Moving To Europe II – Visa Requirements & Stay Limits (For US Citizens)
One of the first questions for anyone traveling abroad for extended periods of time is how to do it legally, without over-stepping visa limits, and it’s a most important one. If you travel to Europe and over-stay your visa limits you can be fined, or even blocked from entering EU again for multiple years, and that’s not something you want to mess with.
Paul and I are lucky in that I’m a European by birth (Danish) and carry a Danish Passport, so I have the ability to travel, live and work anywhere in the EU. By extension, Paul can apply for a visa to stay/live with me in those countries too.
But what if you’re a US citizen and you don’t happen to be married to a European passport holder like me, THEN what do you do?
Well, there are actually several options for US citizens, and once you understand the basic rules they are actually fairly easy to work around. Those are the details I hope to go through today.
Important Disclaimer: I’m not an immigration lawyer, so what follows below should not in any way be considered formal or legal advice. It’s simply my layman’s view of the matter.
It’s All About The Schengen Area
At the core of any travel to Europe is something called the Schengen agreement. Originally signed in 1985 in Schengen, Luxembourg (thus the name) it comprises a set of 27 countries** that all have agreed to allow free movement of their citizens within their borders. As a traveler that means that once you’re inside the area, you can freely travel throughout the 27 Schengen-member countries without any additional passport controls or border checks (kind of like the same way you’d travel across multiple states in the US).
However, there’s a really important caveat to this -> if you’re not a European passport holder there are limits to how long you can do this!
So, if you’re a US citizen your passport will get stamped when you enter the Schengen Area and then you’ll get exactly 90 days* from that date to freely travel around the various Schengen countries. Once those 90 days are up you have to be OUT of the Area for a full 90 days before you can go back in again.
The 90 days are cumulative, so you can be in Schengen for 10 days, leave the area for a while and then come back into Schengen for another 20 days (that’ll be 30 days total), but once you reach 90 days in total (within a rolling 180 day period) you’re done. If you plan to travel continuously through countries in/out of the Area the details can get complicated, so using an online calculator can be really helpful to keep track of your days and make sure you don’t overstay.
*Note1/ The Schengen Area legal stay limits are calculated in days not months. So, although 90 days is around 3 months, it is not exactly the same, and that matters when you’re planning your travel. For example, if you enter Schengen March 1st, then your 90 days will be up on exactly May 29th, NOT June 1st. Those 2 calculated days makes all the difference as to whether you remain within your legal stay limits or not. For those in doubt, check out this handy dandy free Schengen stay calculator HERE. Hat tip to Dave n’Kim in the comments for making this important clarification.
Note2/ When you enter the Schengen Area, you may be asked for proof that you intend to leave within 90 days, especially if you flew in on a one-way ticket. So, when you arrive it’s a good idea to have some kind of ticket or reservation (e.g. campsite reservation) out of the Area dated right before your 90 days are up. You may never get asked for this, but IMO it’s better to be prepared.
Note3/ For US passport holders there’s one additional requirement that you should take note of, and that is your passport expiry date. You need to make sure your passport does not expire until 90 days after you plan to leave the area. So, anyone planning to stay the full 90 days should make sure they have at least 6 months validity on their passport before they go.
The UK Is NOT Part Of Schengen
The other important thing to note about the Schengen Area is that the UK (which comprises England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales) is not officially part of it. This has nothing to do with Brexit (they’ve never been part of Schengen), and simply means they have their own travel rules and stay limits.
So as a US citizen, once you enter the UK you can stay up to a total of 180 days before you have to be out again.
What about after that? Or what if you travel into and out of the UK multiple times? This is where the rules get a bit fuzzy. Technically the 180 day limit is per visit. So, you might think it would be possible to enter the UK, stay for 3-6 months, go out again, come back in again, and get another 180 day pass? Yes, technically possible, but NOT likely.
If you try to spend too much time in the UK then it looks suspiciously like you’re trying to “live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits“. This is a no-no and UK immigration will very likely deny you entry and (maybe) even ban you from future visits. So, although it’s not specifically written down anywhere, the general rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t attempt to spend anymore than 6 months out of 12 in the UK on a tourist visa. If you do more than that, red flags will start to go up.
