Overstaying the Schengen 90-Day Short-Stay

[salt cured]

Citizens of some countries are permitted visa-free 90-day short-stays within the Schengen area every 180 days. Fair enough, but what if someone is a citizen of two of these countries (say Canada and the USA)? I'm wondering if this person (i.e., me) could spend 90 days on one passport, leave the Schengen area briefly, then reenter on the other passport and stay another 90 days, and then repeat the cycle to stay indefinitely.

I've found a few blogs discussing methods to extend one's stay, but nothing mentioning this potential "loophole" (though maybe the rules explicitly prohibit it and it's not a loophole, not sure). Thought I'd ask if anyone here has heard of this idea. I'm generally pretty risk adverse, so I'm not sure I'd risk the penalties if it's a grey area.

[BussoV6]

Surely it's just easier to get a visa for the required length of time?

[Sibley]

I know very little about visas, etc. But I highly doubt that someone with Canadian and US passports is going to have a difficult time getting a visa for the EU. Given that, trying to circumvent the rules seems silly, particularly since you run the risk of being blacklisted if you get caught.

[Bernard]

As a former US immigration attorney I can answer your question. The Entry/Exit system deals with people, not passports. It works with specific markers, such as first name, last name, date of birth, place of birth, height, weight, eye color, hair color, etc. So if that hypothetical person has different names in their passports (I have 3 passports with 2 different names as I changed my name when naturalizing in the United States), different birth dates, different birth places, and ideally different fingerprints to trick the reader of the biometric chip, then this will most likely work. Such a person would most likely be a spy for a foreign government though. Otherwise, not so much . . .

[Rosy]

Citizens of some countries are permitted visa-free 90-day short-stays within the Schengen area every 180 days. Fair enough, but what if someone is a citizen of two of these countries (say Canada and the USA)? I'm wondering if this person (i.e., me) could spend 90 days on one passport, leave the Schengen area briefly, then reenter on the other passport and stay another 90 days, and then repeat the cycle to stay indefinitely.

I've found a few blogs discussing methods to extend one's stay, but nothing mentioning this potential "loophole" (though maybe the rules explicitly prohibit it and it's not a loophole, not sure). Thought I'd ask if anyone here has heard of this idea. I'm generally pretty risk adverse, so I'm not sure I'd risk the penalties if it's a grey area.

Wouldn't it be easier to apply for dual citizenship?

[Bernard]

Wouldn't it be easier to apply for dual citizenship?

If you know where to apply. At this point in time, the only agency that can grant "dual citizenship," that is citizenship to two countries at the same time, is the Confederation of Humanoid Planets (CoHP) and as far as I know, Earth is not a member planet yet and won't be for centuries to come.
Until that happens, a person can only apply for one citizenship at the time, and that usually means qualifying for immigration, spending years as a permanent resident, and, eventually, naturalizing. It's not like applying for a credit card . . .

[salt cured]

As a former US immigration attorney I can answer your question. The Entry/Exit system deals with people, not passports. It works with specific markers, such as first name, last name, date of birth, place of birth, height, weight, eye color, hair color, etc. So if that hypothetical person has different names in their passports (I have 3 passports with 2 different names as I changed my name when naturalizing in the United States), different birth dates, different birth places, and ideally different fingerprints to trick the reader of the biometric chip, then this will most likely work. Such a person would most likely be a spy for a foreign government though. Otherwise, not so much . . .

That makes sense! Do passports include that bio information in the chip? I believe mine have only have name, DOB, place of birth, and sex printed in the booklet.

[ROF Expat]

I'm not an immigration lawyer or an official in a Schengen country, but as a former immigration official, I would discourage you from trying this.  Presumably, the intent of the "short stay" visa-free  system is to allow visitors to have long holidays.  If you use your two passports to stay for very long periods and you get caught, what you view as a "loophole" would probably be viewed by police and immigration officials as immigration fraud.  I don't know what the repercussions would be, but I would expect them to take a very hard look to understand why you were circumventing their rules.  This hard look and the possible repercussions would probably be more troublesome than just getting permission for an extended stay without permission to work. 

I think use of biometrics still varies from country to country, but if you are traveling on first world passports with embedded chips, they will have biometric info.  I can't say exactly how likely you are to get caught, but these days countries have a strong interest in knowing who enters and leaves and they generally have the technology to figure out who you are even if you use a different passport or change your name.  That was the whole point to introducing biometrics. 

[jim555]

All they have to do is check name, birth date and birthplace, seems like they would easily pick up you are the same person.

[jim555]

Wouldn't it be easier to apply for dual citizenship?

If you know where to apply. At this point in time, the only agency that can grant "dual citizenship," that is citizenship to two countries at the same time, is the Confederation of Humanoid Planets (CoHP) and as far as I know, Earth is not a member planet yet and won't be for centuries to come.
Until that happens, a person can only apply for one citizenship at the time, and that usually means qualifying for immigration, spending years as a permanent resident, and, eventually, naturalizing. It's not like applying for a credit card . . .

Or if your parents are European a lot have citizenship by descent for children.

[Playing with Fire UK]

Wouldn't it be easier to apply for dual citizenship?

If you know where to apply. At this point in time, the only agency that can grant "dual citizenship," that is citizenship to two countries at the same time, is the Confederation of Humanoid Planets (CoHP) and as far as I know, Earth is not a member planet yet and won't be for centuries to come.
Until that happens, a person can only apply for one citizenship at the time, and that usually means qualifying for immigration, spending years as a permanent resident, and, eventually, naturalizing. It's not like applying for a credit card . . .

Or if your parents are European a lot have citizenship by descent for children.

That is massively more involved than applying for a visa.

Depending on your plans you may be able to spend your 90 days in non-Schegen but still European countries. Are you looking to travel or to live? You'll struggle to do normal day-to-day things like open a bank account and rent an apartment if you are overstaying/loopholing a short stay visa-free permission.