Hi there,
Not severe and harsh in my opinion. It's a simple rule and 5 months is not a few days overstaying by accident, but a welll considered decision by you isn't it?
You are entitled to your opinion, and in being in communication with many in the EU Immigration circles all have agreed that this penalty, based on the background is both harsh and severe no matter what the consideration.
Ditto Utrecht.
Anyone can misread a calender and screw-up by a few days, no big deal.
An overstay of several months though is a conscious and calculated disregard of local laws/regulations and I think that 5 years is actually getting off lightly. Of course you can appeal and show special circumstances, but as an initial penalty I think you should count yourself lucky.
Cheers,
Terry
I agree with Terry and Michael - strict penalties have to be enforced, otherwise people wouldn't think anything of overstaying as long as they wanted, and the immigration situation would be total chaos.
If the penalty were a normal penalty, it would be happening to the hundreds of others who overstay in the EU each year, many who overstay for much longer than 5 months. Yet no where can I find a similar penalty for an overstay situation given to anyone, and as my friends in EU immigration circles say, it's an extremely harsh penalty... I agree. So strict/consistent penalties do not appear to be enforced, it's purely at the whim of the officer who gives out the ban. And Cheers, to say I got off "lightly" would indicate that you know of even harsher penalties for an EU overstay.. is this a fact?
Just like a person receiving a life sentence for smoking pot in the US.... illegal yes, harsh penalty, absolutely, yet it happens all the time.
Why is this thread even open? Sheesh, overstayed for 5 months(!) and "warning" others about the 5 year ban?
You got what you deserved. What were you expecting from creating this post? Sympathy?
I posted this only for the reason to share my experience of overstaying in the EU. On many forums I see people asking what happens if you overstay in the EU and most responses are that little or nothing happens.
Wrong.
Take it for what it's worth.... if you overstay, this might happen to you too. And it's not to be taken lightly.
End of discussion......
Curious about the reason you overstayed by the way. This might have something to do with the penalty. Do you want to share?
I posted this only for the reason to share my experience of overstaying in the EU. On many forums I see people asking what happens if you overstay in the EU and most responses are that little or nothing happens.
I think if you hadn't included the "I am currently working with the Dutch Consul in Vancouver to have my ban revoked...." line, people would've taken this more as the warning (helpful fact for other travellers considering overstaying) that you intended it to be, and less as something to start debating with you.
Thanks for posting, though. I think it's good to have a thread about negative consequences we can point to when others ask "Should I overstay?"
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