As I far as I know, you can legally stay here only because of work or studies.Or marriage. Like if jobs interviews weren't successful, maybe apply for language courses? Because they will give you letter of attestation, what is huge advantage and then you have a chance to get permit B.

Good luck! ;)

Dina

Kate,

This is just a temporary solution.
As a canadian citizen, you can stay in CH for 3 * 2 = 6 months a year.

So if on the 20th December, you leave CH and travel to a NON-Schengen country and back to CH after 2-3 days, you can extend your stay for 3 more months.

This will allow you not just to stay here for winter, but also open opportunities for job as companies have budgets to hire new people in the new year.

Hope this is helpful.

Thanks, Ehsaan

nice to be canadian :-)

I was in the same situation as you last year.... and I learned a lot from speaking with backpackers who overstayed their visas in schengen.

repercutions? a fine and a big oh my god you violated the rules and overstayed I would never do that in your country blah blah blah!!!

my story is like this.... I ended up exceeding my time in schengen because it's a pain to go through the whole bureaucracy of getting a visa extension which I tried!

what I did was go to hungary and from there take a train into croatia.. stayed in croatia one day and came back to hungary, upon leaving hungary the guard checks you out of schengen stamping your visa and then they stamp it for croatia and when u leave croatia which is not schengen, u get stamped back into schengen BUT DON'T MENTION THIS TO THE GUARDS... just be quiet about it and keep going.

if your visa expires DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT, once again DO NOT!!!  try to leave europe from a swiss or german airport as they are VERY strict and check your passport thoroughly.... and I know PERSONALLY of a canadian girl who got banned from europe for five years for being dumb enough to leave schengen from zurich with an overstay of 2 months, she was in europe a total of 5 months!!!

the stamp that you have on your passport shows the entrace date into schengen and when you leave schengen you will have another stamp for leaving.... many people play the game I lost my passport and stay as long as they can.... when its time to leave they will claim to have lost their passport so they get a new one from their embassy without stamps to prove your date of entrance into schengen so guards at the airport can't really track you down.

the best airports to leave schengen from if your stamp is expired are the ones in italy, spain, portugal, hungary, czech republic, and paris charles de gaulle is great because guards there are too busy with so many people they wont check you thoroughly!
do not leave europe from any airport in switzerland, germany or the UK! the UK will bust you too...

please send me messages if you need more advice, i can really give u advice about this.

I lived in Vevey and Lausanne for 2.5 years without proper documents. I flew back to the U.S. 4 times during this, and never had problems. I fly from Geneva to Chicago.   I dont have any advice on how to obtain one, I can just tell you there are plenty of us here without documents who never had issues ..

I have a B now, but I am in graduate school

Um....  I  would avoid posting  anything that might  be construed as an attempt  to circumvent Swiss immigration laws on this or any other open site, especially in light of the current "foreign criminals" aka "black sheep" debate.

Enrolling in school is the  best option, besides  going to see a qualified immigration  lawyer or a consular official of your home country...

Hi Ehsaan,

Thanks so much for your advice, but I've made 10000 phonecalls and everyone has said that in any 180 days, I can only be in Schengen for 90...meaning that to leave for 2-3 days would not suffice in getting a new visa.  Oh how I wish it would be that easy!!!

Thanks again,

Kate

Hi Kate,

I have a friend in Zurich who recently received a six month visa for his girlfriend coming from Moldova because he told the government that they planned to marry.  At the end of the six months, they did not marry and so she went back to Moldova.  If you have any specific questions, let me know and I can ask him or put you in contact with him.

Hope this helps.

-kate

Hi Kate,

One serious thing to think about...  if you are living with your boyfriend and you break the rules, I know its possible for him to be fined for housing you.  Be careful with that!  It happened to a friend a few years ago.  The fine was hefty. 

Knowing a lot to how this works I can only recommend that you leave Schengen before it expire. Schengen work very close together in regard to visa and all entrance and exit are filed. The consulate on your next aplication could ask you to calculate dates and show stamp in order to secure that you did not overstay your 90 days in a 180 days period. You would also face problems if you marry and want to come back and stay in CH or any other Schengen country.

Don't play with this as the consequences are way to high...

Peter

The others have already mentioned it and I would recommend the same - enroll in a language course and get a student visa. 