Also keep in mind that getting 180 day stay when you enter the UK is not “guaranteed”. It’s ultimately up to the UK immigration officer who stamps your passport whether they give you the full 180 days or not. Again, if they suspect suspicious immigration activity they could shorten this or deny you.
So, when you enter the country be prepared to show that you are a genuine visitor, and do not have intentions to stay long-term. Good supporting documents for this are bank statements (= proof of funds to support yourself) and a reservation or ticket back out of the country after the end of your planned stay. As I mentioned above, you may never get asked for any of these, but IMO it’s better to be prepared.
The Republic Of Ireland, Romania and Other Are Non-Schengen Too
If you look closely at the map you might also note that the Republic of Ireland is not part of the Schengen Area. It’s not part of the UK either (in case you didn’t know, only Northern Ireland is) so they have their own, separate rules about stay limits. The same goes for several of the Eastern European countries like Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine. They each have their own rules, visa and stay limits, that are separate from the Schengen Area. Here’s an overview of a few of those stay limits for US citizens:
- Republic of Ireland — 90 days
- Romania — 90 days
- Bulgaria — 90 days
- Ukraine — 90 days
Of course I haven’t even mentioned places like North Africa which are popular winter travel destinations for European RVers, and (obviously) not part of Schengen either. The possibilities are endless…
**2023 Update: As of Jan 2023 Croatia is now part of Schengen, so keep this in mind if your travels take you there.
What Does This Mean For US Travelers Wanting to RV/Caravan Around Europe?
If you come on a US passport to Europe without any special visas it’s pretty simple. You just have to plan your travel around the various legal stay limits.
That means you can travel for 90 days in the Schengen Area, and then you have to be OUT of the Area for the next 90 days. Where you go after that will just depend on the stay limits for that particular country.
The good news is that there are lots of options, and if you plan them right you can travel a whole year (following the weather too) without any hassle at all.
For example you could start off your travels in Spring with 90 days in Italy/France (Schengen), then you could travel to UK (non-Schengen) for next 90 days during summer, then over to Germany/Austria (Schengen) for 90 days of fall, then finally down to Eastern Europe (say Bulgaria or Romania, non-Schengen) for the final 90 days or so of winter. Perfection!
Alternatively, you could start with 90 days of Spring in Scandinavia (Schengen) and then travel to UK (non-Schengen) and Ireland (non-Schengen) for the next 180 days of Summer/Fall, and then finish in southern Spain (Schengen) for final 90 days of Winter. Nice, right?
And so on…..
As long as you do not over-stay the limits for any particular area or look like you’re trying to settle in any particular country, then you’re good to keep traveling like this for as long as you’d like.
Note4/ If you’re traveling around Europe like this for a year or more you will NOT want to rent an RV (way too expensive). You’ll either want to buy an RV, or you’ll want to bring one over with you from the US. Both are actually viable options for US citizens, depending on what you want, but there are positives and negatives that go along with each decision. I’ve got a whole separate blog post coming on this, including why we decided we’re going to buy in Europe, so hang on for those answers.
***Are There Ways to Stay Longer In Each Country?
In order to extend your stay beyond the regular stay limits you’ll need to get a special visa. There are MANY different ways to get this, especially if you already have family in Europe (you can apply to join them), or you’re going for work (i.e. you have a work visa) or you going to study (with student visa). But if you’re a regular US citizen with no EU ties and you just want to live/travel for a while in a specific European Country, then a long-term visitor visa is what you’re looking for.
Warning: Plan ahead and be prepared for paperwork!
Long-term visitor visas are possible in just about every EU country, although the rules will vary from country to country. Generally they allow you to stay for up to a year, with the possibility (in many countries) to renew if you so wish. You’ll have to apply for these visas from your home country (so, before you travel to Europe) through the Consulate for the country you are planning to visit, and you’ll want to give yourself good time (at least a month or more) to complete the task.
