I'm moving to Finland in August and will be staying until June on a work visa. I would like to stay in the European Union and travel around for a bit after my work in Finland ends. Am I able to stay in the EU on a three-month tourist visa once my work visa expires or will I need to immediately leave the EU after I finish with my job? I am American, if this makes any difference at all. Any links to official websites would be greatly appreciated; I tried to do a google search on the subject but didn't come up with any helpful results. ETA: I realized that my original post did not distinguish between EU and Schengen countries. Finland, as well as several other countries which I would like to visit after I finish my work, is part of the Schengen Agreement. As a US citizen, I know that I can stay visa-free for up to 90 days in any Schengen country, but I don't know if I am allowed to do so after having already been in a Schengen country for ten months prior on a work visa. Hope this clarifies a bit!
Other - Europe - 2 Answers
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1 :
Until recently, long-stay visa holders couldn't even travel to other member states.. but from your question, I'm not sure if you have a long-stay visa or a residence permit (which are usually issued for stays longer than 1 year). http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/023-70124-067-03-11-902-20100308IPR70123-08-03-2010-2010-false/default_en.htm A long-stay visa or residence permit can't be converted to a tourist visa after expiry though. This includes people that don't need to apply for a Schengen visa to stay 90 days as a tourist, the rules are the same. When your permit expires, you have to leave Schengen for 90 days before you can return. It's hard to give an official web site, because none that I know of actually clarify this. In truth, many immigration officials don't know the rules very well either. I received this information from Migrationsverket in Sweden, but I had to ask multiple times to get a concrete answer. If you want verification, you should contact the migration board in Finland.. and ask several different people. http://www.migri.fi/netcomm/content.asp?path=8,2479 I recommend asking your job for holiday time before your permit expires, to allow for travel. Edit: Thanks for the update GP :)
2 :
I would have fully agreed with Elizabeth's answer if the question would have been asked before the 5th of April 2010, the date the new EU visa code went into effect. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:243:0001:0058:EN:PDF .. In the Handbook for the processing of visa applications you can read on page 65: Examples of short stays before, during or following after a long stay: A visa applicant who has stayed in Spain for 6 months on the basis of a national long stay visa or a residence permit may be issued a uniform or limited territorial validity (LTV) visa immediately after the expiry of the long stay visa or the residence permit. http://www.info4alien.de/yabbfiles/Attachments/handbook_for_the_processing_of_visa__applicaitions.pdf .. I don't see any reason why a visa-free stay should not be allowed whereas it is possible to stay on a short stay visa immediately after the expiry of the long stay visa or residence permit. The only problem I see is how to get the short stay documented as visa-free passport holder since entry stamps are only issued on entry into the Schengen territory. I recommend to try to get your residence permit extended for three months based upon the EU visa code or to apply for a 90 day visa at the Embassy of the country of your main destination or the country you plan to visit next if no main destination exists. Alternately if the United Kingdom is part of your itinerary go there first which means exiting the Schengen territory and re-enter to through the next country you plan to visit on the continent. Be aware of the fact that the 90 days of authorized stay applies to the entire Schengen territory, not a single country. http://www.swedenabroad.com/Page____30281.aspx .. You should print-out a copy of page 65 of the visa-handbook since some immigration officers may not be familiar with the changes..
