Extending itinerary and travelling to other countries on Schengen visa

Question

I stay in Amsterdam in a work permit. My boyfriend applied for a visitor visa to Amsterdam. I gave an invitation letter from the Amsterdam Municipality for accommodation and sponsorship. In his initial application, he applied for a single entry visa for 9 days.

He got his Schengen visa approved from 6th July to 20th August for a maximum stay duration of 30 days. It is a single entry visa.

I have three doubts which needs clarification from you.

1) Since he got his visa for 30 days now, can he extend his duration of stay? (Say from 9 days to 20 days)

2) Can we travel in visitor visa to other schengen countries like Switzerland and Rome (We mentioned in itinerary only Amsterdam)?

3) He has a stopover in Germany during his onward flight. Does that mean his immigration will happen in Germany? If so, will it create any problems?

Thanks

Answer 1

You may make adjustments to your itinerary after you got the visa.

You may not misrepresent your itinerary to get the visa. You should take care that you do not create the appearance that you misrepresented the itinerary, even if the changes came truly after the visa was granted.

• Entering the Schengen zone in Germany is perfectly OK. He would have documents of immediate internal travel to Amsterdam if asked.
• Doubling the intended stay looks bad.
• Going to Switzerland and Italy may look bad. Making day or weekend trips from Amsterdam to northern France or northern Germany would be a nice example of minor adjustments to the itinerary, but going as far as Rome when the original itinerary said nine days looks as if Italy was the plan all along.
• There are no systematic internal border controls. If you go to Italy by car, you may never be checked. Random spot checks will be more likely on the way back north, but those wouldn't stamp his passport.

If I were you, I'd probably do no more than one weekend out of the Netherlands, and add only a couple of days. That's the conservative answer. It would be no overstay if he stays the full duration and travels all over Schengen, but it might raise questions during the next application.