I am on a visa and indeed there are 3 reasons to stay:

1. you are a student with a recognized entity that is qualified to be a reason for student visa - French / German courses is usually most useful

2. you have a job and get B work permit (or L which is for 2 years only)

3. you have "promise de mariage" which buys you time till you get merried, though you might refuse at the end

4. indeed go to embassy and try to extent your vise based on invitation / proof of funds and residence place

p.s. been there done that,  i am Russian so have a lot of limitations as well;)

think you're right...i know somebody who did that...

I don't believe this is true.  I've read before on the Consulate General of Switzerland home page for the United States that within a six month period you are only allowed to stay in Switzerland for 90 days.  After the 90 day period you must leave for a total of 90 continuous days in order to be eligible to stay in Switzerland for another 90 days.  I've tried to find the exact quote but I can not.

I'm not trying to be a party pooper...

Hey Kate, 

Your best bet is to speak with an immigration lawyer. They must know all the legal loop holes and tricks better than most other folks. 

I'm not an expert on the topic, but here's what I learned from a friend who was exactly where you are: 

1. As I understand it, the law indeed says you have to be out for 90 days in order to get another 90 days in, so leaving for 2-3 days won't help. (I think in some cases you're even allowed just a total of 90 days in CH each year, regardless of how long you spend out of it, not sure. )

2. Language school is for sure worth exploring. Might be a quick (yet not cheap) short term solution. Another solution: get your man to commit already! (-:

3. Don't mess around with breaking the law on this. My friend ended up over staying. He then got out with no issues. But next time he tried to come back into CH he was stopped at the airport, put in a cell (I kid you not), and escorted to the next plane back home. He was also banned from entering CH again for a long while. 

Nir

I agree with this - my understanding is that it's 90 days of a 180 day period. So you can be in Schengen for 90 days, then out for 90 days, then back in for 90 days & etc, Or constantly moving in and out over a 180 day period. But however you do it, you can't exceed 90 days in a given 180 period that would start with your first entry to the area.

Kate T - Your best bet is a student visa. Enrol in a language course or a masters degree asap. B permits are increasingly difficult for non-EU citizens to get.

I should also caution you against overstaying because you're likely to be banned from schengen for at least 18 months, if not 2-5 years. Immigration has really cracked down recently, even on people who are leaving the area on one-way tickets to their home countries. It may be best to leave for three months, and come back afterwards rather than overstaying a month or two and being banned for two years..

well that is the law then. 90 days in a 180 day period so you can live in Croatia for 90 days.

Kate T.  -- as you are under 35, you may want to look at this link:

national.gc.ca/switzerland-suisse/youth_jeunes/index.aspx?lang=eng&menu_id=7&menu=L

The Canada-Switzerland Youth Mobility Program has been renamed!
Welcome to the new International Experience Canada (IEC) pages!

Why not become one of more than 37,000 young participants worldwide who travel and work in Canada with our initiatives each year? Benefit from an invaluable and unforgettable experience in Canada thanks to the Canada-Switzerland International Experience Canada (IEC) initiatives.

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) and the Swiss Federal Council represented by our partner the Federal Office for Migration (FOM) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Youth Mobility to facilitate and increase international experience and youth mobility among young students and professionals.

The International Experience Canada (IEC) initiatives give young Swiss and young Canadians, aged 18 to 35, the opportunity to easily obtain a temporary work permit, and thus gain professional or hands-on experience, improving their knowledge of the languages, culture and society of the other country.

Find out more about the two IEC initiatives available between Canada and Switzerland!"

So, you might enroll in school -- study Swiss German or another national language -- and apply for this program as well...

I came across this thread as i was looking my friend from Latin America for a German Intensive Course. Does anybody have expirience with applying for a Language Course Visa?

They ask for many things like a motivational letter and also for a guarantee provided from somebody in Switzerland. Does anybody know what questions they will ask? In the current situation she is just a normal friend for me but i'm worried that they might decline the Visa because they think that she is going to apply only for this Visa to reside here in Switzerland. Any information is appreciated! 

It would also be interessting to know about the marriage Visa as it seemed to me that she could just stay here for 6 months without providing so many things like motivational letters ect.

Thanks in advance.

Have you noticed that this thread dates back to 2010 ?

Yes indeed i have seen this, but it's so difficult to get information on such topics that i thought its worth a try. Forgive me if this creates a mess.

No, not a mess, but there have been changes in the interim -- and, sorry, I don’t know a great deal about them.

Why don’t you start a new thread next week when people will be back from the holiday break and there’s likely to be more informed  response to your own situation?

Best wishes, R.