I had to cut my Spain tour short because of the Schengen Visa. With an US passport I am allowed entries to Schengen countries without application to a visa, however as a caveat I can only be in the Schengen countries for a total of 90days. My original plan was to follow suite of my friends that had already completed a round the world trip by making a trip to a non-Schengen country to reset my 90days. My non-Schengen country was Croatia.
News came while I was in Spain that my friend Saun had got caught by the Schengen visa’s 90day limit. She had visited Morocco and while trying to return to Spain was not allowed to reenter. Thus she was force on a flight back to New Zealand. The 90day limited is actually 90days within 180days, thus the visa’s limit does not actually reset. After some research on the internet, I found out that the consequences included fines, and even a red exit stamp. This stamp basically bans you from the Schengen countries for up to 4years and even after the 4years if you ever want to visit any Schengen country you must then apply via interviews versus the default 90day visa.
As an American it is highly unlikely that I would get fined or stamped, but it is not unheard of. Four year ban from Schengen is far more than what I would gamble, so I book a train back to Paris to figure out what I am going to do. While in Paris, I decided to head to Switzerland where I will meet up with Hyunh and Anh, both of whom I met while in Granada. Switzerland is not part of the Schengen countries and I get a separate 90days to stay there if I wish. Thus on August 4th, I escape and find refuge in Switzerland.
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