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I live in France and none of my UK friends had to register that they live in France. (Same goes for my friends from other EU countries such as Germany and Poland).
But in order to live here, you need a place to live. In order to get an apartment, you need a bank account. In order to get a bank account, you need a proof of residence.
I don't think that most countries in the Schengen zone really care how long you stay. You're legally allowed to live and work in these countries without a visa.
there is no visa. you simply show your passport to french officials prove you are a EU citizen and boom, they let you go from there. there is no limit on how long i stay away from the UK or in the schengen area because there are legal ways of living in the schengen area, which is to live 90 days in france, 90 days in spain, 90 days in italy, 90 days in germany, all visa free, all without needing to sign up to their register. this is the freedom of movement law. it is illegal for any official to document where you were and how long you were there, ask your intentions of staying in whichever country.
its not possible for a non-EU citizen to stay visa-free in the WHOLE of the schengen area for longer than 90 days. the country you got the visa with will set off alarms and notify the police of all the countries in the EU if you overstay the 90 days. if you get pulled over by the police in any EU country and they find you have a US passport and your name is blacklisted as overstayed you can get deported whereas if you have an EU passport, unless you are wanted by your country for a crime, you're free as a bird.
I was referring to a non-EU citizen, since you were asking about the Schengen Visa. You can live in the UK and not be an EU citizen, just as my wife and I was when we lived in the UK, and when we lived in Greece, she had to leave the Schengen zone to renew her visa every few months. To enter the Schengen zone while living in the UK, my wife had to get a Schengen visa.
The Schengen visa refers to those who need it, which is different than the EU zone (whatever they call it).
So in regards to your "flaw", there is no flaw with the Schengen since the visa is registered upon arrival and departure from the Schengen area. Maybe you are thinking of this EU zone where EU citizens can roam freely around without checks, and how they can enforce the 90 rule. A country can be part of the EU zone and not the Schengen zone, like the UK, and vice-versa like Norway.
I went through this hassle for many years while living and traveling through Europe, at the time, I had the process down pretty good. My wife has a US passport now, so it is no longer a concern.
I was referring to a non-EU citizen, since you were asking about the Schengen Visa. You can live in the UK and not be an EU citizen, just as my wife and I was when we lived in the UK, and when we lived in Greece, she had to leave the Schengen zone to renew her visa every few months. To enter the Schengen zone while living in the UK, my wife had to get a Schengen visa.
The Schengen visa refers to those who need it, which is different than the EU zone (whatever they call it).
So in regards to your "flaw", there is no flaw with the Schengen since the visa is registered upon arrival and departure from the Schengen area. Maybe you are thinking of this EU zone where EU citizens can roam freely around without checks, and how they can enforce the 90 rule. A country can be part of the EU zone and not the Schengen zone, like the UK, and vice-versa like Norway.
I went through this hassle for many years while living and traveling through Europe, at the time, I had the process down pretty good. My wife has a US passport now, so it is no longer a concern.
The jist of your argument is right but he/she did state something different. You talked about a visa, he/she talked about the Schengen area, which exists. There is no official "EU zone" when it comes to movement of people, although EU citizens have special status in the different common travel areas (Schengen, CTA i.e. UK/Ireland).
The "Schengen area" the OP referred to is the EU, minus a few countries (including the UK and Ireland) plus a few non-EU countries (e.g. Norway, Switzerland). Whether or not one needs a visa to enter/stay in that area depends on their citizenship:
- EU citizens (including non-Schengen countries like the UK): no need for a visa. They can enter the Schengen area and stay forever if they want to. That also applies to citizens of the EEA (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechstenstein).
- "Annex II" citizens (Australia, Canada, US, Japan, most North/South American countries, some European countries but not Russia, Ukraine, etc): no need for a visa. They can stay in the Schengen area for up to 90 days in a 180 day period.
- others: must apply for a visa at an embassy, like you seemed to be referring to.
Thanks, very interesting. In the US, where the maximum you can get on a tourist/visitor's visa is 6 months, all you have to do to extend for a year is go to Canada or Mexico for a day, and come back. idk, though--they may be cracking down on that, for the usual security reasons.
