Staying here as a tourist

[laika]

I have a visa related question about being here in Finland as a tourist. So far I've been unable to find the information and well, maybe I'm not searching the right terms..

When you come to Finland (from outside Europe), you're allowed to stay for 3 months. If you want to stay longer, you need to leave the country and then come back; my questions is about this..

When you leave Finland, where do you have to leave to; outside Scandinavia? Outside EU or are you required to go back to your own country?
How long do you have to stay there, is there some sort of time limit? Will a short trip (for a few days) be enough, or should you be gone for weeks or months before coming back?

If this has been discussed here before, would you be so kind and direct me to the discussion in question. Thanks

cordially,
Laura

[Hank W.]

6 months outside IIRC.

[Caroline]

It used to be that a non-EU foreigner could renew a tourist visa by visiting another EU country and then returning to Finland. Now the Schengen Treaty is in effect. I'm not 100% sure, but the last I heard, the visitor visa is now valid for the entire EU, and the 3-month period is still counting even when a foreigner moves "internationally" within the EU. The passport stamp is for 3-month stay in the EU; not really any longer for the individual country that the visitor arrives in. I remember when I had to deal with that- oh was it annoying!

[Hank W.]

Or you can do the "Albanian futbol" ...