Update on Schengen visa with Mother in Law

[willsk22]

Hey all,

just to let you know, the Spain trip went ahead and was brill....

just to highlight a coupla areas that may be useful to others.

Got MULTI entry Schengen visa from French emb Moscow. Unusual apparently for 1st Schengen, but she1d had several UK and we `were` gonna stay in Lille and pop into Belgium (hence multi entry)

Decided against it and went to mates apartment in Spain. Easyjet did cursory check at LGW of wifes Russian passport/ UK ILR/ CZECH Schengen!! And Mum in Laws Russian passport / French Schengen!! No probs and off we go... got to Alicante no passport/ customs and as my mate who collected us said, that late night flights dependant on origin may not get customs/passport control... as ours was from london, landing local @ 22.00....

So we had free and easy entry (apart from M in L`s few quid on visa).. so to those who are tempted to chance or try their hand, see all my posts we`ve not had problems despite hardly sticking to the letter of the (Schengen) law....

in other words " the (Schengen) law is an mule" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ca.funke]

Got MULTI entry Schengen visa from French emb Moscow. Unusual apparently for 1st Schengen, but she1d had several UK and we `were` gonna stay in Lille and pop into Belgium (hence multi entry)

"Multi" or "Single" entry counts for entry into "Schengen". Therefore your Belgian intermezzo (I'm from there, hope you liked it ) is no reason for a Multi.

I'd just say you're extremely lucky on all accounts here

...got to Alicante no passport/ customs and as my mate who collected us said, that late night flights dependant on origin may not get customs/passport control... as ours was from london, landing local @ 22.00....

Are you trying to tell me that you arrived in Alicante(Spain) from London(UK), and there was no check at all?

That would be a serious breach of Schengen-rules by Spain

Not that I'd care, just highlighting the fact that this should not be the case under any circumstances.

BTW: If you entered Schengen without any check, there was obviously no stamp in the relevant passport. How did you explain that on exit? Or no-one even asked about that?

Regards, Christian

[willsk22]

No check on exit either!!!

Bit of a joke really, seeing as neither of them had a visa for the country we were in (i understand about the schengen states- but spain was neither meant to be the 1st port of entry or main destination...)

[Wanderer]

I don't think MIL will get another French-issued Schengen tho!

[ca.funke]

...as neither of them had a visa for the country we were in...

Schengen is Schengen. At least once you have the visa. Strangely enough the issuance is handled quite differently throughout, although it shouldn't.

It doesn't matter which Visa you have and where you subsequently enter and/or go.

I entered Italy with an Austrian Visa, Portugal with a Belgian one...

I don't think MIL will get another French-issued Schengen tho!

Why shouldn't she get another one?

Should questions be asked upon re-application ("why do you have a visa, but no stamps..."), I see three options:

1. telling the truth - there were no checkpoints and therefore the PP wasn't stamped.
   • I just think this may not be a good idea, as it won't be believed
2. EU-Spouse-PP's should not be stamped. Therefore you could say that the official saw the spouse's PP first, and subsequently seems he forgot to stamp the MIL's PP.
3. Just say you never went as plans changed, and now the visa expired, therefore you need a new one.

[Wanderer]

I don't think MIL will get another French-issued Schengen tho!

Why shouldn't she get another one?

I have (almost) direct experience here, my mate's Russian wife got a French issued Schengen and only went to Estonia (via Holland) on it - ie never touched French soil - few months later applied for another one - denied cos she had no proof in passport she ever entered France on the previous one.

This was about six months ago or so.