I have a Schengen Visa to Norway valid from the 26/10/2018. As a former student in Norway, I was invited for a conference that starts on the 24th. I called the embassy if my entry date can be changed and they said it was already stamped. Except I wanted to re-apply for a new one a have the old one cancelled. I do not have that luxury of time. So I have booked a flight from London on the night of the 25th that leaves at around 9 pm and arrives in Bergen by 11:40 pm. Trondheim is my destination so I will still wait at the Bergen Airport till 7 am the next day which makes me arrive in Trondheim by 8 am on the 26th. My problem is, will Norwegian airline let me fly from London on the night of the 25th and will it be a problem arriving in Bergen at 11:40? 20minutes before midnight (which is of course still a transit)as I do not step out of the airport until the next morning in Trondheim.
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2Norwegian will almost certainly refuse to let you board the plane. Also, it's not a transit since you're staying in Norway. You have to clear immigration in Bergen. As a practical matter, it is certainly possible for you to wait to do that until midnight or later, but the airline is exceedingly unlikely to trust you to do that. If you don't, they could face a fine of probably a few thousand euros.– phoogSep 20, 2018 at 19:59
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Thank you for your response but Bergen is not my destination I have a connecting flight to Trondheim, the next morning– Adebayo AdeniyiSep 20, 2018 at 20:23
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3I understand that, but because Trondheim is in the same country as Bergen, you are not in transit from a legal or passport-control perspective. When you fly into the Schengen area in one airport, and then fly to another airport in the Schengen area, you must go through passport control to get to your second flight.– phoogSep 20, 2018 at 20:36
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2No, there's no rule concerning your time of arrival in your final destination. Just as with a flight from Lagos to Abuja, there is no passport control on arrival, so you must go through passport control before departure from Trondheim, and you must do that while your visa is valid. So yes, it would be different if your arrival in Bergen were after midnight. It's only 20 minutes, but they have to draw the line somewhere, and that point is at midnight. You can certainly try it, but I don't think you'll find anyone on this site who would predict success.– phoogSep 20, 2018 at 21:01
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1Immigration officials don't care whether your arrival on the 24th is because you're visiting Bergen on the 24th or because you're going to Trondheim the next day - they care when you arrived in Norway.– Chris HSep 21, 2018 at 6:28
1 Answer
This will not likely work. There are very few flights to Bergen from non-schengen countries. Today evening, the only arriving flight is actually the 23:40 flight from London with Norwegian. Immigration and customs facilities are only staffed directly in connection with international arrivals and departures and you must expect to be ushered through immigration immediately after deplaning.
You can't expect that Norwegian will let you board the plane in London.
Checking through luggage when transiting from an international to a domestic flight in Norway has only recently become possible in Oslo. I doubt that the 'domestic transfer' concept has been implemented in Bergen. You most likely will need to claim your luggage in Bergen, go through customs there and re-check your bags for the flight to Trondheim.
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I would add a couple of considerations. From landing to immigration time there is a nice minimum of 20 minutes (always more in my personal experience) because advertised arrival time is touchdown time. I touched down earlier only once in my life. I think the real issue is that Schengen requires the airline to pre-check the passenger list. The passenger boarding will be refused by SIS (Schengen Information System) earlier than the gate agent in London. Sep 21, 2018 at 12:04
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@usr-local-ΕΨΗΕΛΩΝ No. Advertised arrival time is not touch down time. For the purpose of delay compensation calculations as defined in the EU directive, arrival time is defined as the first possibility to leave the aircraft and this is also the time used by airlines in their schedules. Otherwise, airlines would have to pay compensation for shorter delays than expected. Since the London flight is the only flight at this time coming from a non-schengen country, I would the other way around be very surprised if anyone needs more than 20 minutes to go through passport control. Sep 21, 2018 at 12:21
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@usr-local-ΕΨΗΕΛΩΝ To put it another way, "arrival time" is when they start allowing passengers off the plane (so a few seconds after the doors first open). Sep 21, 2018 at 13:28