hello all,

I have looked at many of the threads from the last couple years of issues of legality, but with the new extraordinary regularization (i.e. tightening up of spain´s borders?!) - would like to solicit some fresh advice, stories and commentary!

My situation: entered nearly three months ago (in 10 days, my three months are up) with a US passport, was neither stamped upon entry in London nor Barcelona, have a few (all below-table) teaching gigs and private classes.

An academy that seemed a sure thing about writing up a pre-contract, processing papers to set me up for applying for an initial resident-work visa has fallen through (soudns like I am not alone!). I am rather worried, crunched for time and need some quick advice!

1. What´s the worse case scenarios of overstaying a 3-month tourist visa? what have you guys heard? are people banned from entering again...if so, for how many years?

2. If I try to go for (and secure funds) for a student visa - do low-weekly hour masters programs and postgraduates qualify? how can i find out...schools seem to be somewhat clueless!

3. If I overstay, should I definitely NOT travel to other EU countries - for example by plane to italy or by land to france or portugal??? what other advice do overstayers have? it seems the UK is definitely out for a weekend´s get-away...

4. eeks i am scared of overstaying my visa.. would love to hear what other folks processes were to do it or not! but know that this may be the only way to actually land a pre-contract with a repùtable school, and thus to a legal way to work here....eeks!

Thanks. and peace.

I can tell you all about student visas...

For a student visa, the minimum amount of study is 16 hours per week (though some consulates say 20). It has to be a university program--most language schools wouldn't qualify. Though in Madrid Complutense, Nebrija, and Carlos III do have full-time language programs that qualify.

It isn't easy to enter into a Spanish public university with a foreign degree at the postgrad level--in fact in is nearly impossible--unless you followed a very narrow course of study and didn't go the liberal arts route. If you did your undergrad work in Europe, you might have an easier time, depending on the country where you studied and what you studied.

To enter the university at a post "licenciatura" level, you'll need to "convalidar" or "homologar" your degree. Another option is to study as a visiting student. You won't get credit toward a degree (unless you pay big bucks to a US university program) but if you sign up for a full load, you can get a student visa.

You will have to go back to the US to apply for the visa at the consolate where you last resided. Then when you get back to Spain, you'll need to start the process of getting Student Residency (the Visa is only for entering the country--not for residing in it).

As a student, you theoretically have the right to work part-time (15-20 hours--I think you need to request this when you apply for your student residency), but you will not get a full-blown work permit/residency. And any time spent in the country as a student doesn't count toward the years of residency that one needs to apply for citizenship.

Good luck!

I'm afraid I don't have any answers, but I'd like to highlight one of the problems you mention - what to do if your passport wasn't stamped on entering the country. I'd like to throw out some general questions that have been bugging me. How can any country keep track of legal and illegal aliens if they don't even bother looking at passports when they enter? How can they possibly tell how long someone has been in the country if there is no stamp in the passport and it wasn't scanned? What about the incredible ease with which you can now cross borders within Europe - Europeans and nonEuropeans both? I, too, have entered and exited Spain without anyone glancing at my passport. If you decide to enter another European country, they won't look for Spanish visa stamps (if they even glance at your passport at all). In leaving Spain, you MIGHT be asked for your passport, but you might not, depending on where you are. And if you are, what can they do if they ask you why you don't have an entry stamp and you say it's because no one was there to give you one when you entered? It happens all the time. Those little forms you have to fill in on arrival and turn in when you leave - people lose them all the time and the passport control guys just shrug. (Ever wonder what happens to all those little bits of paper?) And when you return to Spain, since you don't have any other entry stamps, why not let you in? I don't know how you can possibly be banned from returning if the system isn't working to begin with. And then you read in the papers about international terrorists hiding in Spain...no surprise there! End of vent!!

As far as the risk involved of staying longer than three months, it depends on several things. Sadly, one of the most important of those is where you're from, or even more importantly, where you appear to be from. I talked to an immigration lawyer when I first arrived in Barcelona, and he told me that as a US citizen who doesn't "look" Latin American, Moroccan, Eastern European or any of the other high-risk profiles, I had practically no chance of being asked any questions no matter how long I stayed. And it's true that on several occasions I've walked right through passport control and customs without a word, while others who fit one of those profiles get pulled aside for closer scrutiny. For better or worse, this is one instance where appearances make a difference.

Apart from that, as long as you don't run into trouble for any other reason, such as traffic citations, etc., the chances are pretty small that you'd have a problem, but there's always some degree of risk.

As far as traveling to other EU countries, as long as they're Schengen countries (which includes most but not all of the EU) you don't need to go through passport control, and it's more or less the same as flying from one state to another in the US. You're right in guessing that this doesn't include the UK, though, and in fact I did have some pretty intensive questioning during one trip to London before I got my Spanish residency.

So overall, considering the fact that you don't have an entry date stamped in your passport, and that you're from the US, the chances that you'll have any immediate problems are pretty slim. But it's good that you're looking at ways to legally extend your stay anyway.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

About stamps... They have to stamp your passport when you are entering on a non-tourist visa. If they don't, stop them and make sure that they do, because when you apply for residency based on your visa, you must show your entry stamp in your passport.

You would also need the stamp if you were applying for amnesty--especially if you didn't "empadronar" (register at the city hall--ayuntamiento). In fact, I think you need to show your entry stamp when you "empadronar" as well.