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I am a bit confused about traveling as a researcher in Schengen countries. I am a citizen of the United States, but have a residence permit to live in Finland. Based on the immigration office here, this means I can spend 90 days out of any 180 day period in any Schengen country without a visa.

However, does this mean that I can apply for a visa as a researcher in a Schengen country and not violate the rules of my residence permit? I talked to a person at migri (immigration office; https://migri.fi/en/travelling), and they suggested that I temporarily emigrate, and then I can be on a researcher visa in the other Schengen country without it counting against the Schengen clock. Has anybody else gone through this?

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    Are you currently living in Finland? It's slightly confusing that you say you have a residence permit for Finland but tag your question us-residents.
    – hmakholm left over Monica
    Nov 6, 2018 at 15:43
  • Also, how long is the research visit to another Schengen country you're contemplating?
    – hmakholm left over Monica
    Nov 6, 2018 at 15:46
  • My apologies. I am currently living in Finland on a Finnish residence permit. I'd like to visit for 70 days, but will be traveling another 20+ days for holidays and to give a research talk in Germany around the same time, thus violating the 90 day rule.
    – Tad Dallas
    Nov 6, 2018 at 15:46

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You ought to be able to apply for a type-D national visa for the country where you'll be doing your research, with the justification being that without the visa you would exceed the 90/180 allowance. There's nothing in the Schengen codes that prevents you from holding that visa simultaneously with your residence permit, but national law or policy in Finland or the research country might have something to say on the matter.

The national visa would exclude from the 90/180 calculation any time that you spend in the country issuing the visa during the visa's validity, just as time you spend in Finland is excluded by your Finnish residence permit.

A possible problem is that when you apply for the visa they will refuse to grant it because you won't be in that country for longer than 90 days. On the other hand, if your research in the other country requires employment authorization, you might need to get a visa for that country regardless of the 90/180 rule.

In practice, the 90/180 rule isn't systematically enforced for residence permit holders, since internal border crossings are not recorded.

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