confused about my student visa

Hello,

I'm a canadian studying in Spain for the semester. I have a student visa, type D, estudios hasta 180 dias. I entered the schengen area through France before coming to Spain. I entered one week before the date of validity on 03/01/06 and had no problems so it thought this was fine since i was in France and not yet in Spain on that date. The visa expires on 03-07-06. I was also under the impression that its fine to be in another schengen country that is not Spain after this date. Its what i heard on the phone from the Spanish embassy in Canada but maybe i misunderstood after getting mixed opinions.

I have two main questions.

Because my date of entry does not match with the date of validity, will I have problems getting issued a schengen visa the next time I possibly reapply for one?

Secondly,

After the date of expiration, is it possible to be in France again as this was issued by Spain? My flight from Spain makes a one week stop in France before I return to Canada but this is after the 3rd. As Canadians do not need a visa for stays up to 3 months as tourists, could this apply to my short stay in France or is it not possible to have a tourist status after having my visa?

Thank you.

Pam

Hello,

Question 1. Your current visa is not a Schengen but a study permit in Spain. You will not have problems getting a Schengen visa in the future as you are exempted from Schengen visa requirement and may therefore not obtain such a visa !

Question 2. That's a tough question. As a Canadian national you are entitled to stay visa free in the Schengen area for a maximum of 90 days per half-year (6 months) as from the date of your first entry, being 03 Jan 2006. Those 90 days are now expired even though you had a study permit. A new period of 90 days could have started on 04 June 2006 provided you had left the Schengen area and come back to it, which you have not done yet. You must therefore leave the Schengen area at the expiration of your study permit, being 03 July 2007. You may f.i. go to the UK for a couple of days and come back to France. This new entry would open a new 90 days of visa free stay.

Regards.

Martin
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Thank you for the reply. However, it has also raised some more questions.

Firstly, I dont really understand the difference between the my student visa and the Schengen visa? The application I filled out clearly said Schengen Visa.

Also, suppose i leave the schengen area upon the expiration on the 3rd and stay in the UK for a few days (is there a minimum amount of time?), as you said I can enter france and start a new period, so then will I also be able to re-enter spain? Does this study permit now allow me to be a tourist in Spain for three months as well after the expiry? Or does this only apply to other schengen countries. It seems strange if I can be in one country and not the other as there are no border controls.

Regards,

Pam

Re,

A Schengen visa does not allow to stay more than 90 days. Your visa is a study permit (although the sticker or the application might look the same) granting you 180 days of stay in Spain (not in the Schengen area). To read more about what a Schengen visa is : http://www.mediavisa.net/schengen-visa-categories.html.

There is no minimum stay in the UK. After that you may reenter the Schengen area for 90 days in any Schengen countries. It's got nothing to do with your study permit which will have expired at that time. This is a basic application of Schengen ordinary rules.

Regards.

Martin
MediaVisa.net
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Thank you so much for your responses. That clears a lot of things up! One more question, is it then also possible to go to Andorra for purposes of renewing my stay? Also if I arrived in Andorra from France would that pose a problem or am I obligated to arrive from Spain?

Thank you.

Regards,

Pam

Re,

It doesn't matter where you get to Andorra from.

Regards.

Martin
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Sorry,

I forgot to ask also if there was a grace period for this study permit in the case that I am not able to leave Spain right on the 3rd but if I leave a few days later to Andorra before re-entering the Schengen area.

Thank you.

Re,

There is no such thing as a grace period in your case.

Regards.

Martin
MediaVisa.net
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Hello,

I entered the schengen area through france on the 28th of December 2005 although the visa started on the 3rd of january. Could I go to Andorra on the 24th of june for example and return to Spain the 26th and still have the renewed stay of 90 days or is this impossible since its 2 days before the 6 month period?

Thank you again.

Pam

Re,

You should leave between the date of first entry in Schengen + 6 months and the date of expiration of your study permit.

Regards.

Martin
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Yes alright thank you. As you said there is no minimum amount of time, then there should be no problem leaving the Schengen area and reentering the same day?

Regards,

Pam

Hi,

I called an embassy of a schengen country (germany) in Canada just to verify what other schengen countries would say about me visiting their country after my study permit was up. I was told that to visit germany after, I would need now a tourist visa. I also mentioned the case of if i left the schengen area and reentered and was told that this still isnt possible. Do you know any reason for this discrepancy or was I just not given the right information?

Thank you.

Pam

Hi,

I don't quite understand the answer you were given as, being a Canadian national, you are exempt from Schengen visa requirements and therefore you may not obtain a Schengen "tourist" visa even if you wanted to. In other words you may not be asked to apply for a visa since your are exempt from it in the first place.

Regards.

Martin
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