Schengian Visa - Entry in the state

I recently applied for a German visa from 5th Sept - 9th Sept. I did get the visa but from the 6th Sept 2011. Can I fly on the 5th from Manchester to Dresden. The flight is an indirect one. Manchester to Dusseldorf ( 18:00 - 22:00)on the 5th anf there is a 7 hour halt there. Then in the morning 6th Sept from Dusseldorf (06:00) to Dresden at 08:00.
Can I fly at all on that day (5th Sept) to Dusseldorf or should I contact the german embassy to correct their mistake,

I think the visa must be valid when you enter Germany and see border police for the first time. You may already have problems boarding the plane in Manchester. If the airport in Dusseldorf has a transit area maybe you could stay there but I am only speculating here. BTW your flight data look strange as the flight to Dusseldorf should take only about one and a half hours.

When your plane arrives you would normally clear immigration right away in Dusseldorf.

You could just take a seat right after arriving and not clear immigration until after midnight. It is only a two hour wait if your typed flight times are correct. But it would be worth calling the airport to check the immigration police hours. But I suspect they will not close before midnight.

Are you, by chance, a family member of an EU citizen who you will be traveling with?

drkails wrote:I recently applied for a German visa from 5th Sept - 9th Sept. I did get the visa but from the 6th Sept 2011. Can I fly on the 5th from Manchester to Dresden. The flight is an indirect one. Manchester to Dusseldorf ( 18:00 - 22:00)on the 5th anf there is a 7 hour halt there. Then in the morning 6th Sept from Dusseldorf (06:00) to Dresden at 08:00.
Can I fly at all on that day (5th Sept) to Dusseldorf or should I contact the german embassy to correct their mistake,

I can´t possibly imagine which flight you´re taking there, since there are many more convenient connections out there at first glance, and I just can´t find anything that resembles your times... But after all this doesn´t matter...:

Your visa is valid from the 06th, your plane leaves from MAN and arrives to DUS on the 05th.

You cannot use the transit-area in DUS, since your ongoing flight is from DUS to DRS, which is a Schengen-internal flight. As such immigration control will happen in DUS.

But maybe there is an convenient way out of this "mess": You say you´ll arrive DUS at 22:00, continuing 7 hours later, thus around 06:50 the next morning (that´s when LH 2766 leaves for DRS)?

In DUS after arriving, there is a bar-restaurant-convenience area, which is shared by arriving and departing passengers. Maybe you can just have a coffee there and wait until midnight has passed. After midnight continue to immigration, and then you can continue to check-in OR, if your bags have been checked-through, continue to the Schengen-side boarding gate.

I´d call DUS airport police to ask them if it´s possible like that, and maybe ask them to send you a fax stating that it´s OK.

Good luck!

As everyone points out it is worth checking your flight times and that the flight is non-stop.

Since I find this interesting I took the liberty to call DUS airportpolice:

0049-211-9518118

They told me that, probably, the airline won´t let you board.

They also told me that, if you make it onto the plane somehow, you won´t have problems in DUS, as long as you hang around the arrivals area until after midnight...

...I´d still try to change the visa, since the airline might, after all, not let you board.

Please let us know what you will do!

ca.funke wrote:Since I find this interesting I took the liberty to call DUS airportpolice

You are so good!