Originally Posted by
deardhir
Hi,
I am an Indian citizen, currently in US on work visa (H1B). I want to go to France, Switzerland and Italy for about 10 days total. I know I have to get a separate Swiss visa. I also know that France and Italy are covered under one Schengen visa.
As per the France consultate website, I should apply for visa for the country where I will be staying for more number of days (which is France in my case). Say, if I get the visa for France but on reaching there I decide to spend more time in Venice (Italy) and the number of days I actually spend in France are less than that in Italy, will that be a problem? I am asking this because in that case I should have got the visa from Italian consulate.
Do you think that will be a problem and do the immigration authorities in Europe check visa when you go from one country to another by Train. I will be travelling from France to Switzerland to Italy by train. My flight is from USA to France and then from Italy back to USA.
Thanks!
As you correctly point out, you apply for your Schengen visa at the Consulate of the country where you plan to spend most time. After you get the visa nobody cares that you change your plans and spend some more time in another Schengen country.
In your case you will need a multiple entry Schengen visa because you will enter Schengen twice (from the US to France and from Switzerland to Italy). This is not automatic so you should specifically ask for a multi-entry visa at the French Consulate. Once in Europe, your passport may be checked when entering Switzerland on the train, and when entering Italy on the train. Or it may not be checked. As long as you get your entry stamp upon arival in France you should be fine.