I am going to visit Colmar for three days and my plane will be land to Basel-Mulhouse airport. I am a non-Europe citizen. Should I apply for a Schengen visa through Switzerland or France?
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3Possible duplicate of Which country visa should i apply to? - Schengen – David Richerby Nov 2 '18 at 17:35
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When applying for a Schengen visa, you should apply to the country of your primary destination. Colmar is in France, so in your case you should apply for a French visa.
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The airport is located in France although it is jointly administered by France and the local Swiss Canton. In fact it is possible to exit into Switzerland without going into France but unless you have particular plans to do that you will not enter Switzerland at all.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EuroAirport_Basel_Mulhouse_Freiburg
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1If one were to accidentally pass through the wrong exit how difficult is it going to be to get to the other side? – kasperd Nov 2 '18 at 17:17
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@kasperd Switzerland and France are both in the Schengen area, so it shouldn't be any more difficult than any other time you choose the wrong exit to a building. – David Richerby Nov 2 '18 at 17:36
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@kasperd It happens all the time. IIRC you can't cross directly on the arrivals level (not obvious on this map, but on that level there's a partition between the two areas), but as per the airport FAQ, you can cross on the departures level. The checkpoint there is pretty casual, or at least was when I lived in Basel 2006-2010. – David Moles Nov 2 '18 at 17:59
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1@DavidRicherby If you bring any items relevant for customs clearance, it is surely important that you exit the airport into the right country immediately. Otherwise you may be liable for tax and duty twice. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo Nov 2 '18 at 20:01
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2@DavidRicherby: "The Schengen Zone only covers immigration controls whilst the EU is effectively a customs union." I commute from Germany into Switzerland. Both are Schengen, but Switzerland is not EU. Before Christmas, the Swiss will buy presents in cheaper Germany, try to smuggle them home into Switzerland and be apprehended by the Swiss Grenzwachtkorps. Customs are still very much a thing here. – S. Kolassa - Reinstate Monica Nov 2 '18 at 22:30
