The most important concern while you are traveling to a Schengen area is the validity of your Schengen visa or if you can extend your stay in Europe or not. You need to keep an eye on your visa update and expiry or else you will be in an unwanted worst situation wherein you will face fines, and worst you might be banned from the country. Frequent questions that might arise are as below:

• What happens when your visa expires after a few days you enter a Schengen area?
• What consequences you have to face if you overstayed in a Schengen area?
• What should you do if your Schengen visa expired but you’re still in that area?
• What to do on your Schengen visa expiration?

This article will highlight all answers on above mentioned possibilities. Before describing them you need to know about your Schengen visa validity.

Validity of your Schengen Visa

Below are the validity of the Schengen visa types that you need to know.

• Single-entry: You have a limited time period to stay in a Schengen area, and once you leave, you cannot enter the area again.
• Double-entry: You will be allowed to enter a Schengen area twice that means, you can enter the Schengen area, leave and enter again for a certain period. Once you are done with your double trip, your visa expires and you’re not allowed to enter the area again.
• Multiple-entry: This allows you to enter a Schengen area multiple times. You should not surpass the limit of three months within your six months period.

Now let’s answer all the questions that might arise in the situation of your visa expiry.

What happens when your visa expires after a few days you enter a Schengen area?

Generally travelers make this mistake of not checking their Schengen visa details. The Schengen visa validity rules will not allow you to extend your stay once your visa expires. So, you need to leave the Schengen area on the day of expiry of your Schengen visa. For an example, your Schengen visa validity is until August 30, 2019, and your duration of stay is 20 days. Suppose you enter the area on August 17, 2019, then you need to leave on August 30, irrespective of the fact that your stay duration is for 20 days. You are not allowed to stay after your visa expiry. You must leave to avoid any interrogation.

What consequences you have to face if you overstayed in a Schengen area?

Here are the possible consequences if you overstayed in a Schengen area:

• You might be charged a monetary fine which again depends on the country you are overstaying and the number of days you overstayed.

• Second possible consequence will might be placed by the immigration hotlist. The immigration officer might ask you several questions about your overstay in the country, and will put you on the immigration hotlist. You might have difficulty of renewing your Schengen visa once your name enters the hotlist.

• Third possible consequence is to be banned from re-entering the Schengen area if you overstayed in a Schengen area for a month or more. The decision is again made by the immigration officer. The duration of banning you from re-entering into the Schengen area might be up to a maximum of three years.

• The worst possible consequence is to be deported back to your country. If you have worked illegally or have made illegal transactions within a Schengen area, you might be deported back to your country with a ban of entry stamp on your passport.

What should you do if your Schengen visa expired but you’re still in that area?

Just stay calm and visit your country’s consulate office in the Schengen area. Look for an Indian consulate office if you are an Indian. Ask for assistance and let them know your reasons of overstay in the Schengen area. You might get an amnesty, and the embassy’s liaison will tell you further steps that you need to take if your reason for overstay is either flight cancellation, or any medical. But you need to prepare yourself for a fine of about €500, if your reason for overstay is either business or work.

Once you get the assistance, you need to visit the local Schengen embassy and ask for an extension of your Schengen visa. Show your consulate letter from your country’s embassy and let them know your valid reasons for overstay. You are lucky if your consulates are kind enough to give you an extension or else, be ready for a fine. You will be stamped for your overstay, and your name will be placed on immigraton hotlist.

What to do on your Schengen visa expiration?

Just visit a local embassy and ask for an extension with valid reasons. The consulates are generally kind enough if they find you honest valid and genuine reasons of overstay. It’s better to check your visa validity and travel to avoid any further bad consequences which have no remedy. We will discuss how to extend your Schengen visa while being in a Schengen area on our next article. Keep yourself updated.

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