Expired Spanish Student Visa - can a non-visa national go on to travel in the Schengen Area?
I will be traveling Europe in the summer. The plan is Dublin, Amsterdam, Krakow and then back to Dublin to fly to Canada. A family member has an expired Visa in Spain and wants to meet us in Krakow. Do you think he would have any trouble doing this? He would then fly back with us to Dublin to catch our flight to Toronto. We don't want to have any issues with penalties and being banned. Can anyone give any help or suggestions as to if he will be fine or how we can arrange the trip so he can fly out without penalty?
My relative entered Spain on a student Visa, but it will expire when his school is over in May. He is an American as am I. He wants to visit me in either Ireland or Poland and then fly back to Canada and then US with me, but his student visa will be expired at that time. He does not want to get deported or on some travel ban.
Best Answer
Your relative's visa must be a Type D visa issued by Spain -- it can't be a type C short-stay visa, because such visas are not issueed to U.S. citizens at all.
Holding a Type D visa has the convenient side effect that days he spends in Spain under that visa do not count towards his 90-in-any-180-days Schengen clock; for all intents and purposes the Schengen system treats such visas just like residence permits.
If he has been in Spain for the entire semester, the effect of this is that when the visa expires he won't have any days-that-count-for-Schengen in the last 90 days, so at that time he can start traveling within the Schengen area for 90 days as an ordinary visa-free American.
Thus, it should be okay for your relative to travel from Spain to Poland and then exit the Schengen area together with you. His entry and exit stamps will show a long time spent within Schengen, but since the passport also contains his Type D visa, it will be easy for the border guards to see that this does not make him an overstayer.
On general principles, it would be a good idea to hold on to receipts for accommodation or the like in Spain, so that he can document that he was actually there while his visa lasted, but it is not very likely that he will actually have to show them to anyone.
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Can I stay in Europe after my student visa expires?
Student visas are a great way to study in the Schengen Area but don't usually allow you to work in the Schengen Area for more than a limited number of hours per week, and only allow you to stay for a finite period during which you complete your studies, so to continue to work after your visa has expired, you will ...Can I stay in Schengen Area after my visa expires?
If you apply after your visa expires, even just a day later, then you will be deported for overstaying your visa, despite of your reasons. Therefore, take care to apply at least a week before your current Schengen short-stay visa expires.How long can I stay after student visa expires Spain?
Can I stay in Spain after my student visa expires? It depends. If you're from a country that doesn't require a visa to come to Spain as a tourist, you can stay for up to 90 days in Spain (or the whole Schengen area) after your visa or your TIE (Foreigner Identity Card) expires.What happens if I overstay my Spanish visa?
If you leave Spain, you may be registered as having overstayed the 90-day period by Spanish immigration. This could make it difficult for you to return and/or mean you have to pay a fine. In the worst-case scenario, you could face deportation and/or a ban from the Schengen area.THE SCHENGEN ZONE TRAVEL EXPLAINED - DIGITAL NOMAD TV
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