean countries are less likely to do so, but check first, that's just something i heard once.

on the other hand, if you don't want to come back, just say, lose your id's and don't worry about it. it's very unlikely you'd get caught as long as you fly under the radar.

 

[roughdraft]

out of 1/1 friends i have who overstayed in Spain itself, he got shafted, x'ed from returning to a certain job but that was a job on paper. outside of that i dont know quite how bad he's not the most open type of guy. i know he visited a few years later but it was a brief trip

 

[Tony Pro]

In my experience Spain is one of the countries that doesn't give a fuck about immigration. I've taken the boat back and forth from Morocco a dozen times, they just stamp me in and out with no questions. But that just means they're more trusting than ultra-paranoid UK; if they realize you've broken the rules they'd probably react the same as any other country.
Maybe if you decide to go home, you should try taking the boat to Morocco and fly home from there? I mean, there's still a 95% chance they'll notice and nail you, but potentially your odds are better than if you were to fly out of Barajas? I'm talking out my ass here.
Before you leave, research the consequences of getting busted and make sure you can live with them. Probably any future visits to the EU will require you to have proof of intention to return home.

 

[Tony Pro]

Actually, I once took the boat from Motril to Melilla, and I don't remember getting stamped out at all. Crossing by foot into Morocco, I only dealt with Moroccan officials. We had to show passports to get on the ferry, but I don't think that was an immigration thing. Maybe that's a way to exit the EU without getting checked?
But maybe security's been ramped up since the immigration crisis started; that border has become a nightmare for the Spanish from what I've heard.
If that did work, you'd definitely face funny questions next time you enter the EU, but you can just tell them, truthfully, where you exited from.

Edit: Actually, I might be crossing the straits a few weeks from now. I was planning on sailing from Tarifa, but if you want me to investigate the Melilla option, I'll be happy to! I'm flying into Malaga and hitchhiking west along the coast, so it doesn't matter where I get the boat from.

2nd edit: Actually even if that idea worked, when you tried to re-enter they'd see the date you entered Morocco and put 2+2 together. Don't take legal advice from shitposters like me.

 

[Sleipnir]

if you *do* want to come back, i would do a little bit of research into which countries don't check as hard into whether or not you've overstayed. if i remember some countries like greece and other Mediterranean countries are less likely to do so, but check first, that's just something i heard once.

on the other hand, if you don't want to come back, just say, lose your id's and don't worry about it. it's very unlikely you'd get caught as long as you fly under the radar.

i was thinking the same thing. i was also thinking, but didnt post because its a controversial idea and i dont want him getting caught up over me. but couldnt he go to the us embassy where hes at and tell them the truth? maybe he could get home without getting in trouble for over staying for going there and telling the truth instead of trying to sneak back and hope he doesnt get caught?
i dont know the specifics over there, if theres a us embassy or if that is even a good idea lol

 

[Matt Derrick]

i dont know the specifics over there, if theres a us embassy or if that is even a good idea lol

i believe the main issue in this situation would be that it's not that you would get in trouble with your home country, but the country you overstayed in possibly permanently barring you from entering their country again.

 

[Sleipnir]

well if i could get back to the us i wouldnt care if i got barred. maybe theres something he can do..... calling all crusty lawyers!!

 

[clockwise5000]

out of 1/1 friends i have who overstayed in Spain itself, he got shafted, x'ed from returning to a certain job but that was a job on paper. outside of that i dont know quite how bad he's not the most open type of guy. i know he visited a few years later but it was a brief trip

you don't happen to know why / how he got shafted? maybe something criminal? or just for overstaying? i'd think with a job on papers it'd be easier to fly under the radar..

 

[clockwise5000]

i believe the main issue in this situation would be that it's not that you would get in trouble with your home country, but the country you overstayed in possibly permanently barring you from entering their country again.

exactly. i'm not too worried about coming back to spain, as i'm pretty sure i can still fly into other shengen countries if i do get banned here. definitly not sure of that, though.

Actually, I once took the boat from Motril to Melilla, and I don't remember getting stamped out at all. Crossing by foot into Morocco, I only dealt with Moroccan officials. We had to show passports to get on the ferry, but I don't think that was an immigration thing. Maybe that's a way to exit the EU without getting checked?
But maybe security's been ramped up since the immigration crisis started; that border has become a nightmare for the Spanish from what I've heard.
If that did work, you'd definitely face funny questions next time you enter the EU, but you can just tell them, truthfully, where you exited from.

Edit: Actually, I might be crossing the straits a few weeks from now. I was planning on sailing from Tarifa, but if you want me to investigate the Melilla option, I'll be happy to! I'm flying into Malaga and hitchhiking west along the coast, so it doesn't matter where I get the boat from.

2nd edit: Actually even if that idea worked, when you tried to re-enter they'd see the date you entered Morocco and put 2+2 together. Don't take legal advice from shitposters like me.

hmm. well when i crossed to morocco 11 months ago from Almeria, i got my exit stamp from the spanish immigration and questioned heavely by the moroccan officals on a couple occacions.

 

[clockwise5000]

sorry if i'm not organizing my thoughts too well, and thanks for all the replies..

i guess i just feel like anyway i go about it, it's a matter of time. and maybe it's better to just see how they react at the airport. apologize and see what they decide to do..

flights from madrid to chicago get as cheap as €140 in december..

it's hard to commit leaving this place though, and this beautiful cat. though i do think i know a couple who will take him in.

also, @Tony Pro , if i'm still around when you swing by you got a place to stay in benalmadena.


i think i'm going to look into flights ftom morocco. it might be worth a shot.

 

[T Paradise]

I crossed from malaga to melilla and morocco couple weeks ago.
Unfourtunately I only saw this thread now, so I can't remember to well how it went. But I think I can confirm Tony Pros experiences. As far as I remember there was no one controlling me on the spanish side of the border. Don't take this for granted, I am like 80% sure.
I definitely don't have an exit stamp from spain, but that might also be because I am an EU citizen?
On the other hand, what would happen if you try to reenter spain and in their system you are still there? Isn't that what would happen if you leave through morocco? Then you sitll have a problem when reentering.
I also know of a guy who spend several years in spain, booked a flight home and when asked claimed that he'd only been there for a month. He is also a US citizen. Appearantly the offical just assumed that they forgot the stamp or whatever system they use. Or just didn't care who knows. But the longer you stay there and the more you only look like a normal tourist the more I can see this work. As far as I know the dude has been staying over the aforementioned 5 years so maybe the offical was just happy to see him go without trying to get permanent residency or whatever. I don't know anything about that though.
So that might be an alternative to admitting and hoping for mild reactions.

 

[Jackthereaper]

^^^ ill vouch for that. I have flown into amsterdam and not been stamped in the past. Just act casual like they just must have missed stamping you when you entered Schengen. Since you have an old entry stamp, they may assume you are missing both an exit and entry stamp and may scrutanize you more, but unless you are flying from near paris / london / berlin etc in my experience they wont hassle you much.

Any updates on your situation? Did you stay in spain? Head back to michigan? I hear the weather in mi has been cold. Friends were already playing pond hockey 3 weeks ago..