The application will typically require filling out some forms (some longer than others), paying some fees, and likely having an in-person visit at your local Consulate for an interview and to submit your documents. The exact requirements for every country will differ, but almost all of them will ask you for the following
- Proof of sufficient funds to support yourself during your stay (e.g. from savings or outside income).
- Proof of health insurance (typically with evacuation). Specifically coverage limits may also be specified.
- Proof of lodging. This can be one of the trickiest item for travelers who don’t have any friends or family in the country they plan to visit, but it can usually be overcome by booking a short-term vacation stay or equivalent.
- Guarantee that you will not seek work while you’re staying in the country.
Other requirements (e.g. medical certificate, criminal record history, return ticket (to your home country) etc.) may also be needed. Also, many countries will require you to register with the local authorities upon arrival.
As an Example: For a French long-term visa you’d apply through France-Visas.com. The website takes you through a wizard to determine which visa you need, and what supporting docs you’ll need. You complete the application online and then you’ll need to schedule an in-person interview to submit the application (and docs) at the Consulate that covers your home area (= where you have your home address). France only has 9 Consulates that process visas in USA (Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Houston, Boston, Miami, New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles), so you may have to fly to get to the right location. Once you’ve been to the Consulate to submit your docs you can expect to wait up to 15 working days for the visa to be processed.
It would take me several blog posts to cover the specifics of each country, but I’ve known US citizens who’ve gotten long-term stay visas in several countries, including France, Italy, Spain and Sweden. Here’s some good external posts:
- Applying for a Long-Term Stay Visa in France: Click HERE (by luxeadventurer.com) and HERE (by TwoBadTourists)
- Applying for a Long-Term Stay Visa in Italy: Click HERE (by USAtoday)
- Applying for a Long-Term Stay Visa in Spain: Click HERE (by TwoBadTourists)
- How To Legally Stay in Europe For Longer Than 90 Days: Click HERE (by NomadicMatt)
Note5/ If you apply for a long-term visitor visa you should be aware that the long-term visa will only apply to the specific country where you get the visa, not the entire Schengen Area. So, for example if you apply for a long-term 1 year visitor visa in France, then the 1 year only applies to France. If you travel outside the country to other Schengen countries during that time, then the regular 90 days (within 180 days) Schengen rule will apply to any time spent outside of France.
Note6/ For US passport holders make sure your passport expiry date is 90 days beyond whatever visa limit you apply for. So, if you’re applying for a 1-year visa your passport expiry must be, at a minimum,1 year and 3 months after that. If your passport expires before that, then you’ll have to renew your passport BEFORE you apply for the visa. US Passport renewals can take 6-8 weeks (unless you pay for expedited service), so give yourself extra time for that if you need it.
What If You Have European Family Or A European Spouse?
If you’re like us and lucky enough to either have family already living in Europe, or you happen to be married to a European, then you’ve got more options.
If you’re interested in residence you can apply for an EU family visa or EU spousal visa within the country that you plan to stay in. There is still an application process to go through, so you can’t just fly over with your EU spouse and expect to stay indefinitely wherever you land, but it’s a different process from a long-term visitor visa and, as a bonus, you can usually do it in country (i.e. after your arrival in Europe).
For example if you’re married to an EU spouse and you plan to stay permanently in France, you can make an application for a specific type of residence permit (“carte de sejour de la famille d’un citoyen de l’Union/EEE/Suisse”) at your local préfecture within three months of your arrival in the country. You’ll have to present documents proving your family link, as well as proof of lodging and financial resources, but the permit is free of charge, valid for up to 5 years and renewable.
What About Traveling Around EU with An EU Spouse? In addition to the right to residence, if you happen to be the family member of an EU citizen, then you have additional travel rights too. Thanks to European Directive 2004/38/EC you have the right to live and travel anywhere in EU with your EU spouse, as long as you abide by local residence laws. Now, most EU countries require you to register if you stay longer than 90 days (this is true for EU citizens too, by the way), so in essence what this means is that you can travel freely throughout EU with your EU spouse as long as you keep your stay within each EU country below 90 days. This is different from the 90/180 rule and gives you a ton more flexibility! Note that if you plan to stay longer than 90 days in a specific country, then you need to register and get a long-term residence card for that country.
