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I have a Schengen visit visa issued to me by Iceland (represented by Denmark in Canada). However, now I am planning to change my itinerary and not visit Iceland at all and instead visit France since I am on a solo trip and I feel Iceland will be a bit lonely for me for a week and also since Iceland is a bit expensive.

Can I use the same visa to enter and exit from Paris and just skip Iceland altogether? What could the repercussions be? If it helps, this is my second Schengen visit visa and I had been issued one by Austria back in 2018.

Edit: Sorry I forgot to mention that I will be travelling on board Icelandair so ideally I will still have immigration done at KEF and if I am not wrong, will not have to face border agents in Paris even if I do not stop in Iceland.

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    Iceland will not be more lonely or less lonely than France. And while not cheap there are good options to keep your expenses down.
    – Willeke ♦
    Jan 26, 2022 at 18:45
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    See travel.stackexchange.com/questions/97913/… the asker there admitted (to us) that he had lied to get the visa, but that's what the border officers in France will consider you to have done.
    – Henrik supports the community
    Jan 26, 2022 at 19:11
  • Please report back and let us know what you chose to do, and what happened.
    – DavidRecallsMonica
    Jan 26, 2022 at 19:18
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    Here is an extreme example of what can happen if you diverge from your stated travel plans on a Schengen visa (spoiler: cancelled visa, nine weeks detention, and deportation). Granted, the handling of this case has been heavily criticized (among other things for racial profiling), but it shows that the consequences can be very harsh if the border officers don't believe your story.
    – jkej
    Jan 27, 2022 at 14:27

2 Answers 2

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Well, your visa was issued under the assumption that Iceland would be the main destination of your trip.

What you want to do is possible, but the border officers that you will encounter in France are always allowed to refuse entry anyway if they believe the visa was obtained fraudulently. When one of the assumptions for granting the visa no longer holds that's an argument for fraud, but they'll probably allow you to explain yourself.

So it comes down to whether they believe you.

Having had (and stuck to the rules/limits of that) a visa before, is an argument that you'll probably adhere this time too, but they might not get to consider that.

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  • Isnt travel withing schengen treated as domestic travel. Since I am travelling on Icelandair (even if I do not stop in Iceland, I will transit through KEF), the immigration will happen at KEF right? I will not have to face border agents at CDG if I am not wrong.
    – Bhushan Kale
    Jan 26, 2022 at 22:58
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    @BhushanKale Yes, your entry stamp would be from Iceland. (You should add that to your question)
    – Mark Johnson
    Jan 26, 2022 at 23:02
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    You're right, you'll encounter border officers in KEF, but apart from obscuring the fact that Iceland ain't your main destination (the immigration officers might not know you're transting) a bit, it doesn't really change anything. The rules doesn't concern what your port of entry is but what your main destination is.
    – Henrik supports the community
    Jan 27, 2022 at 7:59
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    That would actually preclude any issue with subsequent application as all that is left after this trip are stamps from Iceland (as correctly pointed out by @MarkJohnson's last comment as there is no other travel record shared between Schengen countries).
    – Relaxed
    Jan 27, 2022 at 9:22
  • Another question, do the immigration officers see where my next flight is booked to when they use my passport at immigration counter? So will the immigration officers see that I am flying to Paris unless I tell them? This is just out of curiosity.
    – Bhushan Kale
    Jan 29, 2022 at 22:49
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Yes. See question 6 here:

Can I enter the Schengen area in country X, while the visa was issued by Schengen country Y?

As a general rule you may cross any Schengen border with visa issued by any Schengen country. However, the short-stay visa does not automatically entitle you to enter the Schengen area. See FAQ no 16 on checks at the external borders.

FAQ 16 is this:

Do I have to present any other document at the Schengen external borders apart from my travel document with the Schengen visa?

The short-stay visa does not automatically entitle you to enter the Schengen area. At border (or during other controls) you may have to show the visa but also provide additional documentation, for example information on that you have sufficient means to cover the stay and the return trip. It is therefore recommended that you carry with you copies of the documents which you presented when applying for the visa (e.g. letters of invitation, travel confirmations, other documents stating the purpose of your stay).

Since what you presented to get the visa is no longer valid, you should also have a good explanation for your change of plans (which IMHO you do, but border officers may think differently).

You added that you actually intend to enter the Schengen area in Iceland, so you're using the visa Iceland issued to you (via Denmark as their representative) to enter Iceland. The fact that the itinerary changed may still come up, but it is much less of an issue since the "visa shopping" issue that was raised in the comments is much less of an "issue" in this scenario: you have Icelandic visa and you are in fact seeking admission to Iceland.

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    More important is what the consulate, that will issue the next visa, thinks. This could result in a red flag for "visa shopping" and cause an extra interview asking for explaintions. Change of itinerary alone is not a reason for a future visa refusal. Inform the Border Guard upon entry the reason for the change. This reason should be entered into the VIS system, which will be seen during the next application. See Visa Code Handbook I (PDF) for further information.
    – Mark Johnson
    Jan 26, 2022 at 19:29
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    @Relaxed I wrote inform, not ask. You are aware that Border Guards must access VIS during the initial check and can enter data when required. If the traveler changes their itinerary after the visa is issued (thus not a fraudulent application), they should inform the Border Guard of this change and then make a decision. That should also be documented (just a refusal must be documented) when a later check of the travelers travel record will be made. I wrote that it should be the VIS system where the BG will also document a refusal of entry.
    – Mark Johnson
    Jan 26, 2022 at 22:49
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    @BhushanKale this will make things much easier for you, definitely
    – littleadv
    Jan 26, 2022 at 23:43
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    @MarkJohnson Of course a refusal of entry must be documented, that's a completely different thing. But how do you suppose a change of itinerary can be documented in the VIS? Any evidence for that? What travel record are you talking about (the EES is not operational)? You seem to be making stuff up and mixing very different things again.
    – Relaxed
    Jan 27, 2022 at 9:19
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    @MarkJohnson I have, I have actually explained those principles on this site many times, for years (I posted some answers in 2014!) Section 6.1 says nothing about the VIS or what happens at the border, stop equivocating. Do you have any basis for your contention that a border guard could add a note about an unexpected trip or your advice to approach them about it? Or any precision about this “travel record” you mentioned?
    – Relaxed
    Jan 27, 2022 at 13:34

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