Effects of Overstaying a Schengen Visa
Posted date: 20 Jul 2021
It's never easy to get a Schengen Visa. There are a lot of documentation that you will need to compile and specifications that you must satisfy. The interview is there and then the wait for the processing of visas. When you get the visa, however, you feel rewarded and reassured that it was all worth it. The duration of 90 days every six months seems to many to be enough time to spend in the Schengen Region. Others earn visas that have a shorter period of stay, such as five days or two weeks, etc. However, as the visa validity reaches the end of the visa, many Schengen visa holders are tempted to stay longer, asking themselves time after time: What happens if I stay longer than my Schengen visa?
If you're tempted to do that, you just need to know the following things: The first thing you need to know is that an overflowing visa never goes unnoticed. Every person entering and leaving the Schengen area and every over-stay, even for a day, is registered by the immigration authorities in their databases. Secondly, no overstaying is left unpunished, whether deliberate or unintentional. It may be a fine, immediate expulsion or even a ban on entry into the Schengen Zone for a certain period of time.
Consequently, the implications of staying overstayed in the Schengen territory, whether your visa or a 90-day permit for citizens of the countries protected by the visa waiver scheme, depend a great deal on the number of days you have stayed and the country in which you are caught. In this direction, Germany is considered to have the most restrictive immigration laws in the EU; while Greece is known to impose very high fines to anyone caught overstaying. In general, one of the following forms of sanctions is imposed by all Member States for the prolonged stay of a Schengen visa or an authorized stay.
If you are found living in Europe illegally, you are absolutely returned to your home country. The procedures for deportation rely upon your situation and the country where you are caught. You could be deported immediately, within a few hours or a couple of days at a time. Even if you get back to your home country without a fine or ban, you should know that the next time you try to reach the Schengen Region, your overstaying will cause you problems.
Many people overstay because they feel that the validity of the visa and the duration of stay are the same and do not notice the difference. While the validity of the visa is the date on which the holder of the visa is allowed to enter the Schengen Region, the length of the stay is the number of days that the holder of the visa may spend during that span. The specifics of the validity of the visa and the length of the stay are also provided in the visa sticker attached to the passport of the traveller approved to enter the Schengen Zone.
Posted By
GSP Admin
