Some friends are planning an extended stay in France this year - due to airline schedule changes their stay has extended from less than 90 days to 96 days. Clearly this is not, strictly speaking, allowed but they are uncertain what the implications will be on departure. (Another friend said not to worry about it but I'm not so sure).
I suggested going to the UK (or other non-Schengen country) for a week at some point but are there any other options and/or will this short over-stay be "forgiven".
There doesn’t seem to be anything on line to support the ‘nothing will happen’ scenario.
At the very least the overstay will be flagged which means entering the EU at any time in the future could be problematic, and entry denied at the border (passport flagged). This may also have implications for other non-EU counties as well.
The next tier up in penalties seems to be some sort of fine, ranging from €500 upwards, depending on the country of last departure. Increasing penalties from there include deportation, or imprisonment.
Those penalties appear to be linked to the nature of the overstay… whether for example you have been working, or claiming social security etc (which won’t be the case for your friends).
There’s also some commentary that as an ‘overstayer’ it may invalidate your access to things such as reciprocal health agreements, or potentially even your travel insurance. You would be an unlawful overstayer at day 91.
Does it get flagged? I would suggest ‘yes’. On my last trip I entered Germany through Frankfurt but the border officer forgot to stamp my passport. This was picked up just three days later on leaving the Czech republic… and I had to prove I’d only arrived three days before. (And I would have thought that would have been ‘in the system’ electronically… but they weren’t accepting that!)
Options… spend time outside the EU. Get the airlines to reschedule as the passenger will be in violation of their right to stay (it doesn’t make sense that an airline reschedule would result in a delay of 6 days as EU261 requires re-routing at the earliest opportunity. So that excuse is perhaps unlikely to sound convincing!). Thirdly… apply for an actual visa allowing a stay of more than 90 days.
