When will schengen visa be valid for East Europe

[seabhcan]

I know that 9 of the 10 new EU members are implementing Schengen on land on Dec 21 and at airports on March 2008, but when will they accept Schengen visas issued by another member state?]

My wife has a Schengen visa issued by France (valid till 2009). She's used it to travel widely around the old EU, but we've been waiting for the new states to join before visiting there.

I've contacted both the EU ("Europe Direct") and the Czech embassy in Dublin about this. Neither gave a straight answer.

Anybody got any insight?

[Richard66]

The information I've just found is that as from 1 September the Schengen visa is valid in the Czech Republic, as well as Residence Cards. This I found on the Internet site of the Czech Embassy in Rome. Moreover, she may travel with you, though I notice they don't want to accept UK or Irish visas or Residence cards.

See this link, in Italian, however:

http://www.mzv.cz/wwwo/default.asp?Pare ... 105&idj=24

We now seem to have two EUs:

UK and Ireland

Rest of Europe.

I hope the Government is basking happily in their new-found glory.

[seabhcan]

The information I've just found is that as from 1 September the Schengen visa is valid in the Czech Republic

Are you sure? (I don;t know italian - so I can't check myself)

The e-mail i got from the Czech embassy said that Schengen visas are currently only valid for transit.

[John]

According to this webpage :-

The European Council of December 2006 welcomed the prospect of internal border controls being abolished as of December 2007 (land and sea borders) and by March 2008 (air borders) at the latest, provided all the conditions for application of the Schengen acquis have been met. This enlargement should concern nine new EU Member States (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia).

As regards the question, when will they accept Schengen visas issued by other Schengen countries, the answer surely must be .... a basic principle of Schengen .... as from the December 2007 and March 2008 dates mentioned above.

That is how Schengen works ... one such visa is valid in all Schengen countries.

[seabhcan]

According to this webpage :-

The European Council of December 2006 welcomed the prospect of internal border controls being abolished as of December 2007 (land and sea borders) and by March 2008 (air borders) at the latest, provided all the conditions for application of the Schengen acquis have been met. This enlargement should concern nine new EU Member States (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia).

As regards the question, when will they accept Schengen visas issued by other Schengen countries, the answer surely must be .... a basic principle of Schengen .... as from the December 2007 and March 2008 dates mentioned above.

That is how Schengen works ... one such visa is valid in all Schengen countries.

That's what I'm assuming too - but I'd like some firmer info than just assumptions.

What you're supposing above would mean that Czechia would continue to deport people arriving to airports with a Schengen visa until March, when these people would admitted by land.

This would seem to be an extraordinary policy. I'm not saying this couldn't be the case, but I'd like to know for certain.

[raina]

This URL below has a lot of information in English about the Czech Republic and Shengen,

But its best to call the embassy and find out after a month or so when they should be better informed.

http://www.euroskop.cz/58028/121136/cla ... e-borders/

[raina]

seabhcan- Even now they are allowing a 5 day transit to people who hold a valid shengen visa according to this URL from the Czech Embassy Hongkong.(but transit generally means passing through a country to reach another )
http://www.mzv.cz/wwwo/default.asp?ido= ... tIDO=13878

[seabhcan]

As opposed to land borders, border checks at international airports will remain in place for flights within the enlarged Schengen area probably until 29 March 2008. Does this mean that from January, in practice, aliens with a Czech residence permit will be able to travel to Schengen without a visa by land, but when travelling by air, they will have to obtain a visa - till the end of March?

The fact that checks will be removed first at land borders and only subsequently at airports is only an organizational complication. The conditions for entry and stay in the territory of the Czech Republic will not change whether crossing land or air borders, differing only in the necessity to pass through a passport control at selected international airports for another three months after 31/12/2007.

Thus as of 31/12/ 2007, aliens with a valid Czech residence permit will be able to travel within the Schengen territory for up to three months with a valid travel document and a Czech residence permit only, without the need - if subject to a visa requirement - to apply for a Schengen visa. A visa won't be necessary whether travelling by land or by air; however, as opposed to crossing the land border, until March 2008 they will have to subject themselves to a passport control at international airports.

I found this at http://www.euroskop.cz/58037/clanek/faq/

It seems to suggest that Schengen visas will be accepted for entry to Czechia from December 31 2007.

PS. Thanks Raina. I know about the 5 day transit (and I know that the 'transit' aspect is loosely inforced) but we want to go to Prague for a holiday - fly directly there and back.

[seabhcan]

I finally got a proper answer out of the Czechs:

From the date of our accession to the Schengen area (probably from December 31st 2007) we will accept valid Schengen visas.