A colleague has to visit Copenhagen for some meetings next month and is looking to understand the status of Denmark vis-a-vis the Schengen agreement following recent publicity regarding re-imposition of border controls.

Enquiries to the local Danish Embassy (the visa section is outsourced to VFS so questions are answered by local staff rather than consular staff) reveal that "Travelers to Denmark from Ghana must hold visas issued by a Danish mission abroad". There is no mention about Schengen visas being still valid for Denmark, although the default Danish visa issued is a Schengen visa.

Accordingly, he felt that it was best to apply for a Schengen visa from the Danish Embassy prior to travel. The problem is that he already holds a 2-year multiple entry Schengen visa issued by the Dutch Embassy here earlier this year. The VFS staff advise that in order to apply for a Schengen visa at the Danish Embassy, he will have to request the Dutch Embassy to CANCEL his existing valid Schengen visa. He would then obtain a single entry Danish Schengen visa and subsequently reapply for a new multi-entry Dutch Schengen visa after his return from Denmark. This does not work for him as he will be visiting the UK between his trips to Copenhagen and subsequently to Lithuania (via Frankfurt) and hence requires his multi-entry Schengen visa to remain valid.

The VFS staff are adamant that the new Danish border controls will NOT accept a Schengen visa issued by any member state other than Denmark to admit citizens of any African countries. However the catch-22 is that one can't get a Danish Schengen if one already holds a Schengen visa from another country.

Does anyone have any practical experience or clarification if the above is correct, because it seems a bit arse-backwards to me.