Fines for overstaying in Schengen and for how many days of limit exceeded

There are significant travel bans, in addition to fines. So you probably don't even want to think about knowingly violating Schengen.

For the details, what's been reported to us here is anecdotal and limited information. There are fines and entry bans.
Fines reported here have ranged from several hundred up to a thousand euros per person.
Entry bans have been reported as being a minimum of a year and we've seen on this Forum anecdotal information that the bans can be from a year to as long as ten years.

I emphasize, we don't have very good information on this, only what people who have been fined and/or banned share with us. Presumably most people who have been caught and disciplined are not inclined to report it to a Travel Forum.

But the fines and bans we've seen are not trivial, and seem to indicate there are teeth in the Schengen rules.

Sally, here's some useful info, it sure doesn't look like it's taken lightly!

http://www.euro-dollar-currency.com/overstaying_schengen_visa.htm

Sally:

I would strongly urge you to not even consider trying to overstay your visa. As a traveler you are a guest in another country. It is your responsibility to abide by the laws of the countries you are visiting. Please don't be the ugly American who acts as if the rules don't apply to you. It just ruins it for the rest of us.

Moreover, it can not only result in fines, but also bans for future visas. There are slight differences between the various countries in what the penalty would be. In one country I have read about, for example, an overstay of 1-30 days gets you a 3 year ban and an overstay of over 30 days results in a 5 year ban.

To give you another example, the following is from the website of the Dutch Immigration Service:

Illegal stay (overstay)
If you stay in the Netherlands for a period longer than is permitted, an entry ban can be imposed on you.

If you have exceeded the length of your visa or your visa-free stay (overstay) an entry ban may be imposed on you. If you are not subject to a visa requirement you can stay in the Schengen area during your visa-free stay. You exceed your visa-free stay when you are staying in the Schengen area for more than 90 days within a period of 180 days.

Please note! If there are circumstances beyond your control preventing you from leaving the Netherlands in time and you are staying in the Netherlands on a visa or on a visa-free stay, you have to contact the IND before the end of your visa or visa-free period.

The IND can be contacted by telephone on weekdays between 09.00 and 17:00. Please call 088-0430430 (local call charges plus any additional costs charged by your operator when calling with your mobile phone).

More information can also be found in the brochure Visa for a temporary stay.

Duration
The length of the entry ban depends on why the entry ban was imposed on you.

1 year:
In case of an overstay of more than 3 days and up to 3 months
2 years:
This is the standard length (for example in case of an overstay of more than 3 months)
3 years:
In case of a prison sentence of less than 6 months
5 years:
In case of a prison sentence of 6 months and more
When you have made use of false or falsified documents, or documents that do not apply to you
When you have previously been notified to leave the Netherlands and you have not complied with this (return decision)
When entering or staying in the Netherlands during the length of an entry ban.

A few years ago a man posted on this subject. His daughter had overstayed in the Schengen zone (I can't remember by how many days, but it doesn't really matter) and was stopped at the airport for questioning the day of her flight home to the U.S. As a result: 1) she was fined 500 euro on the spot 2) she was barred from entry to Schengen Europe for 5 years. 3) she missed her flight and had to pay for a new ( very pricey) flight. If you use the search feature you can probably find the post.

And since all your dates of entry are on the computer, it's easy for them to catch you.

Don't do it. The son (22) of a lady I work with was caught overstaying his time in Amsterdam. They threw him in jail and his father had to appear in person to bail him out. He was banned from entering the EU for 10 years. Don't know if there was a fine.

I was sitting there thinking what a completely ridiculous regulation the Schengen Rule is. For those of us that are not coming into The Zone looking for a job, with personal assets to take care of ourselves and with adequate health insurance--we ought to be able to spend longer than 90 days there.

I know of a valley north of Lienz, Austria that I'd love to build a house in--for part time living.

Well the 90 day rule applies to us when we visit the U.S. as well...

As for part time living, yes that is possibly under other permits but no under the Schengen Agreement.

It should also be remembered that although the UK and Ireland are not part of the Schengen Agreement, the do have acces to the information system and they probably will not be trilled to welcome someone who is on the black list for failing to comply with schengen rules.

Sally says she is making every effort to be a law abiding citizen but I think from her many questions on the subject of Schengen that she wants to be a law- skirting citizen. I am beginning to find her attempts to find advantageous loop holes offensive.

I am making every effort...

Yes, I gave Sally a pass on that, Norma, figuring she just loves being in Europe so much she can no longer think clearly :-). It's understandable human nature, imo, to try every angle.

Sally, the law is clear. No working, pet-sitting, etc., and leave on the 90th day. Abide by it or face the consequences. Period.

Time to hire a lawyer.

I'm not clear on whether these questions are an attempt to skirt the law, or simply an attempt to better understand the specific details of the Schengen rules.

If I come to your house for dinner and I just happen to like the silverware, what would be the penalty if I .......

I can't imagine complicating a trip with going into and out of Schengen so much that I had to worry about this issue. If I was so fortunate as to be able to spend 180+ days in Europe, I think I'd plan the trip around the rules, not try to make the rules fit my trip. Starting with the rules would be much less of a hassle for me. But then, I was the kid who not only colored inside the lines, but also outlined the colors so they stayed put where they were supposed to be!

the lines were demonstrated over a year ago with the previous question about how to stay longer.

Hmmmm. It seems that someone making "every effort" to be a law-abiding citizen, might have figured this out in the past two years since they first became aware of and started posting questions about how to get around the 90-day rule.

I try not to jump on people too much. But of the 32 topics that Sally has started, 6 of them have been about Schengen and visa issues. So, yeah, I think she's pushing her luck, and doing it on purpose.

I would think that if you were "making every effort" to abide by the law, you would make sure that you were nowhere near the limits of the rule.

Sally,
You appear persistant with attempting to learn how to circumvent the LAW so will you please simply go ahead and break the LAW and let us know the results?

I'm pretty sure the responses to Sally's post are not what she was hoping for, and she has probably given up on getting law-breaking ideas from this gang.

David.. you ARE able to stay longer then 90 days.. but you must APPLY for a special Visa to prove you have all the money/medical insurance etc you claim to have to be able to stay longer and not be a burden on their societies.

As noted.. a person from Switzerland cannot just come to the United States and stay longer then 90 days without going through same hoops.

If we ( all us western countries) had no regulations there would be some pretty dire consequences when you think of people who would simply be immigrating here and there as they wished.. with no proof of support.. and having the place they land in having to take care of them.

I don't think that Sally got the answers she wanted here and is probably looking elsewhere. I'm afraid she has probably been scared off.

Well, if she has been "scared off" the idea of trying to game the Schengen regulations, our work here is done.

The Schengen rules we're discussing are for visa-free travel for short periods of time. If 90 days won't be enough, it's not hard to get a tourist visa to lengthen your stay (I believe they're good for six months at a time). If I thought I might be close, I'd send for a visa.

Getting a work permit is a completely different story. Europeans have more than enough unemployed, they don't want any jobs displaced by foreigners (whether the foreigner is from the U.S. or anywhere else). Sometimes people get work visas if they have specific skills. If you have a specific job in mind, your employer can help you arrange the correct paperwork. Just thinking you will find work when you get there isn't a good idea. While I'm sure many people have done it, many people have also been jailed and/or given travel bans because of it.