What About Brexit?
If you follow international news you’ll know that the UK voted to leave the EU (commonly known as “Brexit”) several years ago and that the official exit date was 29th March 2019. So, what has that changed?
Well, it’s not changed anything specific to US travelers.
The UK was never part of Schengen, so as far as traveling they always had their own entry and exit rules (see above). The biggest impacts have been in regards to residence rights (EU citizens can no longer live and work in UK without a visa, and visa-versa) and UK citizens who must now adhere to 90/180 just like Americans when traveling around Europe.
Bottom line, it doesn’t affect anything if you’re a US citizen traveling to UK.
What About Your Paws?
The paws are going to require a whole separate blog post. There are special requirements for getting your paws from USA to Europe (which I’ll go through in my upcoming paws post), but once you’re in Europe traveling around with them is really easy.
You just need to get a European Pet Passport from a local vet (yup, they get their own passport!) and then they can follow you around pretty much anywhere for any length of time. Certain places require extra steps for entry (e.g. UK requires a tapeworm treatment for dogs), but other than that the pet passport takes care of everything. Easy peasy, right?
That’s it really. The good news is that US citizens can travel to EU without any kind of special preparation as long as they’re willing to abide by the various stay limits. And longer-term stays are also possible, if you’re willing to do the right paperwork ahead of time. We’re currently in process of renewing Paul’s passport (he only had one year left on it) and then we will likely look at a longer-term visa for him in either UK or France. We’ve got a few months left to figure it all out, so ask me again in ~3 weeks and we should hopefully have it sorted (paws & fingers crossed).
Oh, THANK YOU for doing this research and explaining it so clearly! Did your research turn up the answer to this burning question – what is the MINIMUM time one must be out of the UK before returning for another six month stay? I am not looking to immigrate, I merely wish to spend a year in Great Britain. I am aware of the extended visas, but they are expensive!
That’s a great question and I wish I had an answer, but unfortunately I don’t. I looked around to try and find out exactly how long U.K. immigration wants you out of the country before they will renew a 6-mo stay, but there are no firm rules. The 6 month in 12 thing is the best reference I could find, but it’s simply a “rule of thumb” and not an official rule.
As far as I can tell there’s no way for a US citizen to spend a whole year (consecutively) in the U.K. unless you are studying (e.g coming on a student visa), coming with work (e.g, on a work visa) or joining family (e.g UK or EU family settled in UK). So if you just want to visit and tour around for a year, unfortunately I don’t think you can do it.
The UK does offer long-term stay visas, but they operate differently from the long-term visas of other EU countries. The UK long-term stay visas are multi-entry visas that last for 2, 5 or 10 years, BUT you are only allowed to stay in the UK for up to 180 days during each stay. You can read about them here (scroll down to see the section on long term): https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa
Hope that helps!
Nina
Thank you! Every little bit helps. I have dreamed for 40 years of spending a year as a tourist in Great Britain. My stars have finally aligned, and I can do it, if I can figure out the visa dance!
If you split your time between UK (6mo limit) and Ireland (3mo limit) you can get 9 months out of it. There may be other ways to extend in too (study there for a bit?). Hope you get to do it!!
Nina
Thank you for all this detailed information. I have a question…. I noticed in another one of your blog posts that you are now an American citizen, did this cancel out your danish citizenship automatically ? Or can you keep both citizenship’s ?
Denmark allows dual citizenship (since Sept 2015), so lucky gal that I am, i get to keep both. It’s really, really nice.
Nina
Very thorough and accurate according to what I had to do for us to get a Visa to live in Italy…It wasn’t an easy process…but I did it…
I remember talking to you about some of the stuff you had to go through for your long-term Italian visas. Definitely not an easy process, but you are proof it can be done.
Nina
Thank you for answering so many of my questions! My husband and I are toying with the idea of a year or two traveling within Europe and your post is very encouraging . . . it can be done!! I appreciate all the leg work and research you’ve put into this. It seems once you get started one question just leads to another and initially it can seem pretty overwhelming and confusing.
