germanyfilter: visit after visa?
August 11, 2010 8:19 AM Subscribe
US citizen, living in Germany on a visa that is about to expire. I'll be leaving soon, but I want to return for a visit! How long do I have to wait before I can come back for one of those 90-day visa-less stays?
I've thought about extending my visa, but that won't necessarily be easy for me, and I'd like to avoid another exhausting trip to the Ausländerbehörde if possible.
I've thought about extending my visa, but that won't necessarily be easy for me, and I'd like to avoid another exhausting trip to the Ausländerbehörde if possible.
You need to ask the German immigration department. We don't know what visa you have so we can't answer your question. The German immigration website will probably have your answer - but perhaps a phone call would suffice. I found this on their website:
Have you not found the answer to your question? Give us a call (hotline number +49 3018 17 2000) or send us an email. One of our help desk staff will answer your inquiry as quickly as possible.
Happy Dave is right that abuse, intentional or not, of the Visa Waiver Program can totally mess you up for a long time - I know people who've overstayed by *days* and were lucky to get on the plane home after being shouted at by immigration officials.
Generally, US citizens are entitled to 90 days in the Schengen Zone every 180 days, but as a US citizen living in Poland I hold a residence permit that allows me to enter and leave the Schengen zone without further visa stamps, though I still have to use the Non-EU Citizens line at immigration. So the situation could be different depending on the visa you hold/held; you may get the 90 days instantly or not. Call them.
posted by mdonley at 9:53 AM on August 11, 2010
Have you not found the answer to your question? Give us a call (hotline number +49 3018 17 2000) or send us an email. One of our help desk staff will answer your inquiry as quickly as possible.
Happy Dave is right that abuse, intentional or not, of the Visa Waiver Program can totally mess you up for a long time - I know people who've overstayed by *days* and were lucky to get on the plane home after being shouted at by immigration officials.
Generally, US citizens are entitled to 90 days in the Schengen Zone every 180 days, but as a US citizen living in Poland I hold a residence permit that allows me to enter and leave the Schengen zone without further visa stamps, though I still have to use the Non-EU Citizens line at immigration. So the situation could be different depending on the visa you hold/held; you may get the 90 days instantly or not. Call them.
posted by mdonley at 9:53 AM on August 11, 2010
Response by poster: Ooh, thanks. Happy Dave, I had no idea that's how it worked--and I've looked and looked for the answer to this question.
I'm here on a language student visa for a bit less than a year, if that sheds any more light.
posted by the_blizz at 11:07 AM on August 11, 2010
I'm here on a language student visa for a bit less than a year, if that sheds any more light.
posted by the_blizz at 11:07 AM on August 11, 2010
If you wish to stay in Germany in order to continue your language learning, you really need to extend your visa. This might be difficult and exhausting (I have heard the Ausländerbehörde is a red-tape nightmare of epic proportions, but then most immigration systems in Europe are), but it is infinitely preferable to chancing your arm with the VWP and getting a travel ban to a country you are presumably interested in visiting repeatedly through your life.
Call on the number mdonley recommended above and sort it out. Good luck.
posted by Happy Dave at 1:48 AM on August 12, 2010
Call on the number mdonley recommended above and sort it out. Good luck.
posted by Happy Dave at 1:48 AM on August 12, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Generally speaking, you need to be outside of the Schengen area for longer than you were in it, before you can re-enter on a Visa Waiver Programme standard 90-day stay. However, if you've been in Germany for, say, a year on a student visa, leave, then re-enter after a couple of months, you would probably be okay the first time you did it. Any subsequent attempts to surreptitiously extend your stay with VWP stays will get flagged quicker than a quick thing.
If you want to stay long-term for education or work or whatever, extend your visa. The Visa Waiver Programme is for tourists, and abusing it can get you banned from travelling to Schengen countries (and some other EU countries like the UK) for up to ten years.
posted by Happy Dave at 8:32 AM on August 11, 2010