Help! Need advice on staying total 6months in Spain & Italy ASAP!!,

FYI to responders, see some replies on the Spain version of the question.

I am not a lawyer, but my understanding is that you must apply for a long-term visa (more than 90 days) from your country of citizenship or permanent residency. It sounds like you are already in Spain, is that correct? Contact the Italian embassy in Spain for advice, since Italy is where you plan to overstay the 90-day limit.

Getting permission to stay longer than 90 days is a long and complicated process. Good luck.

Thank you for replying. Yes this question was posted In The Spain section as well to see if there is different Information - Spain vs. Italy. Yes we are already in Spain so thank you I will go the the Italian embassy and see what they will say. Or I was wondering if I should get an Italian immigration lawyer to advise us. I was hoping to be able to do any paperwork legally while in the country here so my children can continue their schooling here as scheduled here in Spain. I appreciate all and any advice on this. Thank you!

go to the American Embassy, explain the situation and let them advise you. You needed a Visa

Please keep us posted!

As soon as you get to Spain (it looks like you're already there??) you need to go immediately to the Italian embassy. You may be able to get your paperwork done and accepted as long as you have ALL YOUR DOCUMENTATION in order and with you. Here is the link to the US Consulate page about applying for a long stay visa for Italy. You'll have to pick up a kit from an Italian post office since having one mailed to you in Spain will probably take too long and not leave enough time to process your paperwork. I don't know where you are in Spain but if you're in northeastern Spain the drive to the northwest edge of Italy is not that far...about an 8-9 hour drive. It might be worth it since you're already financially committed to staying in Italy. Don't panic! You may be able to salvage the second half of your time in Europe.
If they won't let you apply from Spain, then you may have to pop back to the US and submit your application from there...not cheap but probably cheaper than eating the cost of what you have already paid for everything in Italy.
A little over a year ago there was a poster on this forum - txgirl620 - who moved to Italy for a year. She went through the process
(plus taking her dog along!) and has been living in Italy ever since. I follow her on Facebook and she has decided to stay there after spending the year and is now going through the process of becoming a permanent resident. I would imagine that she has some very good insight into what exactly you will need to do. Maybe send her a PM and see if she'll respond?
I wish you all the best and hope that it all works out for you!

Anita, my reading of the link you posted is that the material at the post office is for after you have a visa and are in-country. I think the visa application form comes from an Italian consulate outside Italy or perhaps could be found online. But again, there's personal documentation to be submitted, which will probably be trickier than filling out the form.

In two words: you can't. We went through every angle to try to avoid returning to the U.S. to apply for a visa. We were here for 3 years working at the U.S. Embassy, decided to retire here, and called on contacts with the U.S. Consulate and their Italian counterparts. I consulted an immigration attorney as well. No choice: We had to return to the U.S. and submit our applications, one for each family member. We had to make the appointments months in advance as there are very few appointments for this, although you may have some better luck if there is an Honorary Consulate in your U.S. city of residence. They may have more flexibility.

So if you can get appointments and pull together your extensive paperwork (and manage not to be rejected) you may pull this off. The visas are generally issued in a few days. Ours only took three to be issued. But you have to go back to the U.S. This is, BTW, for a visa called an Elective Residence Visa. You must prove you have the resources to live here on your own without working. If you are working remotely, earning money while in Italy no matter the source, that could be viewed as working here. For this you want to read the guidelines for the visas very closely and may want to talk to an immigration attorney. There may be exceptions for domestic workers.

Once in country -- and I am speaking of Italy as that is the place you will overrun your 90 days -- you have 8 days to apply for the permesso di soggiorno which allows you to stay a year and is renewable.

One thought I had was to see if the school and apartment in Italy will refund your pre-paids given that you have this challenge. Maybe you can cut your losses and try again in the future.

I do hope you will come back and tell us how this all turns out!

As the others have mentioned, in all likelihood you will have to return to the U.S. to apply for a long stay Visa. There are no other options (AFAIK). I assume you're traveling under a U.S. Passport?

Do NOT overstay your 90-day Schengen limit (and that includes both arrival and departure days), as penalties can be severe. It's been awhile since I checked, but as I recall the penalties include hefty fines as well as deportation from the E.U. for as long as 10 years (you'll have to check with an immigration consultant on that point). Your Passports will have been stamped with your entry date, so they know exactly how long you've been there.