Yeah it’s craxy how many questions come up when you first start looking. I originally thought this Moving To Europe series would be 2-3 posts, but I now think it’s going to be more like 6-8. Soooo many questions, but hopefully I can help to simplify it for you.
Nina
Wow….this is so very interesting and informative!! I just love all the detail you write into all your posts and esp. now the European posts. We are definitely wanting to travel in Europe for about a year and this has provided us with the planning and homework we need to consider ahead of time. I think you two will be having a great time traveling overseas! Cheers!
Excellent. Glad I could give you some food for thought.
Nina
Thank you thank you for this amazingly detailed informative post! So very helpful! Wow, that was a lot of work. Thnx.
Whew–you guys have your work cut out for you but who better to do all that research than you, Nina! 🙂 I can feel the excitement in your writing!
Thanks so much for the research Nina. When we thought we were going to travel to Spain, Portugal, etc. this year we began to do some homework. Our plans shifted and are taking us to Patagonia instead, but we will need this info for future travels. Can’t say enough how thrilled we are for you both.
“3 Months” vs “90 Days” – Beware – they are NOT the same!!
Sorry if this sounds a trivial story, I just hope no-one else makes the same silly mistake I made!
In 2007 I (Dave the Brit) flew from UK to USA to marry Kim, and stay. In the previous year I went over for a ‘Trial Period’. I’d read about the “3-Month” Stay Limit, and booked my flights for a full 3 months, less one day, to maximize my stay.
Just one week before my return to UK, I suddenly realized with horror that my return flight was dated AFTER the 90-day limit stamped in my passport by Immigration. I tried to contact and plead with Immigration, but they wouldn’t budge. I didn’t dare risk breaking their rule and get blacklisted, since I planned to apply for a visa and fly to USA, and stay, the next year! Meanwhile it proved impossible to alter the return date of my economy ‘bucket seat’ flight. Insurance didn’t cover such an event. (And yes, plenty of urgent crazy discussions about alternatives… such as escaping across the border to Mexico – but then what?!)
In the end I had no alternative than pay the full amount for a new air ticket to UK with another carrier, just to leave 2 days sooner. To add insult to injury it was cheaper to buy a Return ticket rather than a single (Go figure!) and throw away the non-transferable return part.
Moral of the story: In this context, wherever you see “3 Months” – read it as “90 DAYS” – and make careful calculations accordingly!
VERY important caveat and the exact reason I wrote the formal stay limits (in the grey boxes) in days instead of months, but I did not make that implicitly clear. This is very important so THANK YOU for that. I will update the blog post to make this perfectly clear.
Nina
Update: I added an extra note and changed ALL my references to days (and not months), just to make this perfectly clear. Thanks again for making this comment.
Nina
Namaste. Best wishes on your upcoming adventures across the atlantic! And thank you so much for all the information. The two of you (and your paws) are simply wonderful for sharing. Safe and fun adventures and travels!
Oh my goodness, thank you! I have no plans for extended visits to Europe, but this was a fascinating read. Thank you for doing the research, even though Paul doesn’t need to follow all those rules! Best of luck to you and paws!
We wish you both the best in your new venture. We really enjoyed meeting you in Oregon and following you around the country. We were hoping you would join us here in Benson Arizona at the Saguaro SKP Park. We’re still on the hot list waiting for a chance to get a lot. Will you be staying on the list and maybe come back here one day? If not, best wishes to you in your new venture.
Yup we’re staying on the hot list for Benson. You never know, right?
Nina
Great! They are really moving now. Three were sold last weekend. Maybe we’ll see you here one day. Best of luck.
Congrats on your big move! I’m curious, if you have duel citizenship, would Paul not qualify for a Danish passport and would there be any advantage to that, i.e. lots less paperwork for long-term visas? We’re very excited to follow along!
No, sadly Paul doesn’t qualify for a Danish Passport (I wish!). The Danish immigration rules are actually incredibly tough, even as the spouse of a Danish citizen. Amongst other things Denmark requires that you prove an “attachment to Denmark” which must be stronger than any other country, before you can apply for family reunification. So, you must have lived or worked in Denmark for several years prior to application, you must speak Danish and so on. And processing time and costs are high too (10 months, DKK 5,900). The fact that Paul doesn’t speak Danish makes this a no-go. So, unfortunately it’s not a viable option for us.
