# travelling to cyprus with nie?



## thewaterbearer (Jun 15, 2011)

Hey guys!

Quick question- I´m from India, and I have a valid student NIE here in Spain. I entered a 8 months ago on a student Schengen visa (which is now expired). 

I know I can travel to countries like France and Germany on my NIE without a separate visa, I wanted to check, can I travel to Cyprus as well without any special permission? To my knowledge, it´s not a part pf the Shengen, but it is part of the EU, so I´m not sure.

In case I do need a separate visa, could someone tell me how to go about it? I´m based in Barcelona. 

Thanks so much for your help!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

thewaterbearer said:


> Hey guys!
> 
> Quick question- I´m from India, and I have a valid student NIE here in Spain. I entered a 8 months ago on a student Schengen visa (which is now expired).
> 
> ...


A NIE doesn't enable travelling anywhere - it's simply a fiscal number.

Possibly your student/resident visa does, though.


I don't know about travelling to Cyprus - if you need a via you'd get it via the Cypriot consulate/Embassy, so I'd contact them if I were you


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

I would have thought that since your visa has expired, you shouldn't be here or anywhere else in the Schengen area, but who am I to know.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Madliz said:


> I would have thought that since your visa has expired, you shouldn't be here or anywhere else in the Schengen area, but who am I to know.


If the Visa is for ninety days, then s/he shouldn't be here and may face a fine or ban on re-entry for a period on exit.
An American friend arrived on November 4th on a ninety day visa and deliberately overstayed by sixty days - he leaves for home next Thursday.
He hopes to come back on November 1st but may well be refused in view of his overstay.
We shall see.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Madliz said:


> I would have thought that since your visa has expired, you shouldn't be here or anywhere else in the Schengen area, but who am I to know.





mrypg9 said:


> If the Visa is for ninety days, then s/he shouldn't be here and may face a fine or ban on re-entry for a period on exit.
> An American friend arrived on November 4th on a ninety day visa and deliberately overstayed by sixty days - he leaves for home next Thursday.
> He hopes to come back on November 1st but may well be refused in view of his overstay.
> We shall see.


The OP says he has a valid student visa. At least I think that's what he means. 

Student visas are usually issued in the home country & the holder wouldn't need a Schengen visa to enter Spain....... so you might be right & he doesn't actually have a valid visa....................

IF he does have a valid student visa, that gives him the right to stay until it expires. They are usually valid for the duration of whatever course the holder is studying.

I'm not entirely convinced that they give the right to travel within Schengen though.........


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## thewaterbearer (Jun 15, 2011)

hey guys, let me clarify. 
All non-european passport holders only get a spanish visa for a maximum period of 3 months at a time, no matter the duration of your stay in Spain. However, if your purpose is to study, you use that visa as a gateway to obtain a NIE which then counts as your valid residency document. The NIE is given to you for a period of one year at a time and is extendable. 
Therefore any non european foreigner who has been in Spain for more than 3 months will have an expired visa and a valid NIE. 

This NIE, seeing as it stems from a schengen visa, counts as a valid travel document to other schengen countries like france, germany or italy, and i´ve faced no problem travelling there, even with an ¨expired¨ visa, as long as my NIE is valid. However, i simply wasnt too sure on whether it would be as simple in Cyprus as it technically does not belong to the list of Schengen countries, and i wondered if any other non european would be able to shed light on it


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

thewaterbearer said:


> hey guys, let me clarify.
> All non-european passport holders only get a spanish visa for a maximum period of 3 months at a time, no matter the duration of your stay in Spain. However, if your purpose is to study, you use that visa as a gateway to obtain a NIE which then counts as your valid residency document. The NIE is given to you for a period of one year at a time and is extendable.
> Therefore any non european foreigner who has been in Spain for more than 3 months will have an expired visa and a valid NIE.
> 
> This NIE, seeing as it stems from a schengen visa, counts as a valid travel document to other schengen countries like france, germany or italy, and i´ve faced no problem travelling there, even with an ¨expired¨ visa, as long as my NIE is valid. However, i simply wasnt too sure on whether it would be as simple in Cyprus as it technically does not belong to the list of Schengen countries, and i wondered if any other non european would be able to shed light on it


Go to the Cypriot Embassy & ask.

