Student Visa Overstay Question

Does he already have his return ticket from Italy to your home city? He may need to travel home after only traveling with you for 1 week and you continue on. You may all want to go to a non Schengen country for the last 8+ days of travel and fly home from the non Schengen country but that might involve more flight changes. The short answers to your 2 questions are no and no.

I agree with Mona. The answers are no and no.

If you think you'll just overstay, the penalty can be a large sum as well as banning him from Schengen for up to ten years.

People (Americans) think it's no big deal, but even in the US, stay past your visa expiration = illegal immigrant. Lots of people have problems with that.

If he left Italy and the Schengen region for a couple of days before we get there, could he return to Italy as a regular traveler--not needing a visa?

This is a question you should put to the nearest Italian Consulate ( Embassy) office

Here's a link to basic Schengen travel info: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/travelers-with-special-considerations/schengen.html

What I'm curious about is the "Student Visa Type C (90 day student visa)" you mention. Is it separate from the normal US 90 day Schengen travel allowance or concurrent with it? This is a link to some basic info on student visas which doesn't answer that question: https://www.natvisa.com/italy-blog/student-visa-type-d-and-c

If you don't already know the answer and really want to spend the full 2 weeks in Italy, I'd contact the Italian embassy about that. If you already know the answer, or when you learn it, please share it with us. I'd love to know. 🤔

Without hiring a lawyer, I would at least exit and re-enter. Seems counter intuitive that the student visa would negate the standard terms of Schengen. But I wouild find a lawyer if you have time and not trust me or anyone else here. The penalities are somewhat stringient and its my understanding that they dont cut much slack. You are in italy, so why not meet in Montenegro? From rome its under $100 non stop flight and takes about 90 minutes. Beautiful country too and you both get to see somethng new.

Oh, and if the Italians tell you not to worry, get it in writing. Because the guy that processes your passport when you leave Schengen may have a different opinion; especially if you are leaving Schengen from another country (Like changing planes someplace on the way home).

I like the idea of just changing your plans a bit so that you are out of Italy at the end of his time, but still have a week together traveling elsewhere.

Ireland is nice, as is the UK.

There is no student visa as far as I am aware (at least there isn't for my daughter). Study abroad students simply use the Schengen visa. My daughter is there now and we are blitzing France and moving on to UK to avoid overstaying the visa. We looked into extending it and it was expensive and a LOT of work, so we just adjusted the trip to accommodate. And, you can't just leave and return. It is 90 days in 6 months for the standard visa (which is really not a visa, it is just a courtesy extended to certain countries for their citizens to travel Europe). I would rearrange your trip. Ireland and Scotland are lovely this time of year. :)

To complicate the situation further without providing any concrete help, the Visia your daughter has, if it is like the one my daughter had in Germany was issued by the country, and not by "schengen" and if I understand it correctly (remember, dont listen to anyone here, not even me LOL), entitled her to stay in GERMANY during school (i think it was 180 days but dont really remember). Somehow different than being able to stay in Schengen for a prolonged period of time.

I had a similar situation a few months back that I didn't think through very well. I had been in Schengen for about 60 days in 180 when I received a temporary Hungarian permit (90 days). So, on the day it was issued did Schengen stop for me? To resume when the 90 permit expired? No freeking idea. I assumed yes, but never put myself in a posistion to have to test the assumption. All clear as mud. Get professional help or get out of Schengen.

I am surprised the school cant help you. They deal with this daily.

As far as I know the answers to your questions are both no. After the short-term visa expires you have to leave the Schengen area and have to wait for another 90 days to re-enter.

Thanks for all the responses! I was wrong about the Visa type--it's D and valid for 120 days. I read on some website that it might be possible to get a tourist visa after the study visa, but it's very unclear to me how or whether that would work.

Long-stay or “National” Visa” (NV), valid for stays of over 90 days (type D), with one or multiple entries, in the territory of the Schengen State whose Representation issued the visa. Holders of D visas can circulate freely in Schengen States other than the one that issued the visa, for a period not exceeding 90 days every six-month period only if the visa is still valid.

Still clear as mud, but seems to imply that you gotta leave Schengen, and I am guessing 90 days to restart the Schengen clock. Unless you get somethig different from a reliable expert source, I would get out of Schengen.

https://www.axa-schengen.com/en/schengen-visa/visa-validity#:~:text=When%20traveling%20within%20the%20Schengen,Visa%2C%20unless%20you%20extend%20it.

Worst case is not terrible. Do the one week with your daughter to see where Italy and the places she knows and wants to share. But watch the calendar close as her arrival and departure day count. Then if you have a medium to large budget, head for the UK. Tighter budget go to the non-Schengen Balkan countries .... or both.

Most of these replies are wrong.

Normally In Schengen a student enters on the visa waiver program, then applies for residency with school documents and gets a temporary residency card (and is no longer part of the 90 day thing). Then after the residency card expires the student automatically gets 90 additional days. Upon exit the student proves staying legally by summing the days of the residency permit + 90 > length of stay.

But for some reason Italy puts expiration dates for students in ink in the passport. So does this date hold? A wrinkle would be if the student exits Schengen from a country other than Italy— then who knows if the more general Schengen procedures apply, or the date Italy inked in?

As Mister E pointed out, you need an official answer from a lawyer or an Italian Consulate. I can tell you from a somewhat similar situation what my experience was.

We had Diplomatic visas as we were attached to the embassy. We decided to retire i. Italy and had to return to the US to apply for an Elective Residency Visa, but we did not want to leave the day our Diplomatic visas expired. Our Italian immigration attorney agreed we would have up to 90 days as “tourists” before we had to leave to go back and apply for the ER visa. There were no issues when we left Italy 2-and-a-half months after the Diplomatic visa expired and we were granted ER visas.

Hope it all works out for you but a short consultation with a lawyer conversant in Italian immigration could set your mind at ease.

So Jackie, its official. None of us know to a degree of certainty (putting it mildly) where we wouldnt worry about you son ending up in a Turkish prison eating falafels for the next 15 years; but most agree you need to find an expert. Failing that I would get out before it expires.

This can get a little complicated. I surprised the school is not providing more help. A few years ago our son spent a semester at the Univ of Madrid on a study abroad program sponsored by his university. Several months prior to departure he had to obtain a student study visa (or something close to that). On arrival he presented himself to a police substation near the university for the visa to be recorded. In the middle of his stay -- roughly three months -- he went to the police substation and essentially re-registered to let them know he was still there. Everything was very routine and a university office directed the students as to how things were handled. When the semester was over, he and a several other friends all traveled in Europe for about four weeks or so before returning.

I know this is Spain and not Italy but relate the experience just to show what some procedures might be like in another country. Your son is not the first to be on a student visa so check with either his home university or the current school for proper advisor. None of us here know the exact local and CURRENT procedures so check careful. He should be able to get an asnwer at his school. If not, something is off.

Thanks for your replies! As it stands, his program advisor in Italy is contacting experts to help him. I'll let you know what she tells us.

There is a Facebook page called "Flown Abroad" for the parents of university students studying abroad. This type of question comes up frequently for Italy. You may want to look there.

I am sorry and I don't mean to be argumentative but the school should have an answer without consulting experts given that this would be repeated question from many students. Is this a regular, university sponsored study-abroad program or something special?

Hi,
We got good news from the program director. She says that student visas (120 days - type D) automatically allow students to spend 90 days as tourists in the Schengen region after their student visa ends. Thanks for your help!

That’s the best news, thanks for sharing.

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