I remember when txgirl620 was applying for her visa she had to prove that she had at least $50,000 in savings as a single person. This is another hurdle you will have to cross. Now that she has decided to stay she is selling off her home and most of her belongings in Texas to fund her permanent stay.

Some folks on these forums have taken a short trip to England, via Chunnel or fly,
enter England and then go back to Italy.
This takes them out of Schengen countries.
Does anyone know if this is still acceptable?????
Might be worth a short trip to England..... on a cheap airline or????

Nooooooooo. This will do nothing. It doesn't matter if you pop out somewhere and come back. This does NOT "reset" your clock. You still get a total of 90 days.

David is right, you can't just pop over to the UK to reset your clock - that was never acceptable. I'm not sure where you got that info. You might be confusing that with people who leave the Schengen area briefly as a means of extending their total stay in Europe by spending some days out of the Zone. But once you have used your 90 days you have to leave the Zone for 90 days before you can come back. No "border runs" for Schengen.

I suggested staying in England as the second base city, for the second part of the trip, and going back to Italy for Christmas (which the OP said she wanted to do).

Being in England doesn't "reset" the clock, but the time spent there in November and early December would move the 180-day calendar ahead to allow for a short legal visit to Italy.

Ivy, Leaving the Schengen area does not reset the clock, it just stops the clock, and when you return it continues where you left off.
Also, some sites say after 180 days you get a new allowance of 90 days, that is also untrue.
It works exactly as it says "90 days in any 180". It is recalculated very day. If, at any time, you have been in the Schengen area for 90 days in the last 180, you must leave that day.

For example, in 40 days, out 90, in 50, that is 90 days in 180, but on day 231 (180+41) you do not have 90 days, you only have 40 because the second 50 is still within the last 180 days.

Something else, I hope you or your husband are not working while you are in Spain. Even remote working. That is not allowed.. You are in Spain as a tourist, you are not allowed to work. If you work you need a residence and work permit from day 1.

I am sorry you have had this big problem. You have my sympathy.

Posters might want to also see her thread in the Spain forum. There is a lot more about her overall plans and changes she is considering - which makes some of the comments and suggests here moot.

I do have 2 posts simultaneously one here and the other in Spain forum so I could get as much info as I can from both countries. I apologize if I was not supposed to do that but I'm desperate for information on this matter. I would not say that the info here is moot. As I am checking both forums daily and appreciate all and any help. Thank you again!

There is nothing in the Italian legislation that prevents a foreign visitor from performing work remotely for his/her foreign employer during his/her 90 day presence in Italy.

If that were the case, any non-EU business visitor should be arrested if s/he sends work emails or has business teleconferences while in Italy. So the allegation that a tourist cannot perform work remotely while visiting Italy is not true. There is no special distinction between business visa and tourist visa for stays under 90 days. Italy eliminated the short stay 'permesso di soggiorno' (permit of stay) since June 2, 2007 with the Law no. 68 of 28 May 2007.

The prohibition to work relates to tourists entering work contracts with an employer based in Italy not for sending work emails or business meetings for their American employer.

I also don't believe Chris' description of a remote-working prohibition. Thanks to Roberto for his understanding of the law. From a common-sense perspective, Americans travel to Europe for business every day, working for and paid by their American employer. That includes at least half of Rick Steves Tour guides and guidebook researchers.

There's no point in going to the US Embassy. They don't have anything to do with the Spanish or Italian government's (or the EU's) laws on how long you can stay, nor on granting visas.

Italy
The colorful buildings and skyline of Florence, Italy
Like the other countries, Italy will let you in if you can afford it and promise not to work. You’ll need the following documents to apply:

A long-term visa application filled in and signed at the consulate. You must appear in person.
One passport-style photo
Your passport, which has to be valid three months over the planned stay in Italy. The passport will be kept during the application process ( ask them if they cannot just copy your passport)
Documented and detailed guarantee of steady income, as well as proof of financial means, such as letters from the bank indicating the status of your account, including the amount of money in the account.
Proof of lodging in Italy
A letter specifying the reason for your stay in Italy, length of stay, and where you plan to reside
A notarized background check
This visa is issued solely to those who are planning to move to Italy and not work.

http://ec.europa.eu/immigration/tab1.do?subSec=29&language=7%24en