SCHENGEN VISA'S

[sillydoll]

I wrote to a friend in the Spanish Embassy in Pretoria explaining that the inclusion of Switzerland in the Schengen states was going to make it very difficult for people wanting to walk from Rome to Santiago or to Jerusalem. I asked if there was an alternate category of Visa to the social category that would allow bona fide pilgrims to stay longer than 90 days. This is his reply:

There is another type of visa available for everybody, exceeding 90 days within 6 months. This is called "Non lucrative residence visa", and is issued by the Government Department of the province where they plan to live. This visa takes several months to be issued, in case it is approved.
What you ask now is new in the history of Europe /Schengen countries. We do not have that regulation yet.
The personal situations are getting more and more complicated everyday, always the regulations come behind. So, our possibilities to help in these cases are very limited, unfortunately.
Trying to change the regulations will take many months, or, even years, because that has to be done in the meetings of the responsible people in Europe, discuss it, make an agreement, put it by writing, send the information to the embassies, etc. And, probably, will need many people in the same situation to make a new regulation. You can imagine that, that is going to be very long and difficult.
Any way, I will talk to our people in Madrid and propose to make a new regulation.

Perhaps the suggestion for a change in regulation could come from the pilgrim organisations? Anyone wanting to pursue this, please contact me off the forum with ideas?

 

[Deleted member 397]

I contacted the French embassy here about staying longer in Europe and below is the gist of their reply.Does anyone else get the impression that they don't want people staying more than 90 days?!

Long Stay Visa Without Work for Metropolitan France
REQUIREMENTS PER APPLICANT

4 Long Stay Visa application forms * duly completed, dated and signed

4 passport photographs pasted on to the forms

1 visa information form

1 check-list duly completed

* translation of the long stay visa application form (not to be filled out)

Original documents + 2 copies of :

valid passport

police certificate(s) of country or countries of residence of more than one year over the last ten years :

for Australia, a National Criminal History Record Check (less than three months old) : standard disclosure - police name check - issued by the police authorities of your State or Territory.
for other countries, in the event of impossibility of obtaining a police certificate in less than two months, applicants must submit evidence of application thereof accompanied by a statutory declaration relating to conviction status and an undertaking to provide the document when available.
evidence of sufficient financial resources : bank statement(s) and professional advice from accountant, bank manager or financial adviser

proof of ownership of property in France (if applicable), or copy of lease, or signed letter from host together with copy of host ID (passport or driver’s licence) AND certificate of board and lodging (attestation d’accueil). In all cases, a proof of ownership or rental of the property must be presented

statutory declaration (duly legalised by a Justice of the Peace) that you will not take up employment during your stay in France

evidence of comprehensive private health insurance scheme covering the entirety of your stay in France

travel itinerary / return ticket to France

for accompanied minors, provide a birth certificate, and if under 16, a letter certifying enrolment in a French school.

Applications should be lodged in person at the Consulate-General of France in Sydney with all the requirements, in the order indicated above. Alternatively, if applying by mail, please provide a pre-paid, registered and properly filled out self-addressed envelope for the return of your passport.

All Long Stay Visas for more than 6 months have a validity of 3 months. Therefore, with the exception of Working Holiday and Student Visas for under 18’s, the applicant must contact the nearest "Préfecture de Police" to their place of residence within 8 days after their arrival and apply for a "carte de séjour" (residency card) or a "permis de travail" (work permit).

Please consult the list of applicable fees

Important: only credit card will be accepted.

Processing time to obtain the visa : 2 months minimum for a complete application

Book an appointment here

Updated 22/08/2008

 

[jl]

Having sent a copy of my itinerary (which required 96 days for walking plus 2 rest days in SDC at the end - or "spare days") to the French Consul here in Adelaide, by way of explanation of what I was doing, I got the following repsonse:-

The problem that you will encounter with your visa application is in regards to the accommodation booking. You must provide all bookings to the consulate in Sydney. If one night is missing they will not give you the visa. I am sorry but the itinerary is not a proof of accommodation what you need are receipts of booking from hotels or bed and breakfast etc...

Your best option is to shorten your stay and go only for 89 days.

