AKA something I know about in my research on how to stay in Spain

 

If you overstay your visa a wee bit you may get slapped with a fine.

This is a more common way to deal with visa violations in Spain and southern EU members, where your money is appreciated.

If you overstay your visa something a country decides is a significant offense to the laws of visas, you can be black listed from ALL OF THE EU FOR TEN YEARS.

This I was told is more likely in serious countries who don’t want you as a potential financial drain on their economy: Germany, France, sometimes the UK (RIP their EU membership).

Dear one, don’t overstay your freaking visa. THAT is what I learned, Do Not Overstay The VISA.

There are loopholes about how long you can stay in one place, some countries don’t play that, so again BE CAREFUL.

Visit the US embassy, get stuff cleared, ask questions, make friends.
DO NOT OVERSTAY THE VISA.

Obviously, this is not an informational blog post. This is not a discourse on the fine points of laws. I didn’t even mention schengen. You need to read up on that. I’m just saying: don’t get freaking blacklisted from the EU because you caught a whim on the wind to stay in Italy a year longer than you were supposed to be there, you know?