One more time though - a NIE is a fiscal ID number. What you say you have is a student/resident visa valid for one year. The NIE (the number) appears on it. The number itself affords you no rights in any way.


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## thewaterbearer (Jun 15, 2011)

Right, that´s what I meant when I said NIE, the student card which has NIE number on it, and is called the NIE card. Although it´s technically not a visa as its an entity separate from passport and derived from the original visa itself, it of course acts as one in terms of allowing you to study and reside in Spain.

Will call the embassy tomorrow and confirm. Thanks!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

thewaterbearer said:


> hey guys, let me clarify.
> All non-european passport holders only get a spanish visa for a maximum period of 3 months at a time, no matter the duration of your stay in Spain. However, if your purpose is to study, you use that visa as a gateway to obtain a NIE which then counts as your valid residency document. The NIE is given to you for a period of one year at a time and is extendable.
> Therefore any non european foreigner who has been in Spain for more than 3 months will have an expired visa and a valid NIE.
> 
> This NIE, seeing as it stems from a schengen visa, counts as a valid travel document to other schengen countries like france, germany or italy, and i´ve faced no problem travelling there, even with an ¨expired¨ visa, as long as my NIE is valid. However, i simply wasnt too sure on whether it would be as simple in Cyprus as it technically does not belong to the list of Schengen countries, and i wondered if any other non european would be able to shed light on it


A couple of points: your problem, if you have one, will arise when you exit Schengen. Travel within Schengen isn't a problem, there no border checks between Schengen countries, only Schengen and non-Schengen member states (that's the point of Schengen) and your NIE simply isn't a travel document, as I'm sure your Embassy will tell you. An NIE is an internal Spanish identity document and means nothing outside Spain. 
People outside the EU/Schengen area can apply for various types of visa. Not all visas are for ninety days only, you can apply for much longer stays.
I'm no Schengen expert but I did some research to help my US friend who has overstayed his ninety days.
It seems he may be lucky and have no problems....or he could be fined...or he could find that he faces a three or ten year ban when he applies for re-entry. It will probably depend, as with so many things in Spain, on who you deal with on the day.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

mrypg9 said:


> A couple of points: your problem, if you have one, will arise when you exit Schengen. Travel within Schengen isn't a problem, there no border checks between Schengen countries, only Schengen and non-Schengen member states (that's the point of Schengen) and your NIE simply isn't a travel document, as I'm sure your Embassy will tell you. An NIE is an internal Spanish identity document and means nothing outside Spain.
> People outside the EU/Schengen area can apply for various types of visa. Not all visas are for ninety days only, you can apply for much longer stays.
> I'm no Schengen expert but I did some research to help my US friend who has overstayed his ninety days.
> It seems he may be lucky and have no problems....or he could be fined...or he could find that he faces a three or ten year ban when he applies for re-entry. It will probably depend, as with so many things in Spain, on who you deal with on the day.



[Pedant start]
It's not even that - it's simply a number which may be printed on a number of different documents. It has no importance than to be required for fiscal transactions within Spain.
[Pedant end]

... which you knew anyway but just for clarification as the OP seems confused (there is no such thing as an NIE card to my knowledge).


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## kingkongx (Oct 25, 2015)

My initial visa is for one year and expires in December´16.
I have got a Spanish resident card which expires in December´17.
I have been informed that resident card allows me to travel in & out of Spain even after the visa expires.

Spanish resident card allows you to travel to any schengen zone country.
Schengen Visa Countries List - Schengen Area


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

kingkongx said:


> My initial visa is for one year and expires in December´16.
> I have got a Spanish resident card which expires in December´17.
> I have been informed that resident card allows me to travel in & out of Spain even after the visa expires.
> 
> ...


Exactly - it's a resident card - not a 'NIE card'......


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