1

If you are under 31 you can apply for a Working Holiday Visa for Germany, which allows you to stay in Germany for a year and even work and earn money. To the rest of the Schengen zone, the 90 out of 180 days rule nevertheless applies.

If you are over 30, however, there is no legal alternative to adjusting your travel plans to the Schengen rules. There are no long-term tourist visas. And overstaying illegally is not a wise thing to do.

2

I'm afraid not. There is no such thing as an extended holiday visa. You would have to request a residence permit for a specific country, but you won't qualify on the grounds that you want to travel. The only other option would a a working holiday visa, but those are limited to the issuing country (I think besides the Netherlands, the UK offers that possibility) and there is an age limit.
The only way to travel for 12 months would be to travel outside of the Schengen Area for 90 out of 180 days.
Also, could you please do a search on this forum, as this question gets asked at least once every week?

3

As above.

You can stay in Schengen for 90 days.Then leave the area and go to (say) the Uk,Ireland,somewhere in Eastern Europe or North Africa (that is out of Schengen) for 90 days,

Then go back into Schengen and repeat.90 days in,90 days out.

4

BTW if you are considering spending the time 'out' in Eastern Europe....I think Croatia is joining Schengen next year.

Followed by Romania and Bulgaria a little later........

5

Germany and other cities
I happened to be in Germany until an hour or three ago and it was still very much a country when I left ;-)

6

Also, it is 90 days in the whole Schengen region, not just in Germany.

Unless your country has some special arrnagement (which might be the case...?)

7

I suggest you read this:

http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/how-to-legally-stay-in-europe-for-more-than-90-days/

There is an interesting idea about travelling to the UK and then on the train to France, and that they don't stamp your passport, so you could claim you left the UK after 1 day (you would have to lie) without fear of being contradicated:

"Since England gives allows you to stay for 180 days and Schengen gives you 90 days, in theory you could stay in the Schengen zone for 270 days, telling the immigration officer you left England on the 180th day (180 + 90 = 270). There’s no proof you didn’t do that. And by coming through the Chunnel, it is impossible for you to even have an entry stamp into France." You have to check if that 180 days is correct for Australia (US centered link above), I would definately double check that. But in theory you could come into UK on day 1, leave to France on day 2, exit Schengen on day 269, and claim you had been in UK for 6 months. Anyway, just a thought. Doesn't help you stay a year or more except that it minimises the number of times you would subsequently have to leave and then return.

8

#7, the post is called 'how to legally stay' and then it suggests you lie. is lying to an Immigration officer legal? i wouldn't think so.

Anyway, passports get scanned upon passing through French Immigration. And sometimes stamped too. I don;t understand thsi notion of no passport control when using the Eurostar train.

That's just not true.

Also, Immigration can ask for proof you spent all the time in the UK.

So it's just another hare-brained scheme.

9

so i just read that article #7 and after explaining the 'loophole' he mentions

so it IS rubbish.

10

MTL, I wouldn't tell the lie but others are free to make their own choice.

The scanning of the passport creates a risk only if you were to become under investigation. It is very unlikely that you would be cross checked against an electronic record of that as you show your passport upon leaving the country. Anyway trying the scheme out would have to take that small risk.

I just checked my passport and I definately did not receive a stamp in May this year travelling to Paris (on a UK passport). My passport was checked by French authorities in London (meaning once I entered the train I had effectively entered France from a customs standpoint and was just free to walk off the train at the other end). However the check leaving London was just a visual check. Evidence suggests some people get the stamp, some don't, probably more don't. (You cherry pick in your quote the 2 who said they got a stamp, but don't mention the "handful" that didn't.)

If you tried this scheme and got the stamp, it would not cause an immediate issue, it would simply mean you had to revert to another plan, like leaving the Schengen, so it seems clear that it's extremely low risk, especially if you leave Europe later from one of the Southern states as he says.

His article is extremely helpful, is very clear about the risks and that nothing is certain, and it's rather unfair to call it "hare-brained" or "rubbish". It seems to me that you are just very conservative, very honest, or a stickler for the rules. For someone who was is more adventurous or more risk taking, it is worth considering.

And what are you risking at the end of the day, is being kicked out or not allowed back or something or have further hassles in the future, they are not going to throw you in jail.

Edited by: Britkid

Edited by: Britkid

11

Britkid, can't it be that you didn't receive a stamp when you went to France because you're from the UK and therefore have freedom of movement throughout the EU? Sigh...

And as for the risks involved in overstaying: reportedly people have received fines of over €1000 (even after an overstay of a few days), missed their flight while immigration was sorting out how to deal with them and forced to buy a one-way ticket home, were banned from Schengen for up to five years (good luck explaining that to a future employer who wants you to visit a few customers in Schengen countries) and/or found out that their insurance didn't cover them because they were engaged in illegal activities.

So yes, any post assuring people that overstaying and the consequences is not a big deal, is basically rubbish.