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I am an Indian national, currently living in the United States under a non-residence visa. I recently applied for and received a short-stay multiple-entry Schengen visa from the Italian consulate where I live and the visa explicitly states the visa type as "Turismo". I intended to use the visa to visit Milan as a tourist for a few days during Easter, with a short-stay in Geneva, Switzerland, for business purposes, and back to Milan for my flight back to the US.

However, due to several reasons, including the current security situation in Europe, I have had to shorten my stay in Milan. Therefore, I now want to land in Milan as originally intended, but instead of staying in Milan for tourism, I will be taking a train directly to Geneva for business and back to Milan a few days later for my flight back. I am thus essentially transiting via Italy.

Seeing as that the purpose of my visit has slightly changed, will this cause problems for me at Italian immigration?

Edit - I apologize for the confusion. My visa is of type 'multiple-entry'.

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  • If you are on a single entry visa, then you're not allowed back into Milan once you leave the country to Geneva. You need to have a multiple entry visa.
    – Prashanth
    Mar 24, 2016 at 4:28
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    What does your visa state on the first line, "VALID FOR"?
    – Michael Hampton
    Mar 24, 2016 at 4:48
  • @Prashanth I apologize for the confusion. I have edited my question. I have a multiple-entry Schengen visa. My main issue is the change in purpose of travel that the visa was originally issued for.
    – Pastafarian
    Mar 24, 2016 at 4:51
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    Honestly, there is no “security situation in Europe” that justifies shortening trips to Italy.
    – Relaxed
    Mar 24, 2016 at 7:00
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    @Prashanth A trip from Italy to Switzerland and back does not leave the Schengen area, so it can be done with a single entry visa.
    – phoog
    Mar 24, 2016 at 15:02

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There is no such thing as pre-defined visa types or categories limited to certain purposes in the Schengen regulations. Furthermore, many things in the regulations and other associated documents clearly show that multiple-entry visas in particular are intended to cover completely different trips.

So I am not sure exactly what the Italian authorities are thinking when they add non-standard annotations like “turismo” but I see no legal basis for any restriction of your visa to certain purposes.

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    Another possible concern is that Italy is no longer the "main destination."
    – phoog
    Mar 24, 2016 at 15:41
  • @phoog Precisely my concern.
    – Pastafarian
    Mar 25, 2016 at 2:11
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    @user2364450 If you have time to get a new visa, that would be the safest thing, but I suspect that if you have a reasonable explanation for changing your itinerary after the visa was granted, you will be okay. It is certainly true that you are allowed to travel using your multiple entry visa for any purpose allowed under a short-stay visa, business, pleasure, or otherwise.
    – phoog
    Mar 25, 2016 at 2:40
  • @phoog Not possible, as my flight's tomorrow!
    – Pastafarian
    Mar 25, 2016 at 13:32

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