That's not true. For someone on a B-2 tourist visa, the 6-month 'timer' keeps going when someone goes to Canada or Mexico (see here), it's as if they never left. Same with someone from a country covered by the visa waiver program (i.e. most of the EU, Australia, Japan) and their 90-day period (source):
Quote:
If you are admitted to the United States under the VWP, you may take a short trip to Canada, Mexico, or a nearby island and generally be readmitted to the United States under the VWP for the remainder of the original 90 days granted upon your initial arrival in the United States. Therefore, the length of time of your total stay, including the short trip, must be 90 days or less. See the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) website.
I live in France and none of my UK friends had to register that they live in France. (Same goes for my friends from other EU countries such as Germany and Poland).
But in order to live here, you need a place to live. In order to get an apartment, you need a bank account. In order to get a bank account, you need a proof of residence.
I don't think that most countries in the Schengen zone really care how long you stay. You're legally allowed to live and work in these countries without a visa.
Lots of people live there without having an apt. in their name. All you need is a job and a room in someone's apt. Or a room and some independent source of income.
That's not true. For someone on a B-2 tourist visa, the 6-month 'timer' keeps going when someone goes to Canada or Mexico (see here), it's as if they never left. Same with someone from a country covered by the visa waiver program (i.e. most of the EU, Australia, Japan) and their 90-day period (source):
It sounds like you misunderstood that. They're saying you're allowed to leave the US in the middle of your 90-day stay without losing the remainder of your stay, you still get to complete the 90 days. What I was talking about is people who max out their stay, and want to stay another 90 days or whatever the maximum is. You can go to Canada and get another visa from a US consulate. I know people who have done this, living in Seattle. They just go up to Vancouver, and they're good for another maximum stay. If it's a visa for a lecturer or for receiving some kind of special training, they can stay up to a year, with two 6-month visas.
It sounds like you misunderstood that. They're saying you're allowed to leave the US in the middle of your 90-day stay without losing the remainder of your stay, you still get to complete the 90 days. What I was talking about is people who max out their stay, and want to stay another 90 days or whatever the maximum is. You can go to Canada and get another visa from a US consulate. I know people who have done this, living in Seattle. They just go up to Vancouver, and they're good for another maximum stay. If it's a visa for a lecturer or for receiving some kind of special training, they can stay up to a year, with two 6-month visas.
I'm obviously not talking about a temporary worker visa or a student visa. But you seem to be mixing things up here as well.
If you're talking about 90-day stays, you're talking about the visa waiver program -- the point is that there is no visa, hence no need to show up at a consulate or embassy. To be allowed in the US under that program, someone needs a round-trip ticket with the return trip within 90 days of entering (source). The only way around that is if the person enters by a land crossing, i.e. through Canada. Otherwise you need the return ticket.
If someone is on a B-2 tourist visa (i.e. VWP doesn't apply) and has been in the US for 6 months, he/she can go to Vancouver for a day and then try to come back. He/she doesn't have to get another visa from the consulate -- the B-2 visa is valid for up to 10 years. But the CBP officer has discretionary power to deny entry if he/she suspects the person is not only 'visiting' but actually 'residing' in the US.
So, to go to Vancouver for a day trip isn't really just "all you have to do" -- it is not the CBP's intent to reset the counter with a day trip. In other words it isn't much different from the Schengen area rules for non-EU members.
You can live anywhere as long as you wish in the Schengen area, nobody will hunt you. But if you want to receive benefits, work, vote in local elections or (maybe, not sure) buy a house, you'll have to register. To register is very easy and nobody will really annoy you.. But if you live only thanks to the social benefits or do something illegal.
By the way the government doesn't know where you are in the UK as well. And that's why nobody agree about the number of French in London.. But that's the Schengen's objective, to end all frontiers.
From what I understood the 90 days are only for non-Schengen nationalities with a Visa in one of the Schengen country. So an American with an Italian Visa can't go more than 90 days in France.
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