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I have a Schengen Visa issued by Germany, which expire on 11th Jan 2014, and I can remain in the zone till 11th Jan 23.59 PM. I have already visited Germany in the past with this visa, so I can travel whenever in Schengen zone directly from my country (Turkey).

I have a second Schengen Visa issued by Italy, which START on 12th Jan 2014, such that I can remain in Schengen zone from 12th Jan 00.00 AM onwards (I'm putting times to clarify which dates are inclusive).

I would like to travel to Greece with this visa: Entering the country on 6th January, and leaving the country on 19th January.

Is this allowed? Or do I have to leave the country first, and then re-enter through Italy?

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    My bet would be that you should leave Greece (and Schengen) on the 11th and go to Greece again on the 12th (you do not need to through Italy, look at travel.stackexchange.com/questions/13362/…). I would say this will work anyway, but maybe Schengen allows a visa to be valid without going through a port of entry with it.
    – Vince
    Dec 25, 2013 at 20:30
  • Lates information from the German Consulate regarding similar situation: They require direct contact from the Visa Holder and scanned copy of the Visas.
    – Karlson
    Jan 22, 2014 at 17:25

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I've contacted the consulate of Greece regarding this question. The response from the Greek consulate was:

Consulate General of Greece in New York 11:28 am (1 day ago)

I understand the problem now. You should contact the Consulate that issued the visa. He might have a problem if he continuously stays in Schengen.

Sincerely, Consulate General of Greece

ME

Sent: Τρίτη, 4 Φεβρουαρίου 2014 1:30 μμ

To: Consulate General of Greece in New York

Subject: RE: Visa Question

I apologize may be I didn't make it clear the question is actually whether he can remain continuously in Schengen area.

On Feb 4, 2014 12:54 PM, "Consulate General of Greece in New York" wrote:

If the visa is valid then he can use it. You should contact the Consulate that issued the visa as well.

Sincerely,

Consulate General of Greece

Sent: Δευτέρα, 3 Φεβρουαρίου 2014 10:03 μμ

To: grgencon.ny@mfa.gr

Subject: Visa Question

I have a friend who has 2 short term visas granted to me which turned out to be consecutive single entry visas.

Namely, One visa ends on May 2nd and the other begins on May 3rd. How he managed to achieve this I am not sure.

He has a question on whether or not he can continuously remain in Schengen area and what he will need to do to update the information?

He is arriving to Germany on April 19th for the first time in years.

My guess based on the comments received from German and Greek consulates is that consecutive visas is a rarity or should not be issued at all.

Given that I am responding after your intended visit days you might want to add what you have actually done.

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    I actually left the country and returned to be on the safe side.. A friend of mine however was in the exact same situation (we work together). He stayed in Greece through the "Visa jump" and had absolutely no problems.. Perhaps they didnt notice at border, or perhaps this is completely fine, to this day, we still dont know:)
    – B Y
    Feb 18, 2014 at 15:59
  • @BY As I mentioned below the thread. I think that consulates and border control see the situation so rarely that most are unfamiliar with it. So I would always err on the side of caution like you did.
    – Karlson
    Feb 18, 2014 at 16:12
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Staying in the area on two back-to-back visas is completely legit and is in fact discussed in the Handbook for the processing of visa applications and the modification of issued visas:

Example: A Moroccan lawyer representing a gender equality NGO who frequently participates in meetings in various Member States holds a multiple-entry-visa which expires on 31.5. She applies for a new visa on 15.4.

If a new visa is issued, it should be valid from 1.6. and in such a case the visa holder would be entitled to enter the territory of the Member States on the basis of the first visa that will expire during the stay and leave on the basis of the new visa.

Entering through Italy is not needed either but it's a little odd to have applied there if your next trip was to Greece (are you expecting to visit Italy regularly in the future perhaps?). It's not relevant in this case since you had the visa already but the Italian consulate could (should?) have refused to issue it.

That said, as Karlson wrote in his comment, it's a bit of a corner case so border guards might be unaware of the rules.

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