extended stay

Pam,

Do you know where about in Europe? I'm pretty sure the Italians and the French have their own cards, depending on how long you are going to stay. Are you going as an extended stay as a tourist or to work on a project, for school, etc.? I have some information, but I'm not certain that it is pertinent to your situation...

Roxanne

Pam,

US State Dept says:

ITALY-Passport required. Visa not required for tourist or business stays up to 90 days(90-day period begins when entering Schengen countries). Those staying more than 8 days are required to register with local police & obtain a permit to stay (permesso di soggiorno). Tourists may request an application for the permit at one of 14,000 post offices (Poste Italiane). The kit must then be returned to one of 5,332 designated Post Office acceptance locations. Failure to obtain the permit within eight days is punishable by fine. Permit requires 1 completed form, photocopy of passport, proof of funds, photos, copy of insurance policy, onward/return ticket and a fee. For stays longer than 90 days, employment or study, a visa is required & must be obtained in advance.

State: http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/brochures/brochures_1229.html#i

Visa: http://www.conssanfrancisco.esteri.it/NR/rdonlyres/59E25E27-B52C-407B-A88F-0F1DA0046F19/0/Applicationvisto.pdf

Hi Pam,
I just saw the same posting on the State Deptartment's website today. I'm going to Italy later this summer and will be there more than 8 business days. I was confused by the mixed information I was getting, so I called the Italian Embassy in DC. The woman I spoke to in the Consular Affairs Office told me that, as of June 2, 2007, Italy has dispensed with the permesso di soggiorno requirement.

Happy travels!

Greetings
All the Western European nations except the UK and Ireland are part of the Schengen Union. Americans can stay in the Schengen Union for 90 days without a visa - any longer than that and you must either have a visa or leave the Schengen Union and not return for something like 90 days.

You should inquire about a visa at the consulate of the first country you will enter in the Schengen Union.

Thank you for all this info. It's very helpful.

Pam

In addition to what has been said already citizens of the US, Australia, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea and Israel do not need to apply for a visa for a stay of more than 90 days prior to their arrival in Schengen. You can get a visa that extents your 90 days even from inside the Schengen zone. This does not apply to work visas, only to "stay" visas. To give you an idea of visa fees if you would like to extent for one Schengen country only it's around €30, for the entire zone around €60 depending on where you get it done.

We stayed in Europe for 5 1/2 months in 2006. We traveled and stayed in France,Spain,Italy,Germany,Austria,Poland,Hungary,CzRep and Slovakia. We encountered no visa problems anywhere and we beleive that most of these visa laws are rarely enforced but make for good political theater.