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My relative, a young student and mother, was travelling to visit me in Scandinavia from Africa. She had a legal visa issued for medical reasons. When she arrived in Germany in transit, she was asked to show a return ticket. She had this but, since it didn't have any return information, she could not prove that she had it.

Neither could she show the doctor's letter because those documents had been given at the Embassy at the time of visa being issued. This led to hours of being interrogated like criminal by teams of officials, strip naked and all body parts probed by immigration officials.

Meanwhile, nobody informed us that this was happening. When they finally called, it was to inform us that her Schengen visa had been annulled and she was to be removed the next day, that she had lied about why she obtained her visa, but that she could appeal the decision.

At the time of visa issue, they had no doubt about her returning because all the documents asked for were provided.

What is the best course of action to clear her record, get another visa and travel for the doctor's appointment? Should she appeal or should she get a new passport (because it has the vis annulled and its damaged as) and apply again?

What about the pictures they took of her and information recorded about her? Does it not accuse her, in spite of her innocence? Can she file a complaint for humiliation and psychological torture?

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    Getting a new passport won't solve anything. They have all her info and will be able to identify her no matter what new passport or document she uses. The days of changing passport to change identity and beat immigration are long gone.
    – Augustine of Hippo
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 16:35
  • Thanks Sheik for taking your time to give that information. At least that new passport option is not usable. Any more helpful options are welcome.
    – nema hilda
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 16:48
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    She had this but, since it didn't have any airline information How so ? Can she file a complaint for humiliation and psychological torture She can do so but doubt anything will happen.
    – DumbCoder
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 16:49
  • Thank you too for taking time to reply. I bought her a return ticket, but on departure, they used code and only gave the departure ticket. Sad that nothing will happen, but how comes? She has a psychologists report showing trauma at being treated so badly.
    – nema hilda
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 16:58
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    I am very sorry about her situation. However the truth is that it will be a very difficult thing to overcome. What you described is very serious. I suggest you get an experience immigration attorney if you can afford it to either do the appeal or handle her new application. Why didn't the return ticket have airline information? You should always carry your application support documents with you on your trip. Being an African traveler myself I know we face discrimination however we don't know the full details of her story to judge.
    – Augustine of Hippo
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 17:04

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The first thing you need to do is establish the FACTS. You have given us her side of the story, we do not know their side. A material lie makes nonsense of any recourse you have. They typically document all that went on and provided her some paperwork to sign.

On the surface, it appears they have grounds to refuse her entry since she did not have proof of her return. She also did not have the supporting documents for her visa. These requirements are pretty standard.

Now IF you establish that she did not lie, I recommend you file an appeal. This is because a deportation in your immigration history will follow you around even when applying to other countries, unless it is addressed. You have little to lose by appealing, worst case you get denied again. If you're lucky, you get approved and clear that black mark. Additionally I believe she still needs the medical treatment she was coming for, so an appeal is in order.

A deportation is a serious immigration event and with the scenario you described, your best course of action is to retain an experienced immigration attorney.

How to appeal a refused Schengen visa?

A deportation is not like an ordinary visa refusal which one typically can appeal by oneself. Expertise is required in such matters which you likely do not possess.

Concerning the pictures, humiliation/torture and filing a complaint, once again an attorney is the best person to evaluate the case in it's entirety and offer advice. Note however there is a high bar to overcome to win such cases. They have rights to collect her information and question her although not to abuse.

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  • That is very helpful information. Thank you. Like I have mentioned, her African embassy's scandinavian office is not amused at that treatment of her. They now want the case details so that they can see what to do. Hope it saves lots of attorney fees.
    – nema hilda
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 17:40
  • I tried to upvote it, but it says something like-- votes made by those with less than 15 reputaion are accepted but might not change the public display vote score.
    – nema hilda
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 19:33
  • @nemahilda you can also accept the answer, unless, of course, you find it insufficient in some way. If someone comes along later with a better answer, you can always change the accepted answer. To accept the answer, click the check mark below the downvote button. More information: travel.stackexchange.com/help/accepted-answer
    – phoog
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 20:52
  • My husband, who is ethnic scandinavian, is horrified and angry at the way the immigration treated the victim. His argument is that just because the victim could not answer questions as expected, which could be attributed to the pressure of being interrogated like a criminal, should never have led to that kind of psychological torture in a western democratic country. He wonders how it was easier for teams of immigration police to interrogate and psychologically torture an innocent woman for over 6 hours, than simply call her airline with officesnearby & confirm if she had a return ticket etc...
    – nema hilda
    Commented Feb 25, 2017 at 1:37
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    @nemahilda Unfortunately these thing occasionally happen. Make sure you put continuous pressure on her embassy to follow up with the appeal. Many African countries governments are unable to rigorously hold foreign countries to account in these kinds of issues because they depend on them for economic aid.
    – Augustine of Hippo
    Commented Feb 25, 2017 at 7:58

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