Surprise! I'm Back!
I said earlier that I had more to say about my trip to London, and here it is: Their immigration officers totally intimidated me out of overstaying my visa so I decided instead to cut my stay in Europe short.
Eh, blahh, there’s a lot of legal details you probably don’t want to hear, but basically, if you’re not a student you can’t get a visa for more than 90 days in Spain. But I had previously read and thought I would take my chances on something a lot of people do: before their 90 days is up, they travel to another country and then back to the “Schengen country” and get restamped so it looks kind of like their 90 days is renewed.
But London, dammit, I think suspected what I was trying to pull and interrogated me for like 10-15 minutes and tore everything out of my bags. I hadn’t even overstayed yet! But they put this note in my passport that said that I better leave on time like I said or their will be consequences the next time I pass through the UK. Those consequences vary, but they always include a fine anywhere from $500 to $5,000 and a 5 year ban from Europe.
So that’s why I’m back (in New York City). Tomorrow I’ll write more about why I don’t need your pity. Coming back definitely isn’t the end of the world :)
1 year ago