Greece Romania and Bulgaria on two entry Schengen visa

Question

I am an Indian Passport holder and I have a 2 Entry type C Schengen Visa issued from Greece. My travel is initially 4 days in Greece followed by road trip to Romania and Bulgaria and I fly back from Bulgaria. Will I be able to make this whole trip on the 2 entry type c Schengen visa.

Answer 1

If you travel only between these three countries, then you remain within the Schengen Area the whole time, and even a single-entry visa would be enough.

Romania and Bulgaria are said to be in the Schengen Area "for air travel only", but what this means is just that there are still checks at the land borders between them and the rest of the Schengen Area. When you cross any of these borders, you're still just moving from one Schengen Area country to another Schengen Area country, that does not count as an entry.

While this was different before Romania and Bulgaria joined the Schengen Area, this is now the way it works.

If however you do cross the border to other neighbouring countries (e.g. Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey...) and then re-enter the Schengen Area, then that would count as a new entry.

A few notes, though:

• You say your visa was issued by Greece, but you only intend to stay 4 days in Greece. How long are you planning to stay in Romania and Bulgaria? You shouldn't stay more than 4 days in either, Greece must remain your "main destination" (with most officials considering it's the country you stay the most days in).

• Make sure you double-check both the start and end validity dates and the max duration shown on your visa.

• Remember that any day you are in Schengen, even for 5 minutes, counts as a full day.