How we got a visa for 6 months in Schengen and could stay in Europe for 9 months

How we got a visa for 6 months in Schengen and could stay in Europe for 9 months

Nine months touring in Europe is that possible we’ve just been to the Vasa office in Manchester our plan for the year included 5 months sailing Coastal Waters of France and Italy starting in late April with a brief return home for family commitments during summer shuffling time with non- shenan

Countries wouldn’t work for us somehow we needed to extend our stay last year before summer we toured in France for 54 days before touring Canada for 8 weeks then returned to France in September for 30 days that year our time in Europe was within the 90 in 180-day shenen Visa

Limits there are many European travel guide videos with Shen’s own explanations but in brief it is a freedom of travel area for residents of an EU country or residents of a non-eu country signed up to the agreement anyone else visiting these countries must have have an entry visa and abide

With the time limit rules or face fines and possible refusal to re-enter currently UK citizens with an ordinary passport are granted entry without a Visa but time in the zone is restricted to 90 days in a rolling 180-day period how could we overcome time restrictions and still have

Multi-entry access for more than 3 months also would it be possible for us to tour Europe for 9 months more about this later after successfully completing the application and arranging the Manchester interview we spent many evenings Gathering the evidence and information required by TLS contact who are the appointed Visa agent in the

UK sick and very nervous that was ridiculous we not even said where we’ve been we’ve just been um applying for a France long stay Visa which means that we can hopefully be in France longer than 3 months it’s temp temporary long stay uh yes temporary long stay Visa but

What a feeling it’s weird it’s so strange cuz you’re there with everybody else there’s lots of people there but you’re having to sign your name and my hands were shaking it’s just CRA what’s that all about I know just felt nervous I know it’s weird anyway anyway we’ll

Hopefully 15 days it says working days yeah so fingers crossed yeah anyway so uh that’s done now sorry we’re just going to go back for a cup of tea all right yeah you happy well it’s just done now so let’s crack on so tell me do you think you’re going to be

Successful in your application for a long stay Visa I hope so I don’t think I don’t know what else we could have done do you think we were well prepared I think we were extremely well prepared killed lots of trees yeah and they did they take all of the trees that we we

Failed no no some of the stuff we copied because we did individual copies for both of us as in each of us but he actually said well if they only want different documents if they’re different for the spouse yes so that was my that was the finance yeah part interesting

Yes okay anyway did he calm down yet yeah I think so but yeah I did I got quite nervy yeah cup of tea time cup of tea what we hoped to get was a v ls-t which is a visitor longstay temporary Visa valid for a fixed six-month period with multi-entry

Included what we got was a recall to go back to Manchester and last night about 8:00 got an email saying that they had a technical issue with the biometric so we had to come back so we just driven this morning after phone calls and so on trying to get through to

Them back to Manchester and uh here we are about to go into the TLs we’ve gone through the process of having our photographs taken again because the photographs that we had before were the wrong size but they could have checked that at the counter when they took them and also we’ve had

The Biometrics done for Sheena again because her name is too long and the consul won’t accept it because there’s 24 characters but they only take 25 including spaces so might which again could be checked at the point of actually submitting all the documents rather than making people change their

Plans and drive a 5H hour round trip just to come back we took us took half an hour for us to be seen when after we arrived the young lady that actually looked after us was very helpful our flight back to options was booked but now now our passports were in France

Submitted with the plans and evidence we provided we waited for the return of our passports by Courier and confirmation that our application had been approved the process to apply for a longstay visitor Visa takes time don’t leave it too late start at the application page to set up an account

Follow it through and remember you are applying for a temporary Visa exceeding 3 months if you’re applying from outside the UK the French Visa site lists your country specific Visa submission centers you’ll be guided through to complete the application which can be saved at various points to return to

Later if needed once the initial application is completed you will receive a unique reference which is used to book an appointment at your chosen submission Center they will take the application fees and any additional charges associated with the process the French authorities want to know your full itinerary including where you will

Live and visit in our case we lived on board our boat cruising the south coast of France from Port Napoleon at the TLs office we handed over our plans and boat papers along with security health and financial information demonstrating our ability to be self-sufficient and

Insured so as not to be a burden on the French state if your application is successful the Visa starts on a date you choose and ends OB 6 months later within the validity period you can enter and leave France multiple times but you should leave France on or before the expiry

Date and make sure your passport is stamped here’s the best bit how can you stay in Europe for nine consecutive months during the validity period of the longstay Visa you can visit other shenen countries using the 90 in 180 day rule then leave with an official exit stamp

And go to a European country that is not signed up to the shenan agreement such as Albania Montenegro Romania Cyprus turkey and Bulgaria keep in mind that to get an entry stamp and exit stamp must be in your passport and to get an exit stamp an entry stamp is required so

Always get your passport stamped and check the date is correct border officials look for the most recent date stamp in your passport and and each date stamp shows clearly if the border of passing was an entry or an exit for Boat Owners it is sometimes easier to employ the services of a

Shipping agent who will handle the clearing process at ports of Entry but this is not always necessary there it is 6 months in the shangan area of Europe and 3 months in the non- shenan area is possible without having to leave Europe okay so it’s a little bit involved but it’s doable

Thankfully our application was approved and the passports arrived a few days before our flight back to Marsailles in our opinion France has a sensible approach and a workable system allowing people from outside the EU into their country to spend hard-earned cash well done France the EES automated system will be

Launched after the Paris Olympics to mon and control European entry and exit this system will eventually replace the use of all manual stamps across the Zone but we don’t know how long that will take in addition the ATS automated system will gather information for security immigration and health

Checks this system is expected to go live in mid 20125 and will require UK citizens to apply for a travel visa to enter European countries R the cost is likely to be €7 and the Visa will be valid for 3 years bear in mind these systems have

Been delayed several times so keep an eye on the news

S2 Ep3: Doing the Schengen shuffle wouldn’t work! We needed more than 90 days in 180 and found a way to extend our stay in Europe. With a long way to sail we needed a LONG STAY VISA, which isn’t impossible to get, but is time consuming and more complex than navigating through shallow water. Entry/exit systems and visa regulations for non-EU residents are being updated. EES and ETIAS will go live this year and next respectively.

Acknowledgments and links:
Thanks to the YouTube creators who have spent time travelling, investigating and unravelling the complexity of the visa systems to help others – we hope our contribution helps not hinders.
EES/ETIAS : https://travel-europe.europa.eu/index_en
UK Parliament info : https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/the-eu-entry-exit-system-and-eu-travel-authorisation-system/