CrazyTalk

Hi,

First post, bit of a question simply due to the urgent timing of it all...

My girlfriend has just received a Schengen visa from the Netherlands consulate in Russia. She detailed her flight plans as flying out on 30th April, however the visa has come back saying the start date as being the 1st May.

Her flight involves a change in Frankfurt at about 1pm on 30th April. I have tried to find information about when the visa is checked, and I think I've come to the conclusion it is checked in Frankfurt before she can go to Amsterdam.

Is it possible for a embassy to change a visa start date (when incorrect) in such a short period of time? The embassy was on holiday for two weeks, and then took another week to process the visa application, hence why it only came today.

I've also read that it's possible the visa 'start date' is actually when the person enters the Schengen region, however this does not make sense to me...

One final option, if she did travel and got to Germany, would she be held within the airport until the visa was valid, or would she be held in Amsterdam (final destination) until the visa becomes valid?

Thank you for any help you can provide! She will be calling the embassy tomorrow morning however any help or advice would be greatly appreciated...

David-A

Keep in mind the first people you need to satisfy are not in FRA, they are the airline at her point of origin. If they think she could be refused entry, they might decline to fly her.

Next do check that nothing about the visa allows entry and exit days to be in immediatly before after the valid days. [I've not heard such discussed in ages, but can recall hearing that concept some times in the past - not sure which country it was in relation to.]

RichardInSF

Welcome to FT, CrazyTalk! It is correct that you will enter into Schengen territory at FRA on this routing. But where is your GF flying from? If she is flying from North America, for example, if she departs on April 30, it will almost certainly be May 1 when she arrives at FRA.

GUWonder

If arriving in the Schengen zone without valid travel document(s) or other circumstances applicable for entry into the Schengen zone, the detention ordinarily occurs in the first instance in the first Schengen country on the itinerary -- in this case, that would be Germany. That's if the airline even allows the passenger to fly to Germany.

Sounds like Russia or some place from which the arrival date in the Schengen area would be the same as the departure date from the relevant non-Schengen country -- or perhaps it's a mileage run.

CrazyTalk

Thanks for the replies so far!

Yes, she is traveling from Moscow. Her visa application originally covered the 30th April but it seems a mistake was made and it came back starting beginning of May, so there's no way she would arrive in the country when the visa starts, only before...

By detention, I guess this means 'being held' within the airport until the valid start of the visa. Although not ideal we have discussed the idea of her continuing the rest of the journey from Germany by train or car, but would this require a different kind of visa? (hers is type C but issued by the Netherlands embassy). Obviously if her detention occurs in Germany she will miss the connecting flight.

I will post any more I hear about the embassy in case in future someone else gets into such a situation

CrazyTalk

So she just spoke to the airline, you are correct, they will not let her fly out of Moscow on a visa that will not start at the time she arrives in the Schengen region.

She has been told there's a 'possibility' if she goes to the visa office that they 'may' be able to change the date of the visa then and there. Worst comes to worst she'll rebook her flights...

B747-437B

The visa is not valid. She will not be boarded in Moscow. She will need to either apply for a new visa for the 30th of April or else change her travel dates.

David-A

I think that is pretty much what the OP just posted.

abhilife2001

hmmm.. so how did this go ? did the embassy change the dates or were the plans changed ?

MHG

She will be denied boarding in Moscow unless her visa starting date is changed beforehand.
Since she flies via FRA the flight to Germany is what counts as FRA is her first port of entry into the Schengen zone.
She will go through immigration in FRA but pass through customs at AMS !
The flight FRA-AMS is considered a domestic flight.

William S

That is correct what is stated here. You cannot fly into the Schengen area even ONE day before the visa starts. The airline will deny her. I suggest rebooking the flight, but well the dates mentioned in this post has already passed.

OfBurghers

I am not sure if I am using this correctly, but I m new to this forum. Anyway, I ran into the same issue as the original poster. I just noticed that my visa starts one day after I am scheduled tor each there, even though my application form had it right and my flight tickets were sent in my visa application package.

Has anyone encountered this recently, or does the answer stay the same as above-- reschedule trip? It seems a pain to do that given that its only a few hours before my visa becomes valid, and its not my mistake in the first place (I know, not the kind of argument that goes over well in such scenarios). Please help urgently. My original scheduled departure is 24 hours from now.

GUWonder

The answer stays the same as before -- reschedule the trip, or see if you can get the visa changed in time by the visa-issuing facility.

OfBurghers

Oh well :-(

Thanks for the quick reply!