American staying in Europe beyond the 90 days, legally... Is this possible?!

Here is a link to a site that purports to have the answers. I encourage you to do your own research and be very careful to follow all laws.

http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/how-to-legally-stay-in-europe-for-more-than-90-days/

Don't leave France on your 90th day. What if there's a storm or a strike, or the ferries are full? Give yourself a cushion of at least 5 days.

Great!! Great!! Great!! Information... thank you for the quick replies. I look forward to receiving more information on this topic...!!

The rule is 90 days in 180 days. This includes the arrival and departure days. When you leave the Schengen area the clock stops, and resumes when you return. Days do not fall off your total until they are more than 180 days old.
The short answer is yes, your plan would work, provided you count your days carefully and never at any point have more than 90 days in the last 180 in the Schengen Area. If you go one day over you will have a problem.

It doesn't matter which route you enter or leave the Schengen area, the same rule applies. You could use the Dover - Calais ferry, take your camper van on a car-carrying shuttle through the Channel Tunnel (which is quicker) or use a different ferry route. Or you could go to Ireland by ferry, or a non-Schengen country in eastern Europe.
But, do you own this camper van or are you hiring it? If the latter, make sure you inform the car hire company of all the countries you intend to visit.

mike,

The method you outlined is possible but as the others mentioned, your 90 day limit includes your travel days to and from the Schengen area so it's prudent to leave a bit of leeway.

As I recall, the U.K. provides a six month "Common Travel Area" limit so you can stay there longer than in the Schengen area. The CTA includes Ireland so you could spend some time there also.

ATTN: Chris F -- Basel, Switzerland

I was going to use http://www.seabridge-tours.de/ and ship my RAM Promaster (In Europe this vehicle is the same as the Fiat Ducato) to Hamburg, Germany. From there just travel, travel, travel... moving from campsite/RV park to campsite/RV park, exploring as much of Europe as possible.

I actually did this back in 2007 on a motorcycle -- but I did the 2007 trip alone and did not even think about/care about overstaying my Visa. On a motorcycle nobody seems to care/bother you.

My travel dates were the following:
Arrive Europe -- May 9, 2007 [London, Gatwick]
Leave Europe -- November 23, 2007 [Frankfurt, Germany]

I stayed over 6 months and nobody bothered me when I left Germany. But this time I will be traveling with my wife and her best friend. And I do not want to get them in trouble (or anyone in trouble) with the immigration authorities.

Once again.... GREAT Replies/Information!!! Thank you all so very much!!

ATTN: Karen -- Fort Wayne, IN, USA

Good idea with the 5 day leeway...!!! I will definitely , factor potential service problems in my travel plans!

ATTN: Carol, Washington:

Great article... THANKS!!

Technically, all the information you have received is correct.

However, when you arrive at a new port of entry whether it be Schengen or the UK, you are not guaranteed entry. If for some reason they think you are planning to work they may deny you entry. Make sure you have proof of funds to show you do not need to work during your time there. And any special permits you might need for a camper van are in order.

Do not leave this for the last minute. As stated in another post, give yourself a few days leeway just in case you have to utilize Plan B. And have a Plan B.

Michael,

Consider yourself very, very lucky. I doubt if your motorcycle had much to do with it. This was just posted today on the Fodor site -----

An old friend who had stayed in Country X for two weeks longer than the 90 days allowed in the Schengen countries....
He has gone back frequently, and it never occurred to him that he would need a visa to stay more than 90 days. No one has ever said anything on his other trips, but this year he exited the Schengen Zone through Switzerland. The Swiss nailed him for overstaying the limit by 2 weeks. It cost him the equivalent of $400 in fines, and he is banned from the entire Schengen Zone for a year.

Last year on this site a father reported that his daughter over stayed one day and was fined $500, missed her return flight, and had to buy an expensive new ticket to get home.

The data bases and computer linkages are vastly improved since 07. Last May, I was hung up a bit at the LaRochelle exit check because the officer found a entry stamp for '13 but could not quickly find my entry stamp for 2015. Finally found it on the second pass through all of the pages in my passport. Don't make light of the limitation. They are dead serious about enforcing the 90 limit.

I wish them luck with my passport. Since they seem to stamp on top of each other, often with stamps that are missing ink it would be an adventure LOL!

I had to go through the passport page by page and list out all the stamps in order to get my Russia Visa. Let's just say I apparently never left France a few times!