BootsnAll Travel Community

My understanding is that the 90-day schengen rule doesn't cover Ireland. Given that, here's my situation: I flew into Ireland in mid-April and got my passport stamped upon entry. I stayed in Dublin for a week and then took an Irish Ferry to France. Although they appeared to be doing immigration checks on the car passengers, I was on foot and there was no check at all, so I have no French stamp on my passport

I'm considering staying in the schengen area over 3 months, and I'm not sure whether the lack of the passport stamp is a positive or negative. I'm assuming I will have some sort of passport check upon leaving schengen. But since they would have no proof of when I entered, could I just lie and say it was later than it was? Or would the burden of proof be on me to show when I entered, or would I just be in trouble for not getting the stamp in the first place?

A couple fellow travelers I've spoken to recommend going to the American embassy to get their advice, but I'm unclear on whether that's a good idea either

Just because you weren't stamped does not mean "the rules" don't apply. But it does give you wiggle room if you are inclined to bend "the rules".

The embassy? Whahaha My bet is that they will either say "We don't give immigration advice" or, more probably, "you need to obey the law". It can't hurt, I just think it is a total waste of time.

You need to decide for yourself if you are OK with cheating or if you want to be totally legit. Either way, documentation is the key. By documentation, I mean any scrap of paper describing your past journey--from passport stamps, to hotel receipts, to emails from friends/family, any form of ticket, etc.

E.g.: If you don't have a stamp in your passport, but do have the ticket, then that is good to describe and document your entry. If you wanna bend the rules, lose it. If you want to stay legit, keep it.

Whether legit or not, it is best to keep documentation that supports your narrative. Just being 'right' does not mean they will believe you.

We've got long, windy threads on the subject. Just use the search function on 'schengen'.

While the rules apply, the lack of stamp changes enforcement from "unlikely" to "basically impossible."

Don't get smart with an immigration officer because they're always in a position to make your life miserable, but I doubt anyone will even bother asking how long you've been there. I don't think exit control has ever asked me a question, in any country I've been to, let alone the fairly lax Europeans. They will have a record of when you entered Ireland, but not of when you went to the continent. There's no punishment for not having a stamp, many border crossings don't stamp anyway, and it's not like you were swimming across rivers, or jumping a fence near Belarus.

I agree with Stoo regarding the embassy...sounds like a waste of time.

Don't they scan your passport, though? Or am I going crazy?

When I entered Italy last year, they didn't stamp my passport. But I swear they scanned it. Then when I left, they did stamp it. It seems backwards, huh?

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Don't they scan your passport, though? Or am I going crazy?

Some crossings do, some don't. From the OP, it sounds like the only immigration folks he saw were dealing with car passengers, and no one even showed interest in foot traffic.

But yes, if your passport was scanned, your entry time will be in the Schengen Information System (Ireland and the UK also use this system, though they don't impact your schengen visa time), and they might nab you for overstaying, though still unlikely...there's too many holes in the net, it would just be too much of a pain in the ass to prove you'd overstayed. They're unlikely to show interest unless you try to get a job.

I have not had my passport scanned/stamped entering or existing a schengen country in a very long time.

Though, sounds like I am wrong on this, I thought that you were given 90 days per country, not schengen all together.

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Originally posted by Texas Otter:
Though, sounds like I am wrong on this, I thought that you were given 90 days per country, not Schengen all together.

Nope. From Wikipedia's entry on Schengen Agreement:

"The Schengen rules include uniform rules as to the type of visas which may be issued for a short-term stay, not exceeding 90 days, on the territory of one, several or all of those States. The rules also include common requirements for entry into the Schengen area, and common procedures for refusal of entry."

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I have not had my passport scanned/stamped entering or existing a schengen country in a very long time.

Agreed--I've crossed a Schengen boarder many time without a stamp, scan or even anybody looking at me.

Upon exit you might get problems. I recently entered Germany and did not receive a stamp. When I was leaving the German immigration agent looked through my passport and was confused by the plethora of recent European stamps. She decided that I had been there since the fall and wanted proof that I had just gotten there. I had to go through my bag and find the plane ticket from the way there. Anyhow, she did believe me then but I am not sure what would have happened if I had thrown that paper away. I got banned from re-entering Schengen though anyhow but that was do to an overfull passport. (I think beacuse she was frustrated trying to sort through all the stamps, although, it seems like that all should've been in her computer. Hmmm?)