Schengen visa
 

I have a question that you guys maybe can answer. I have a friend with Colombian passport that wants to travel to France and Italy and he obviusly needs a visa. Problem is that the French Consulate here in Miami don't have appointments 'till like the end of May, and he would like to travel before, but the Italy consulate don't require an appointment. Things is that he wants to enter France first and then travel to Italy, there would be any problem if the visa was issued at the Italy consulate but he is entering through France?

Thanks

The requirement is, in fact, that if the proposed itinerary involves more than one Schengen country, the visa should be issued by the country that is the "main destination". Only if there is no "main destination" is the country of first entry to the Schengen area the country that should be applied to.

So, if your friend is arriving in France and travelling from there to Italy and will be spending a reasonable amount of time in Italy (i.e. not just passing through and then flying out, for example), then there should be no problem. (In practice, it's probably not so rigid as the rules suggest anyway.)

I would add, though, that anecdotally French consulates/embassies around the world are better organised and less hide-bound about the minutiae of the regulations than most other Schengen countries when it comes to issuing visitor visas, but if they have no appointments then Italy it might have to be!

Actually he wants to stay 4 days in France and 4 in Italy. I think he won't have any problems entering through France

It is not very likely.

None the less.Italy should be his point of entry.Sticking to the rules,French Immigration could legally refuse entry.

It happened in only a very few cases but it happened ( e.g.MUC with a Portuguese Visa ).

I don't think it's right, based on what the OP has posted, that Italy ought to be his point of entry. The traveller can make a good case that Italy is his main destination, especially since it is the destination that he is heading towards. (Only if there is no "main destination" should the visa be applied for from the country of first entry to the Schengen area.)

Of course France could legally refuse entry. A Schengen visa is no guarantee of entry in any circumstance. However, they're not going to do so on the basis presented in this thread.

This is nonsense. It is NOT against the rules to enter Schengen in a different country than the country that issued the visa.

The rules are as follows:
1) you need to apply for the visa at the Consulate / Embassy of the Schengen country which is your main destination (as in where you will spend most time);
2) if you don't have a main destination (ie 4 days in France and 4 days in Italy) you need to apply at the country where you will enter Schengen;
3) once the visa is issued, you can enter the Schengen zone anywhere. (this is for visas marked "Valid for Schengen countries", in exceptional cases they may limit the validity of your Schengen visa to a sub-set of countries)

I know people who need Schengen visas (including Colombians) and they have routinely entered Schengen in a different country than the country that issued the visa and it has NEVER been a problem.

I don't think that's correct. With a valid Schengen Visa you can enter at any entry point. They can only refuse entry if you cannot produce enough money for your stay or if there are serious doubts about the reasons why you are coming to Europe. In fact, I had friends entering Europe at AMS with a Greek visa or in MAD with a French visa, however, main destination was in both cases the country which issued the visa.