Mind you I did not elaborate on the fact that one doesn't under normal circumstances book accomodation for more than one or two days ahead. I think that the rpely summarises what Kevin found out. I would love to start lobbying to get a longer period of stay. I want to do the right thing and am prepared to pay for the visa's etc but it is very difficult even to find things out! When I rang the French Embassy here in Australia the recorded message stated very plainly that they did not deal with personal visa requests.

Any suggestions on how we can start lobbying would be very welcome.

 

[ivar]

The UK is not in Schengen I believe... Since Ryanair flies from many points in continental Europe to London... So maybe a Ryanair flight to have a cup of tea with the Queen? That would give you another 90 days, right?

Not ideal, but.. an option since these flights can be cheap...

:|
Ivar

 

[sillydoll]

This is the email I sent to the Spanish Embassy in Pretoria:

Before 2007 there were 15 Schengen countries. This increased to 25 after 2007 but the period of travel was not extended. On December 5 travelers will need a visa to visit Switzerland as well. This means that people wanting to travel through Europe for more than 90 days have less and less time in each country to comply with the Schengen Visa restrictions.
Every time a new country joins the Schengen States, time to travel shrinks and this has been bad news for pilgrims wanting to walk from Rome to Santiago, or from Canterbury to Rome, or to Jerusalem.
Is it possible for pilgrims to apply for another category visa which will allow them to walk between Rome and Santiago (± 1800km), Canterbury and Rome ( ± 1900km) or Canterbury to Jerusalem (± 5000 kmm)?
Is there some way the various pilgrim organisations can lobby the EU or European Commission to extend the period for genuine pilgrims?

Perhaps we will need to send a motivation to increase the period of stay to all 25 countries?

PS: From Wiki:
Prior to the 2007 expansion, the existing fifteen Schengen countries were Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. All but Iceland and Norway are EU members while the United Kingdom and Ireland have opted out from the core Schengen provisions, preferring to keep control over cross-border flows as a matter of joint responsibility.
The December 2008 up-to-date list is:
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia,Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

 

[KiwiNomad06]

The UK is not in Schengen I believe... Since Ryanair flies from many points in continental Europe to London... So maybe a Ryanair flight to have a cup of tea with the Queen? That would give you another 90 days, right?

Not ideal, but.. an option since these flights can be cheap...

:|
Ivar

No ivar.... it doesn't give another 90 days.... because the 90 days is the maximum you are allowed in a six month period. Once your 90 are up, you basically have to wait three more months before your next 90 day allocation starts.
Margaret

 

[Deleted member 397]

Ivar
I'd already thought of nipping over to the UK then returning to Europe but since found out that the 90 days applies to any 6 month period so there goes that idea. I do wonder however how stringent spanish customs would be in going through your passport to see when you arrived in Europe then counting the days to make sure it's less than 90. Trouble is my passport expires in may so will have to get a new one so it will only have one or two stamps in it!
I suppose you could plead ignorance and show your credencial with all the dates to show you were on a pilgrimage....?

 

[ivar]

Hmmm.... I understand.

I do wonder however how stringent spanish customs would be in going through your passport to see when you arrived in Europe then counting the days to make sure it's less than 90.

I am trying to remember if there is a passport control when leaving Spain... is there one? They may look in the passport to make sure you are the person that the ticket is issued to, but I can't remember seeing that they check how long you have been in Schengen.

... then again, they may do this when they see a non-European passport. And they may record your entry and exit dates (data from the airlines) in some other system, and then "find out" later.

I have studied and worked in the US and it is equally difficult there... aarrggg $&%·$"$&%(/
... that does of course not help you much.

I enjoyed listening to the "A year in Europe" podcast about a year ago, they traveled one year around Europe, but I think they went to Switzerland to fix this problem. That option seems not to be there now though.


Ivar

 

[jl]

Is it possible for pilgrims to apply for another category visa which will allow them to walk between Rome and Santiago (± 1800km), Canterbury and Rome ( ± 1900km) or Canterbury to Jerusalem (± 5000 kmm)?

Sil, Or even walking from Vezelay to SDC via the Camino del Norte means one has to push it fairly well (by my calculations about 1850kms), and going from further afield from Reims (about +450 kms on top of that I think) would be very difficult to do in the time! Thank you for starting this thread Sil - it would be good if we could start making people aware of these difficulties, and ultimately get something done about it. Perhaps we need to bombard every Embassy with the same letter as it seems that they will all have a say in any changes. Janet