Schengen Extension advice needed for UK citizens

[PaulForster123]

We are leaving the UK permanently as live aboard sailors finally after months of preparation. UK citizens family of four and will be leaving the south coast bound for Spain in late August and then to the Canaries for the ARC January to St Lucia.
We will need around 30 extra days extension to our Schengen visa as its over the 90 day limit. Has anyone had any experience with extending visas for UK citizens and what process they went through to sort this out?

UK government and Brexit! what a disaster that was and glad to be heading away full time. Any constructive help from past experience would be much appreciated.

[goboatingnow]

Schengen tourist visas cannot be extended. There is simply no facility in the Schengen Agreement , the decision rests with each national state and all of them approach it differently.

[goboatingnow]

A word of warning don’t overstay , as this could seriously affect your ability to return to the Schengen area

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Schengen tourist visas cannot be extended. There is simply no facility in the Schengen Agreement , the decision rests with each national state and all of them approach it differently.

You’ll need to contact the Spanish embassy and see if they have a means of providing you with a long stay visa.

Ps you need significant amounts of time to make this happen. Late august is very tight.

[GEH]

One possibility might be to break your journey for a while in , for example, Agadir Marina in Morocco. It is a convenient ' hopping off' point for the Canaries. The time there could be spent having a look around for example a visit to Marrakesch?

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by GEH

One possibility might be to break your journey for a while in , for example, Agadir Marina in Morocco. It is a convenient ' hopping off' point for the Canaries. The time there could be spent having a look around for example a visit to Marrakesch?

Yes but if you use up your 90 days you can’t renter for another 90 days.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Yes but if you use up your 90 days you can’t renter for another 90 days.

As the OP is looking to push the limits, it's 90 days out of the last 180 days on a rolling basis. You can enter and leave several times but... If at any point, you look back at the last 180 days, if there were more than 90 days where you spent any time (arrive at 11pm, that counts as a day) in the Schengen, you are in violation. Technicality but important if you are using every last day.

So late August to January is 5-6 months, so Morocco would need to be for around 2-3 months (no idea how long you can stay in Morocco).

Gibraltar might be an option also without going deep into the Med to find a non-Schengen stop. Of course, Spain argues Gibraltar should be Spain's, so...

Of course, it seems like the EU is being purposely petty to get back at the UK leaving, so who knows.

[GEH]

Yes you are right, bloody Brexit has screwed up the lives of all Brits who routinely spend a lot of time in the EU countries. Imagine, for example, being a Texan who could only spend 90 days in any 180 days in the rest of the USA?
Morocco is not a member state of the EU so you could 'sojourn ' there , probably for up to 90 days without using up your available days in EU waters. Also the short 'hop' to the Canary Islands would be downwind bearing in mind the prevailing NE airstream.

[MoodyS]

There is a very good, new marina in Tangier - Tanja Bay Marina suggest you contact them for advice on Covid-19 arrival requirements.

[Clivevon]

Originally Posted by GEH

Imagine, for example, being a Texan who could only spend 90 days in any 180 days in the rest of the USA?

Totally false analogy - which says so much, though. Phew !! Looks like we got out in the nick of time. And, since the UK allows EU tourists to visit for up to SIX months in one go without a visa, not 90 days, I would humbly suggest your ire is pointed in the wrong direction.. Just saying..

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

As the OP is looking to push the limits, it's 90 days out of the last 180 days on a rolling basis. You can enter and leave several times but... If at any point, you look back at the last 180 days, if there were more than 90 days where you spent any time (arrive at 11pm, that counts as a day) in the Schengen, you are in violation. Technicality but important if you are using every last day.



So late August to January is 5-6 months, so Morocco would need to be for around 2-3 months (no idea how long you can stay in Morocco).



Gibraltar might be an option also without going deep into the Med to find a non-Schengen stop. Of course, Spain argues Gibraltar should be Spain's, so...



Of course, it seems like the EU is being purposely petty to get back at the UK leaving, so who knows.

The rules existed long before the brits left the club. You can’t expect special treatment outside the door

I believe negotiations are being conducted to have gib in Schengen.

[Clivevon]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

The rules existed long before the brits left the club. You can’t expect special treatment outside the door

No special treatment wanted, but some reciprocity would be nice. No doubt it will all work out in the end, hopefully. Inconvenient at the moment though, I can see.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

The rules existed long before the brits left the club. You can’t expect special treatment outside the door

I believe negotiations are being conducted to have gib in Schengen.

Note that many individual countries have situations where national tourist visas are 6 months. But the Schengen tourist visa is 90 in 180

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Clivevon

No special treatment wanted, but some reciprocity would be nice. No doubt it will all work out in the end, hopefully. Inconvenient at the moment though, I can see.

It’s not about reciprocity. The Schengen rules were drawn up long before Brexit. The U.K. left, hence it is a third country.

U.K. always gave 6 months tourist visas as does Ireland for example. ( and still does )

None of this will change in the short term and the EU view of the UK’s bonefides is such that there’s zero interest in accommodating issues that Brexit caused to inconvenience brits in Europe

All that it means is that the U.K. has to stop thinking it should get special treatment. It’s now just like lots of non eu states. It’s now a rule taker as regards the EU not a rule maker.

Hence the OP has to readjust their plans to work around the restrictions but there is no way to extend a Schengen Tourist Visa and given the purpose of that Visa why should there be any extensions.

By the way the 90 days largely was in response to the US 90 day visa waiver programme. So get the US to extend that to 6 months and the Schengen Agreement might get modified by the signature countries.

[sy_gilana]

I know for a fact that many non-eu yacht crew do the following.
Arrive airport, stamp passport IN
proceed to vessel, sign on, agent takes passport to immigration, and stamp OUT, effectively stopping the clock. In Italy, France and Greece they are confined to the immediate port area. Italy issues a port visa (Marinero) I got one there, limited to the port of Siracusa.