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I'm a US American, I'm currently visiting my brother in Germany, my 90 days visa is expiring in June, do I need to go back to the states?

If so, how soon can I return to Germany? Or can I request to extend my visa and which embassy should I go to request the extension of my stay?

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The rules for short stays (with or without visa) are already explained in How does the Schengen 90/180 rule work? and extending your stay is simply not possible. Legally, Schengen member states can still issue something called a “limited territoriality visa” to allow you to stay after you used up your 90 days but this is intended for diplomats or humanitarian purposes so it won't be available to you. Basically, you need to stay 3 months (90 days) out of the Schengen area.

The only other option is to get a German long-stay visa, e.g. by marrying someone or finding a high-skill job (you need quite a lot of paperwork to get a permit) but that's about it. A somewhat more realistic options for other people (e.g. New Zealanders or Canadians) would be a working holiday visa but since the US does not participate in this programme, that won't help you.

Finally, you do not need to go back to the US or any particular country (say your country of residence), you just need to stay out of the area. Three months in Croatia, the UK, or Turkey would be enough to get another 90 days of visa-free stay.

Incidentally, you don't have a Schengen visa and couldn't get one as US citizen, what you are doing is a visa-free short stay.

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  • Thank you. I was getting all confused, reading different posts, thank you for clarifying!
    – user13323
    Commented Apr 30, 2014 at 9:10
  • This is not correct information. You can extend your tourist visa in Portugal - transitionsabroad.com/listings/living/articles/… Commented Aug 22, 2016 at 11:39
  • @BhushanLodha The web page in question is a little confused (and confusing) but what it is about is a Portuguese long-stay visa, not an extension of the Schengen visa beyond the 90-day maximum stay. Such a visa would only be valid for an extended stay in Portgual, Short of granting citizenship, Portugal cannot authorize the OP or anyone else to stay longer than 90 days in Germany.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Aug 22, 2016 at 13:12
  • @Relaxed: Thats true someone can practically still stay in Portugal for more than 90 days even if they come on Schengen C/tourist visa. Commented Aug 22, 2016 at 17:29
  • @BhushanLodha Yes, but that's not what the question is about. As I already wrote in my answer, the only solution is to get a long-stay visa. And in Germany, unlike Portugal, you cannot easily get one just for tourism. But US citizens can, in fact, apply for one after entering without a visa, I never implied that they could not (incidentally, the OP did not have a Schengen visa).
    – Relaxed
    Commented Aug 22, 2016 at 18:42

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