One of the main questions that tourists ask before going to a particular consulate are the following: "How and where to get a multivisa for at least six months?" and "Can I, having received a Schengen visa from one country, go to another?".
It would seem that the answer to the second question is clearly spelled out in the EU Visa Code: for a visa, you must apply to the consulate of the country that is the main purpose of the trip. And if during the trip it is planned to visit several countries, a visa is issued at the consulate of the state in which the tourist will stay for more days. If in each of the countries it is supposed to stay an equal amount of time, a visa should be obtained from the diplomatic mission of the first Schengen country along the route. In other words, you just need to decide on the route, collect documents, the list of which is the same for all countries participating in the Schengen Agreement, bring them along with your passport to the consulate or visa center, pay the fee and pick up your passport with a visa in 3-7 days.
In order to go to the consulates for visas as little as possible - and this requires additional time and money - frequently traveling tourists try to get a Schengen multivisa in their passport for at least six months, or better - for an even longer period. Where to go and what rules to take into account - we will tell below.
Schengen visa element // FotograFFF, Shutterstock
"Unfriendly" consulates
In practice, it turns out that not all consulates of the Schengen countries are "friendly" towards tourists. For example:
- diplomatic missions, as a rule, are very picky about documents and issue visas for the duration of the trip. Getting "long" visas for these countries is quite difficult;
- consulates and, although they give multivisas for 1 year or more, however, they require you to provide a confirmation of the hotel or a voucher of the host company in the original;
- consulates are completely focused on working with applications submitted through travel companies.
Loyal consulates
Tourists who want to bypass the difficulties associated with obtaining original documents, as well as save money, because a visa for specific travel dates, even multiple ones, involves re-applying to the consulate before each next trip, go to "friendly" consulates in relation to tourists: turn, these are representations of , and . These consulates have a policy of issuing multiple-entry visas, valid for at least three months in the case of a first application and from six months to three to five years for a second one.
It is worth noting, however, that the period of consideration of visa applications at the Finnish Consulate in St. Petersburg during the summer holidays increases from two weeks to one month. In other consulates, the terms for issuing visas do not exceed, as a rule, 3-5 working days.
Stamps of the Schengen countries and not only // Maria Puzankova, site
The consulate can also be attributed to the number of friendly ones. True, it does not accept hotel confirmations received from international booking systems, but it allows replacing the hotel booking confirmation with a detailed description of the route or a printout of the confirmation sent by the hotel by e-mail. At the same time, in most cases, multiple-entry visas are issued, with a validity period of 3 months, with repeated application - six months or a year.
However, it is worth remembering that in order to apply for a visa, even at the most loyal consulate, you still need to provide real hotel reservations, a certificate of employment or a bank statement, as well as tickets and a health insurance policy (the exception is Finland, which does not require financial documents). And then, of course, this trip to a "loyal" country must be made using the indicated tickets and reservations.
How to use the Schengen multivisa
So, the "long multivisa" has been received. How to use it so that the representatives of the immigration services of the Schengen countries do not have a desire to "deploy" you when entering the country or add you to the database of violators when leaving the Schengen?
Visa and boarding passes // Oleg Golovnev, Shutterstock
Everything is simple! Be guided by the rules of the Visa Code (set out at the beginning of the article) and common sense. Here are the main points that a novice tourist should understand:
- The words "the main purpose of the trip" do not mean "the only one".
If your passport contains a one-year Italian visa, and you go on vacation, for example, to Hungary, this in itself is not a violation. It’s just that during the validity period it is still desirable to visit Italy and stay there at least a day more than in Hungary. - There is no "first entry" rule.
In the vast majority of travel agencies, as well as in many popular forums, information is often voiced that it is necessary to enter Schengen through the country that issued the visa. In fact, these are just inventions, because the Visa Code does not contain such a rule. Namely, this document regulates the work of immigration and border services of any country - a member of the Schengen Agreement. The myth is based on the fact that since there is no border control inside the Schengen, there is no other way to prove the legitimacy of using a visa, except to enter the state that issued it from a "non-Schengen" country.
In fact, statements from a bank account for payment for goods and services, boarding passes from domestic flights, receipts from hotels, checks from shops and restaurants, etc. can be used as evidence of visiting the country that issued the visa. - When crossing the border, clearly state the purpose of the trip.
If the immigration officer asks a question about the main country of residence, you must name the country that issued the visa. Even if at this particular moment you are not going there. In the latter case, the "correct answer" should be something like this: "I have a big trip to Italy planned in a month, but now I took the opportunity to make a short trip to Hungary. In any case, my future trip to Italy exceeds my stay in your country." You can also provide (if any) booking tickets or hotels in the country that issued the visa.
Single Entry Schengen Visa
All of the above is relevant only to multivisas - that is, visas that allow multiple entries into the Schengen Commonwealth. If you have a single entry visa, then the country that issued this type should be the main one on your trip. Entering it is not mandatory. For example, if you fly to Austria with an Austrian single-entry visa with a connection in Riga, then the country of entry will be Latvia, and you will have a Latvian stamp in your passport on the visa. This is not a violation if this is the route you specified in the visa application form. Such a case will be a violation: you received a visa to Austria, because it seemed convenient to you, but you actually went to Greece, where you rested all the time. If this becomes clear at the border or the next time you contact the consulates of the Schengen countries, there may be problems with obtaining subsequent visas.
Visa scams at travel agencies
It is easy for a tourist to make the right decisions when he arranges and carries out the entire trip on his own. However, for some reason, many citizens are sure that it is difficult and almost impossible to obtain a visa without the help of a travel agency, and therefore turn to specialists. Often they turn out to be "specialists" in quotation marks.
If you intend to visit Germany, and the travel agent advises you to get an Italian visa, because "it's easier" - run from such an office as quickly as possible. After all, first on your behalf (the visa application form will be signed by you or for you), the agency will lie to the Italian consulate, telling it that it is there that you are going to spend your vacation. And then you will need to explain to the border guards of the country of entry why you have an Italian visa, you fly in, for example, through Latvia, and you have tickets in your hands - to Germany. At best, wear out your nerves and you will have a long conversation at the border. At worst, the fraud will be recognized as a fraud and you will be expelled from Europe to your homeland.
Even worse is the situation when the agency does not tell you anything. You come to a travel agent for a visa to Germany, and after a couple of weeks they call you from the Greek consulate and ask which hotel and how many days you plan to rest. While you are thinking about what to answer, a refusal is already put in your passport, which may be accompanied by quarantine for entry into the Schengen for several months. And all because the travel agency promised you a Schengen visa, but it went not to the German consulate, where you need to go, but to the Greek consulate, since it is "easier for them."
Our advice: make visas yourself, especially if your city has a consulate of the desired country or its visa center. . If you live far away or for some other reason consider it necessary to contact intermediaries, carefully study all the documents and information in the application form that will be submitted on your behalf to obtain a visa.
If you still have questions, please ask at . We will help you understand all the nuances.
