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I bought two flight tickets (two way) from my home country to Prague/Czech Republic as I was pretty sure I would get the visa when I applied for it. But I failed to have the Czech embassy set a time for the application process because of the high season, busy time and whatnot.

Now as I can't plan my trip as desired, I'd like to know whether there is a way to make use of the tickets. Is it possible to get the visa from another country in the Schengen area, then buy a flight ticket from Prague to that country? Or do the flights have to be connected?

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You don't even have to buy other tickets. If you can get another Schengen country to issue you a visa in time, you can fly to Prague. AFAIK, you don't have to enter the Schengen area through the country that issued the visa. I understand that the main restriction/rule is spending the larger part of your time in Schengen in that country. But I am not sure how that is enforced.

But of course if the Czech Republic's swamped with visa applications, it might be a sign that all the embassies in your country are too...

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    Good answer (and, since I haven't had a chance to say so yet, welcome!). We have several questions covering in more detail which Schengen country is competent to receive a visa application. The rule is enforced by consulates returning applications if they don't comply. If the OP constructs their trip such that another country is the main destination, then they could use these tickets to enter and exit the Schengen area through Prague with a visa issued by someone else. – Zach Lipton Aug 28 '17 at 5:45
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    The main hurdle here is in the application phase, where you need to convince the other consulate that you actually intend to go to their country as a main destination. If you present tickets to Prague and separately booked tickets from Prague to elsewhere, you will encounter some suspicion that your actual plans are to stay in Czechia and you're just "consulate shopping" -- and it will be your job to find something that can dispel that suspicion. – Henning Makholm Aug 28 '17 at 7:48

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