New Zealander travelling in Europe for extended period

[aratic]

Hi all,

I have been living in the UK for 2 years on a work permit and my girlfriend has been here for 1 year on a Working Holiday visa. We have decided to leave the UK and do some travelling around Europe on the way home to New Zealand. We are both New Zealand passport holders.

My girlfirend has already started her travels and is living in Greece at the moment (has been there since early April) and I plan on meeting her out there at the end of June. Our original plans were to stay on in Greece until mid August, then leave to go travel around Croatia, Egypt, Turkey, France and Italy. We are envisaging leaving Europe around early October.

I have only just been made aware of the Schalgen (sp?) visa rules and have the following questions...

1. Do I need a Schalgen visa if I am spending less than 90 days in the Schalgen region?
2. Does my girlfriend need a Schalgen visa?
3. Can my girlfriend stay in the Schalgen region for longer than 90 days? And if so, on what if any conditions?
4. If my girlfriend is limited to 90 days in Schalgen, can she simply travel to say Turkey for a day or two to obtain another 90 days?

Bearing the above questions in mind, we are both New Zealand passport holders and because of this I believe are allowed free (no visa required) entry into the Schalgen region?

Many thanks for your help.

Blair

[86ti]

It's 'Schengen'. Newzealanders are non-visa nationals as far as I am aware of. This means that you can stay 90 days per half year (or 90 days out of 180 depending on interpretation) inside the Schengen zone without applying for a visa beforehand but immigration officials can still check if you have the means and sufficient insurance to do so as far as I know. The one day out of Schengen may be possible due to older treaties predating Schengen I heard but I would be careful with that as member states may have a different interpretation even if that were true. Longer stays would require a residence permit based on national laws.

[aratic]

Thanks for your reply. Is good news if we dont need a visa for less than 90 days and even better if my gf can simple travel outside of schengen for a day to renew the 90 day period. Worth noting neither of us will be in the area for more than 180 days.

Is anyone else able to confirm this? Or be able to direct me to somewhere/someone who could?

Thanks again

[Fairtrade]

As far as I know it's 90 days visa free travel within the Schengen Zone within a 6 months (180 day) period.

So meaning you can't just leave the Schengen zone for one day and come back the next day if you have already stayed more than 3 months. You will have to wait until 6 monts expires before given another 3 months visa free entry.

I think if you want to stay longer than 3 months in any 6 months period you will unfortunately have to get a schengen visa....

That's how I understand the law but I could be wrong.

[Wanderer]

I would assume the 90 days visa free travel would be a kind of visa-waiver Schengen, so formally applying for one after the 90 days and re-entering wouldn't be a breach of the conditions of the visa.

[86ti]

As I said there appear to be binding treaties still in effect predating the Schengen agreement. I heard that in connection with the US so it may not apply to NZ. Maybe renegotiating with the Americans is just too...

There is also a special case where this Schengen rule does not apply: non-EEA family members holding a residence card (RC). The RC does not substitute for a Schengen visa but for an imaginary EEA visa. If you read the relevant directive you will see only a 90 days rule mentioned. Makes sense because staying more than 180 days means that they would be resident in that member state and would have to start the necessary procedures to be legal there anyway. This 90/180 rule is an invention of the Schengen Agreement. But I am getting off topic here...

You may get more information from the CCI and the Schengen Borders Code. (Copy and paste the links below. I am too lazy to figure out how to properly quote the special characters in those URLs).

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/Lex ... 01):EN:NOT
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/s ... nu_doc=562

[86ti]

I think if you want to stay longer than 3 months in any 6 months period you will unfortunately have to get a schengen visa....

That doesn't make sense because a Schengen visa is only valid for a maximum of up to 90 days or 3 months or whatever the exact definition. A longer stay would require a national D type visa. But they are obviously only valid in one country (unless you also obtain a residence permit from that country) and only given for special purposes. I doubt average travellers would get one.