Extended stay in Italy

I believe that we will actually be in Europe more than 12 weeks if we travel before and after her semester. I guess I need to contact officials who know what I need to do. I am looking for practical information regarding affordable housing for me and other suggestions for living and traveling abroad for a period of about 4 months or so. I am hoping someone has some good ideas for me!

Check VRBO.com (Vaxation rental by Owner) for long-term accoms. There are many websites w info about apts for extended stays. Type in a search like aparetments in Italy (beter to use nearest large city, so "apts in Venice" would be better. Buona Fortuna!!

Melanie I would look on Craigslist for temp rentals. Also, wwww.lifeinitaly.com I found one in Venice at a great price last summer. Good luck!

Thanks so much for your input. I will look at all of the suggestions!

If you are going to stay 12 weeks AND you are looking into renting a place you will legally need a Permesso di Soggiorno. Whether or not you get one is up to you, but by law any non Italian staying in Italy needs one.

As a US citizen, you will need a visa to stay longer than 3 months. (there is an active form at the expattalk forum where you can get detailed info.) As for places to stay, I would contact the school - they may have a list of apartments (when I studied in Padova, years ago, I lived in the Italian dorms, but they also had lists of apartment housing) If no luck there, try the larger cities of Padova, Treviso and maybe even Vicenza for housing. (or, Bassano del Grappa is lovely - small though)

Last summer I stayed in Europe 14 weeks and was unaware of this law. Thankfully nothing happened, but I would look into a VISA to be on the safe side

All the recommendations above are good for peace of mind and if you have time do follow the right procedure it's all fine.

But, just in case you can't... get out of Europe for a few days at the end of the first 3 months and then come back. You can go to London for example!

"get out of Europe for a few days at the end of the first 3 months and then come back. You can go to London for example!"

A Schengen visa is for a period of 90 days in a six month period, so leaving after 90 days for a few days and returning would not work.

Thanks so much to everyone who has offered advice! I had another thought and want to see what people think of it. Since you can only be in the Schengen countries for 90 days, how about if I do my traveling in Ireland or England first and then go to Italy when I have 90 days or less of travel time left?? Does that make sense? It seems like that would solve my problem with needing a Visa - it just leaves the problem of where to store excess luggage while traveling, before entering Italy. Any thoughts on this plan??

My understanding is that you have 90 days in the Schengen countries in the six months following your first entry into the zone.

So if you went to the UK first, that time would not count against the 90 days since they are not in the zone. Then if you went to Italy you would have 90 days from that entry date.

Just make sure to time your stay in the UK properly and don't forget and pop to France or some where in the zone in the middle.

By spending time in England or Ireland, you can extend your stay as you are proposing, but you need not think of the time as continuous. As an example, say that your plan is 15 weeks (105 days); 90 of those may be spent in the Schengen Zone, the other 15 need to be spent outside the Schengen zone. So you may fly to Italy, spend 30 days there, take a break, fly to london, spend 7 days, then to Ireland, maybe 5 days, back to Italy, spend maybe another 30 days, then pop over to Croatia for 5 days, back to Italy, where you will still have 30 days of your 90, and only 28 days until you go home. I would advise for any trips taken to non-Schengen countries, that you retain some type of documentation (an airline, train, or ferry ticket would be great) to show entry and exit and days away, since passports are not always stamped. Meant to also mention that your Daughter, if she cannot travel as easily due to school, may want to talk to the program about a student visa for an extended stay.

This is probably not the right time to ask this question BUT are you sure your daughter wants you hanging out there for six months. Mom, time to cut the strings.

Just want to update! I think I have found a neat place to rent for my time in Italy, but still don't know if I can skirt the visa issue with traveling in the UK before arriving in Italy. Anybody have thoughts on this???

Thanks for the advice!! In regards to your thoughts Paul, I haven't really found anything that makes it clear if you are able to come and go and then subtract the time gone away from Italy from the 90 days. If it is 90 days cumulative, we should be OK since we plan to travel to several countries outside of Italy during the time we are in Europe. My concern is if the clock is ticking for the 90 day time whether you are still in Italy or not. Hope that makes sense.