Nina
Great information. We have been thinking of RVing in Europe after talking with a tour agent at the Quartzsite show. The cost for two is $20,000 which is not all cost inclusive. So aside from a few meals, and maybe a couple special events, the costs increase. That made me wonder about just renting an RV and doing it ourselves. Then we met a man at Q who has done it. He suggested buying an RV and shipping it to Germany. That would be my preference since we don’t care much for planned events. I’ve been to Europe more than a dozen times on business and would love to see the country. That was generally not done while on business travel. It was pretty much big city for meeting and then move on to the next big city. So the prospect for just enjoying the many areas is quite intriguing. This is something will probably consider for 2019, since Alaska is in our plans for this year. Keep us posted on all the things you see and do.
Thanks
Gary
Shipping an RV from US to Europe is totally possible (and actually not that expensive), but you have to be careful of two things.:
1/ The first is insurance: Insurance on US plated RVs in EU is SUPER expensive, especially if you get a newer RV. So, if you’re going to do this definitely buy an smaller, older RV and get a quote on insurance before you decide to go through with it.
2/ The second is mods: You’ll need to make some modifications to your RV so you can use European electrical hookups, and fill-up with propane (the connections are different over there). These are not too difficult to do, but you’ll need to plan ahead for this too.
There are other, cheaper ways to RV over there, but that’s the topic of a whole other blog post. Stay tuned for that one…
Nina
Quick comment since you must be really busy! Thanks for your posts on volunteering on the PNW coast. Using your info and links, my husband and I were able to secure positions lighthouse hosting at Cape Disappointment Sate Park for May and June, and the spot atop Mt Constitution for July and August. We are so excited and looking forward to an interesting summer! Wanted you to know how much we appreciate you and your blog! May your European journeys be divine! Hope to follow in your footsteps there some day!
Sweeeeeet! You will be going to two of our FAV places. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
Nina
Hello! Your article & research is terrific. We just got back from the Italian Consulate in SF as we’re hoping to move for 1 year & put our son in school (he’s 9) & not work, just live & enjoy/explore. We got totally shut down by the gal we spoke to— she basically said there is no option for us & we cannot do this. Is this true?? Are there other European countries where this might work? Italy is our top choice but we can be flexible. We are now toying with the idea of doing 90 days at 4 spots, but are you saying we cannot go from one Schengen country to another? My husband has family is Switzerland— does that help? He was in process of getting his citizenship but stopped— if he went that route would we have more options (his Mom lives in US but is still a Swiss citizen too).
Last question— wonder if we could put our son in a public school in the U.K. for 6 months & then do 90 days elsewhere after?
THANKS for any advice you can offer— we are confused & deflated after our visit with the Italian Consulate but still really want to make this happen somewhere in Europe.
Although I’m not that familiar with immigration for Italy, I know they have long-term stay visas (called Visa D there) similar to France, and that in order to get one without work (specifically called an “Elective Residence Visa”), you will need to apply through the Italian Consulate in USA before you fly. From Googling around it looks like the process is very similar to the French long-term visa in that you need to prove you have lodging PLUS enough income to support yourself for the duration of your stay. It’s a long and tedious paperwork process, but seems do-able.
Here are some details on that Visa process:
https://dispatcheseurope.com/pssst-italys-under-the-radar-elective-residence-visa-lets-qualified-visitors-stay-long-term/
https://www.relocatemagazine.com/immigration-a-guide-to-italys-elective-residence-visa
https://www.expat.com/en/guide/europe/italy/10589-visas-in-italy.html
However, what I don’t know is if this visa would allow your kids could go to school while you are there? Really no clue on this one….
As for traveling from Schengen to Schenghen country this is a total no-no. As an American you only get 90 days out of every 180 in the ENTIRE Schengen Area. So you can’t spend 90 days in France and then another 90 days in Italy -> NOPE. You only get 90 days between ALL countries and then you need to be completely OUT of the Schengen Area for the next 90 days before you can legally return again.
