Schengen visa - Change of location

Question

The team I'm in at the company I work for was planning a team meetup in Berlin. In the interest of time and having to book for an appointment a couple months in advance, I had applied for a Schengen visa at the German consulate.

It looks like I'll be getting my visa in a week or so (I'm assuming this means it's been approved?).

However, my team decided to change locations last minute and we now might be going to either Rome (or Vienna).

I don't have any plans/interest in traveling outside this business trip - ie: I won't be staying elsewhere other than the few days where I'll be at this meetup.

How is this going to work in terms of visa? It looks like I will have to re-apply for another Schengen visa if we to go to Rome?

Answer 1

Yes, you will have to re-apply and from Italy (or from Austria) instead of from Germany.

While Schengen visa are valid for the whole area in theory, in practice you have to make the travel you applied for. As you applied for a short visit to Germany, your changed plans are really different from the one you applied for.

The reason they do not allow this kind of change is that people would apply for a visa where it is 'easy' and then travel to a different country for which it is harder to get a visa. Which is very much against the rules.