Also thanks Frank for your piece of advice!! Actually, my daughter and I are pretty good friends and she very much wants me to go. In fact she probably will not go at all if I don't go with her. I kind of consider this my one and only chance to live in Europe and am really excited about it. Fortunately my husband fully supports our plans. In fact, I am hoping my other 2 grown children as well as friends will come over to visit. Seems like a great way to party European style!! (How about if we cut the apron strings after we get back so I can have my turn to "study abroad")??

Melanie;

The limits are stated as 90 days in any 180 days, so whether the days are consecutive or broken into segments, or even on separate trips (a business person making monthly trips), doesn't matter, as long as the total is no more than 90 days in 180. Also, just to be clear, the 90 days applies to all countries in the Schengen zone (newly expanded to include Switzerland and some more Eastern European countries), so going to France is counted as part of your 90 days as is most all of Europe. The only non-Schengen countries left in the region are Ireland, The UK, Croatia, Bos.-Her., Montenegro, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Yugoslavia, Turkey, then Russia, Ukraine, and a few other former Soviet states.

Melanie, the key part of your most recent post, that I'm enclosing in quotes, is incorrect: "I haven't really found anything that makes it clear if you are able to come and go and then subtract the time gone away from Italy from the 90 days. If it is 90 days cumulative, we should be OK since we plan to travel to several countries outside of Italy during the time we are in Europe."It's not a per country limit. You're still over the legal limit if your "travel to several countries outside of Italy" results in your stay being more than 90 days in any of the Schengen zone countries you're in (Schengen zone = most of Europe except UK, Ireland, and misc countries you're probably not going to that Paul lists).Paul, in his post immediately above this one, has given you the correct guidance.Example: If you spend 2 days in France or any of the other Schengen zone countries and 90 days in Italy, then you've stayed in the Schengen zone 92 days and are over the 90-day limit. Paul lists the countries that are not in the Schengen zone; essentially all the countries around Italy are in the Schengen zone.

Thanks for clearing that up for me! That brings me back to a previous question that I had...If we go to Ireland and the UK first, any ideas where we can store our stuff til we are ready to go into Italy and start our 90 day period?? If 90 days just won't be enough to go to all the countries we want to visit any idea how difficult getting a visa might be? Other posts I have read make it sound nearly impossible. I emailed the consulate in Houston with my questions and was referred to their website which is where I looked originally. I am unclear what order to proceed...If I secure a place to live and then can't get a visa then I am really up a creek. However I hate to wait too long to find accommodations because I won't need a visa if I have no place to live...

My impression is that it is vastly easier to get a student Visa (for your daughter) since there is both some US based program to help get a visa and an Italian School to "vouch" for the need for your Daughter to get a Visa....though if they purposly keep their term within the 90 day limit to avoid visa hassles...then they may not be much help. However, some have reported that while it is a process, getting a 6 month extended visa is not impossible, nor even difficult. You will very likely be asked about potential living arrangements, being there for your daughter attending school may help, some show of financial support (savings, bank info, retiremnt income) will need to be shown, and very possibly some evidence of Health care coverage. Basically, their concern is that you are not coming to work, and that you will not be a burden to the state (medical care). As for someplace to stick your luggage in the UK, nothing specific, but there are "left luggage" services in London (search google) or else, if you happen to be staying at a hotal your first and last nights in London, they might be willing to hold your bags while you are seeing the rest of England. I frequently do this with Hotels for part of a day or a couple days, usually at no charge or just a small fee.

So, to get this all straight, I can travel through Italy on just a passport as long as I enter and exit the country under 90 days?????Right?
We want to spend a couple of months over there,

Cannot believe the number of postings on this subject. This is really, really simple. I don't see why it is so difficult to understand. Without a visa, you can spend a total of 90 days out of 180 days in the Schengen zone. Those countries are listed in an earlier post but roughly includes most of central Europe. And you can break up those 90 days any way you like.