"Visa Run" without leaving the airport?
 

Wondering if anyone has had any experience with this "hypothetical"...

Let's say you needed to leave the country and return to get a new entry stamp in your pasport after you are about to pass the limit of the previous one. Could you buy a refundable ticket, check in and go through passport control to get the exit stamp, then tell someone that you wanted to leave the airport, and go through arrivals?

There is no real restriction on getting a new stamp in this imaginary country. Many people simply take a bus to the border and then turn right around and come back.

The one thing I'm mainly concerned about is that unlike CDG, this airport doesn't mix arriving and departing pax, so I'm not sure whether I can get to the arrivals area without some sort of official intervention...

Ok.. try to imagine an airport like... hmmm.. I dunno... IST maybe ;)

Thanks in advance for any input.

-R

Don't try this with Schengen countries since SIS I/II won't count you as being out of the zone since any part of a day in the zone counts as if you had been there for the whole day. So if on 8/15 you go into the non-Schengen zone at AMS and then go back toward Arrivals at AMS on either 8/15 or 8/16, it'll count your presence in the Schengen zone as if you had never left the zone. At least that's how it's supposed to work. Better to stay outside of an immigration zone for at least two nights so you don't run afoul of such a counting method. At AMS you probably could stay airside in the non-Schengen zone for both nights, not that I'd ever suggest that (although the Mercure hotel is there).

That's interesting. I didn't know that about Schengen.

Fortunately, I'm not dealing with Schengen here.

Guess this is a bump... anyone else?

Thanks.

Since most countries now keep computerized immigration records and require computerized passenger manifests from the airlines, I doubt this trick would work in any but the most undeveloped countries.

When arriving, immigration officers often scan your passport and cross-check it electronically against the passenger manifests they have on file. If something doesn't check out, prepare for extra questioning, during the course of which they will probably figure out what you're doing. I doubt it will be allowed.

I would look for LCCs which serve your airport. If we're staying within the IST hypothetical, two good options would be www.germanwings.com or www.easyjet.com, though it may vary for the actual airport. ;)