Hello everyone,

I’m in a sticky situation and would appreciate any advice. I am an Australian (non EU) citizen planning on studying in Barcelona from September to December 2007 (Exams in January 2008). I applied for a student visa in Australia before I left on 27 June 2007 to study in Italy for 3 weeks. Unfortunately the Student Visa did not come through in time and I had to depart without it. I entered Italy on June 28, 2007. I have received advice that my Student Visa has now been approved and that I have until the first week of August 2007 to pick it up…in Australia.

I am entitled to stay in the Schengen states for up to 90 days without a visa within a 6 month period. But obviously I have already been in Italy for 3 weeks and will need to stay in Spain for 3-4 months. If I leave Italy now and go to a non-Schengen country I will be out of the Schengen zone for 8 weeks before the semester starts in Barcelona in mid September.

Advice I have received from Spanish embassies indicates that I must return to Australia to collect my Student Visa. This, however, seems a sad waste of money which I could use to travel elsewhere in Europe. From my research on various web-sites it seems that American citizens have virtually no problems overstaying their tourist visas in Spain and suffer no consequences. I am wondering if this is the case for Australian citizens.

I would hate to be deported before completing my studies in Spain, or to be “black-listed” upon leaving Spain to return to Australia. I have a grand-father who was born in England and am entitled to an English “Ancestral Visa” though did not have time to apply for this before leaving Australia. I would like to one day apply for European residency/citizenship. Can anyone advise me of the possible or likely risks to me if I overstay my tourist visa in Spain? Can authorities blacklist me, fine me, put me in jail, deport me? Or am I just worrying too much?

Thank you.

Hi Woried Australian

I would suggest you take a long weekend trip to London and then re-enter Spain on a new shengen visa (when your current visa is set to expire) instead of flying all the way back to Australia. This is possible due to the fact tha the UK is not part of the schengen agreement. Other possibilities are of course Morroco.

Cheers

Christian

Dear Christian,

Thank you very much for your reply. Yes, the weekend to a non-Schengen country has been suggested to me, but according to my internet research, it seems that this is a fallacy. Apparently, you are allowed 90 days within a 180 day period, which means that if I stay in Spain for 90 days, I then have to stay out of it for another 90 days before my tourist visa will be renewed.

Do you have direct experience of your tourist visa being renewed after only a weekend in a non-Schengen country?

All the best,

Rachel

Hi Rachel

We are sort of in the same situation here in New york with my girlfriend waiting for her visa and it might not be ready before we leave the us. They seem willing to actually send us the visa at the consulate her. Otherwise we are going to send her passport to a friend of us here that we have vested with authority to deal with the visa issue on our behalf, so he can pick it up.

This means we have to stay put until the passport comes back to us in Barcelona (small price to pay). Might this be a solution for you ?

Christian

Dear Christian,

I asked the person at the Spanish Consulate in Melbourne if I could get some-one else to pick it up for me or send it to me and they said no. They said I have to pick it up in person. I’m wondering if I should get legal advice. The Spanish Consulate in New York sounds alot more helpful than the one in Melbourne.

I will look into your suggestion. But I haven’t given anyone in Australia power of attorney for me. Perhaps I could do that by post too!

Thank you for your suggestions, and good luck!

rachel

Well, I’m returning to Australia and buying another ticket to Spain. In the absence of evidence that going out of the Schengen zone for a night will renew my visa, I’m doing the legal thing.

Noooo! Don’t go home! Unless you want to stay in Spain for a whole lot longer I don’t think you’ll get into much trouble for staying a couple of weeks longer. You’re right about being able to stay only 90 days out of every 3 months but if you leave for 8 weeks (UK? Prague? There’s loads of Eastern European places to visit that are cheap) and then take a few weekends out you really won’t go much past your 90 days. I don’t think anyone will really count them up to be honest. I got into Madrid with about 10 days left out of my 90 and they didn’t blink (ok so I left within the 10 days but they didnt even ask for evidence that I would leave AND no one stamped my passport as I was leaving so who knows how it all works). I’m unlcear as to whether your next 90 days starts automatically after the first 6 months is up and whether you have to actually leave and come back so that could be a loophole. SUCH a pain being Australian!

Are you under 30? I think you might also be able to apply for an Irish work permit without being in Australia and I know someone who got a uk working holiday one by sending their passport home and getting someone else to send it to the uk embassy. Not entirely sure that’s legal though…

As far as Power of Attorney goes I found it all online, go to http://www.justice.qld.gov.au/guardian/forms/short.pdf (not sure if it matters if you’re not from Qld), you can just type straight into the form and print it out then get a JP to witness you signing it and send it to your chosen people. You should do an Enduring Power of Attorney as it covers a lot more esp if you are incapacitated at any stage. Totally free and no need to register it unless you’re selling property.

Good luck! Enjoy your time in Spain!

Dear Bristow,

Thank you for your reply. I am actually writing from Taipei on my way home to get the wretched student visa. I’ve already paid for my flight back to Barcelona in September. Even though from all accounts it may have been easy enough to overstay my tourist visa by 1 or 2 months, I decided I’d rather have peace of mind and not feel like an outlaw in the country during my stay.

Perhaps considering the inflexible, lengthy application and approval process as well as the prohibitive cost of having to return to Australia just to pick up the visa in cases such as mine, we could somehow petition the Spanish authorities to allow Australian students to pick up their visas in Europe. Any ideas?

Spanish students are able to both apply for AND collect their student visas in Australia AFTER having arrived. So it seems pretty unfair to me. I know the Spanish authorities have alot of problems with illegal immigration but I don’t see how being so difficult with legitimate foreign students helps with preventing illegal immigration.

No, unfortunately I’m over 30 so am not eligible for any working visas in Europe. But I am eligible for an English ancestral visa which I will definitely apply for since I’m heading back to Oz. The more visas the better after my experience!

I’m not an experienced traveller so this has definitely been a learning curve for me. I just didn’t know what to expect so decided to play it safe.

All the best and thanks to everyone for the replies.