Regarding family in Switzerland -> YES if your husband can get his citizenship through this would be an excellent way to go. Switzerland is not part of the European Union (EU) BUT it is part of the European Economic Community (EEC) which means that, as a Swiss person (and their family), you will have freedom of movement to live and work throughout EU. This would give you a ton of flexibility.
And regarding 6-mo of school in UK, I think this would be very difficult to achieve. Getting enrolled would require you to be resident, and this is a larger commitment that you are currently talking about.
Lastly, have you thought about home-schooling for a year? This would be an excellent way to travel, while still giving your kids the chance to school. I know several travel-families who’ve done this with kids from small to teenager level.
Nina
Hello! Thanks so much for all the wonderful information you put out on this site! I have learned so much from you guys and all that you share from your experiences, you’ve been a huge inspriation. But I still have some questions…. My husband and I are planning to spend a year, starting sometime in 2020, travelling Europe by campervan. My mother is German and I am in process to obtain German/EU citizenship (yay!!), and this allows the possibility of my husband obtaining a residency visa for Germany. However, we were also told that he would need to reside in Germany for at least 6 months in order to not lose this visa. We have no intention of living in Germany, we simply want to have the freedom of travelling around Europe without worrying about the Schengen timeframe. Is there any way around this? Do they have a way of checking on this? We are uncertain how to proceed or if we’ll have to follow the Schengen guidelines even with my EU citizenship.
Second round of questions has to do travelling with a dog. I know you’ve traveled with cats, but have you experienced bringing a dog along as well? We are struggling to decide whether to bring our dog along for the year, and if so, some of the logistics around this. He is a med-large size (not as easy to transport). The biggest dilemma is around visiting large cities (such as Paris), we don’t plan on bringing the campervan into the city and how will it work to leave him in the camper for longer periods of time while we are exploring the city (and the train/bus ride may be an hour in itself)? Situations like that have me wondering if it could work or if it will just be too complex for both him and us?
Thanks in advance for any help and insights to my questions!
I’ll try to answer each of your questions separately:
1/ German Residence -> yes, if your husband gets a long-term residence visa in Germany it’s assumed that he will spend most of his year in his “home” country. You can both travel outside of Germany, but you are limited as to how long you can spend in another EU country (typically 90 days) before you are supposed to re-register as residents there. Also if you spend more than 6 months per year outside of Germany it could be questioned if you’ve maintained your residence in Germany (which would invalidate the terms under which you applied for the long-term residence visa to begin with).
Now with that said, there are very few border checks within E.U. (in fact we’ve yet to see a single check while driving across the borders here), so there probably wouldn’t be any records of travel outside of Germany, especially if you are roving around in an RV within Schengen boundaries, but those are the official rules.
All that to say it’s a tough choice. For just a year of travel I’m not clear that getting German long-term visa is worth it, unless you plan to stay beyond a year and/or spend a good portion of your time in Germany. It’ll take time for your husband to get the visa after you arrive (perhaps several months?) and then you’ll still officially be limited in your travel time outside of Germany. Make sense? IMO it’s probably just easier to stick to the 90/180 rule so that your husband doesn’t need any special documents at all. Then you can always choose to register in Germany later if you decide to stay longer-term in Europe.
2/ Bringing a Dog – we brought over our 2 cats PLUS our medium sized dog, so it’s certainly possible! Your dog will need to travel in the pressurized hold of the plane, and once you’re here you’ll need to get your dog a E.U. pet passport so he can travel around with you for the year. I’ve got detailed blog posts on all of this if you’re interested (just do a search on “pet transport”). As for traveling with him, our dog loves being in the camper, but we also bring her everywhere. We’ve found Europe to be extremely dog friendly so that’s not been a problem at all.
Hope that helps you make you decision!
Nina
Thank you Nina for answering my questions, and so quickly! In response to the 1st one – we wouldn’t be staying in any one country for more than a few weeks or a month at most. It was also my understanding from speaking to the consulate that we could begin the visa application process for him before we leave the USA, but maybe I misunderstood. I appreciate you offering your insights on this one. It is a tough decision and I want to make sure we have all the information for either option! It may be that we go for the 90/180 option, this just complicates our plans, but not impossible I guess.
