Dear editors,
I have a question about the multiple entry Schengen visa C of a Thai colleague in combination with a new passport and a new visa (multiple entry).
The old visa in her old passport expires on September 18, 2018 and she will receive her new visa in her new passport next Thursday. I suspect that the stamp in her new visa will take effect on September 19, 2018. The embassy told her that she must enter Europe with her old visa and leave Europe with her new visa. This would be a new arrangement?
She will probably run into problems with the 90/180 scheme later this year as she has to travel a lot for work. Can someone tell me where I can find this new regulation. And how can she possibly circumvent this?
Thanks in advance,
Leo
Dear Leo,
A new multiple entry visa (MEV) will indeed take effect after the current visa is about to expire. After all, a person may not have two valid Schengen visas at the same time. Brussels writes about this in the visa handbook: “A holder of a multiple-entry visa may apply for a new visa before the expiry of the validity of the visa currently held. However, the validity of the new visa must complement the current visa, ie a person cannot hold two uniform visas valid for the same period in time.”. The new MEV should therefore be valid from September 19 if the old one expires on September 18.
I can't tell from your story when your colleague will travel to the Netherlands? If she leaves on a date that still falls within the old visa, she will enter with that old visa/passport. During her stay in the Netherlands/Europe, the one visa will expire but the new visa will start. She then uses the new visa/passport when exiting and, if requested, shows the old passport to prove when she entered the Schengen area. So keep both passports well, but initially only show the 'usable' passport with a valid visa sticker so that a sleepy official cannot stamp incorrectly.
But how does the embassy realize that this is a new arrangement? The employee may be mistaken or the knowledge of this front desk employee is deteriorating somewhat since the embassy is only a transfer desk that sends applications to the RSO (Kuala Lumpur) for processing by Dutch officials in the back office there.
You should not circumvent rules, only problems will arise. Make sure she is never in the Schengen area for more than 90 days in any period of 180 (rolling!) days. The easiest is therefore 90 days on and 90 days off, otherwise it is good to check by looking back 180 days on each (intended) day of stay and counting whether the maximum of 90 days has already been reached. Fortunately, there is a calculator for that (more info in the Schengen file in the menu on the left of this blog): ec.europa.eu/assets/home/visa-calculator/calculator.htm?lang=en
You really don't want to be in Europe for too long by mistake. That is overstay and means illegal residence. Only trouble will come, now or later with future travel or visa applications.
So, for example, if your colleague enters Europe on September 10 (old passport), she must ensure that she leaves no later than 90 days later (new passport). And on the next trips look back 180 days to see if she is already on 90 days. Preferably with the calculator, if you do it by heart then look back 180 days on the intended day of arrival and intended day of departure of an intended trip, but you should actually look back 180 days for all intended days of stay to be 100% sure and that can cost brain damage. If someone has completely lost count, stay away from the Schengen area for at least 90 days, then you are always in the right place.
I hope that's so clear.
Regards,
Rob V
Source: 'Handbook for the processing of visa applications' at ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/visa-policy_en