Schengen visa in cancelled passport

[Dawie]

If you aquire a new passport because your current passport is full and the issuing authorities cancel the old passport can you still use a valid Schengen visa that is in the cancelled passport if it is still valid?

I know that you can do this with a US tourist visa which is valid even if it is in a cancelled or expired passport, but does the some apply to Schengen visas? Also I know that if you have an ILR sticker in your cancelled passport you can use this together with your new clear passport to reenter the UK.

[jes2jes]

I believe as long as the ppt has not expired but just full this should not post a problem at all. It would have been an issue if your ppt had expired or the visa cancelled but other than that you are okay.

Just attached the new to the old and use the visa.
Jes

[Dawie]

The passport won't be expired, but it will be cancelled. I believe the standard practise for cancelling passports is by clipping the corners of the passport cover.

In any case a Schengen visa would never be issued beyond the validity a passport anyway so there's no chance of the passport being expired. This is in contrast to the Americans who will often issue a 10-year tourist visa into passports that have much less than 10 years validity left.

[Christophe]

This is in contrast to the Americans who will often issue a 10-year tourist visa into passports that have much less than 10 years validity left.

As long as the visa itself has not been 'damaged' in the process of the passport having its corner clipped off (i.e. the scissors have gone through the corner of the visa too). The Americans won't accept that visa as valid any longer - so if you are having a passport cancelled that has a US visa in it, it's worth putting a sticky with a note in the page that carries the visa, to alert the passport issuing authority.

[Dawie]

Just thought I'd update everyone on this issue. I successfully travelled to Spain this Christmas with my cancelled passport (which has my still valid Schengen visa and ILR sticker) and a brand new passport with no stamps or visas in it.

Upon arriving in Spain, I presented my cancelled passport opened at the page with the visa inside as well as my new passport. Not a word was said by the immigration officer who simply checked that the bio details pages of both passports matched each other and then also checked that the details on the visa in the cancelled passport matched the bio details pages of both passports. He then placed the entry stamp in my new passport. It looks very strange because I now have an entry stamp for Spain in my new passport but without any visa next to it, so it looks like how the passport of a non-visa national would.

Similarly I had no problems re-entering the UK. I followed the same procedure of presenting both passports and verbally explained to the immigration officer that my ILR sticker was still in the cancelled passport. He asked the usual questions they ask ILR holders these days and reminded me that I would have to continue travelling with both passports until the ILR sticker was transfered to the new passport. The UK entry stamp was also placed in my new passport (without the endorsements prohibiting employment) and the immigration officer wrote "VIPP" underneath the stamp in blue ink. I assume this stands for "Visa in Past Passport" or something like that.

All in all, there were absolutely no problems either from the Schengen side of things or the UK side.

[Jacobus]

Dawie, I am pretty much in the same boat as you (new passport + valid schengen and US visas in cancelled full passport) with the exception that I'm a dependant on my wife's 5 year work permit. Given your name we are probably travelling on passports from the same country

In my case the 2 corners of the back cover of the passport was clipped, the actual pages inside and the front cover remains un-clipped. In addition the word CANCELLED was stamped on the first page.

Regarding Schengen visas, it's been a while since the last post on this thread, does anyone know if rules have changed since then? Reason i ask is that the UK recently changed some rules regarding passport from my birth country (e.g. temporary passport no longer accepted) and I'm not sure if there were other changes.

Basically I would like to know a) will I still be let into a Schengen country and b) will I still be let back into the UK.

Thank you in advance.

PS
A friend recently travelled (on business) to the US with a new passport and his US visa in his old passport. US immigration had no problem letting him in. Rules might of changed since...

[Aplmac]

Just thought I'd update everyone on this issue.
I successfully travelled to Spain this Christmas with my cancelled passport
(which has my still valid Schengen visa and ILR sticker)
and a brand new passport with no stamps or visas in it.

..........The UK entry stamp was also placed in my new passport
and the immigration officer wrote "VIPP" underneath the stamp in blue ink.
I assume this stands for "Visa in Past Passport" or something like that.

It might also stand for Visa In PREVIOUS Passport.

I'm also aware of the phrase "Visa In Other Passport" or V.I.O.P.