On dogs, thank you again. I remember now that I have read your article on pet transportation, also very helpful! In travelling with your dog have you had any issues with bringing him on buses, trains, etc? Also into restaurants?
Thanks again!
Erin,
I agree, this is all very complicated. Again, I’ll try to answer each step as best I know.
1/ Applying for the visa -> the Consulate is prob right. I only have experience with the French long-Stay visa (spouse of an EU citizen) which my husband could only apply for AFTER we arrived in France. It took several months to get it all done once we got here. The German process may well be different!
2/ Traveling -> yeah the travel question is tricky. Since you’re not staying more than a few weeks in each country you don’t have to re-register as a resident as you travel around. BUT if your husband applies for the German long-stay visa he will need to maintain his residence in Germany, which (again) limits how long you can spend abroad. The rules get murky, and like I said above there’s not many border checks within EU (so there may not actually be any record of your travels), but it is a risk.
3/ Dogs -> yes you can bring dogs on trains and buses. Not all allow dogs, so you can’t go everywhere, but there’s many that do. Also many require muzzles, so just be aware of that. In our case we travel by RV so we’ve never actually used trains or buses. If we want to visit a city, we park within walking distance and do it on foot with the dog. As for restaurants that’s not been an issue at all. We can usually sit outside with the dog and sometimes even inside. In general I find restaurants way more dog friendly here than in US.
Nina
All your information has been so helpful! Thank you again!
Hi Erin,
It’s been a while since you made this comment, so I don’t know if you are still reading/subscribed to the blog but I wanted to add to my original reply since I have since discovered some important specifics with regard to longer-term travel within EU with an EU spouse.
If you manage to get your EU (German) citizenship, then you and your non-EU husband will have MUCH more flexibility to travel, whether or not you decide to register for long-term residence in Germany first. In fact you will be able to travel longer-term throughout EU as long as you keep each visit to each EU country below 90 days (after 90 days, both you and your husband are supposed to register for local residency, no matter where you go).
This is different from the 90/180 rule and gives you a ton more flexibility, and it is all thanks to European Directive 2004/38/EC. For more on this, have a read thro’ this excellent blog post: https://www.travel-cook-eat.com/schengen-rules/
Hope this helps for your future plans!
Nina
Thank you so very much for all this valuable information! It must have taken you many, many hours. I know it took me many hours to just find some basics that is before I lucked out and found your information! My husband and I would like to spend about 6 months in 2021 in Europe. He is an American citizen I am an American and Swiss citizen. We will spend very little time in Switzerland and I would prefer not getting any of my relatives involved… Does the 90 day visa limit apply to me and my husband as well? We are grateful for any additional information you might have or direct us to. We might end up working for one of the european RV tour companies or just go for fun. Thanks, K 🙂
Hmmm…this is a toughie, and I’m not 100% sure, but I’ll give you my thoughts.
EU citizens have the the right to live and travel throughout EU with their non-EU spouses thanks to EU directive 2004/38/CE. However there a limit of 90 days before you have to register in a given country for residence. So spouses of EU citizens can travel throughout EU with their spouses as long as they limit their stays to less than 90 days in each country. Makes sense?
Now the tricky part of all this is that Switzerland is not a member state of the EU but it does have bilateral agreements with EU, which includes freedom of movement. So if my thinking is right you “should” be able to travel with your spouse throughout EU (just like a regular EU citizen), as long as you limit your stays in each country to less than 90 days. At least that’s what I infer! Since Switzerland is a bit of an oddity, I’m not 100% sure. So, I’d recommend checking w/ the Swiss Embassy just to be sure.
Nina
Congratulations on your big move! I’m curious: if you have dual citizenship, wouldn’t Paul qualify for a Danish passport? Would that offer any advantages, such as less paperwork for long-term visas? We’re excited to follow your journey!
No Denmark has very strict immigration rules, and he wouldn’t automatically qualify. It’s actually very difficult in Denmark, even married to a Dane!
Nina