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I have a friend who is in Europe. He went there for a conference that takes place in Czech Republic and another event that takes place in Bulgaria. He flew into Helsinki from Singapore and took another flight to Bulgaria.

Between switching flights from Helsinki to Bulgaria the people at immigration gave him the exit stamp. He thought he had a multiple entry visa but as it turns out he had only a single entry visa.

He has flights from Czech Republic to Singapore(home) booked for the 28th of July. Bulgaria allowed him to enter even though his Schengen Visa had the exit stamp.

I suggested that he should go around Europe and visit countries like Bulgaria that allow people with valid Schengen Visas. Take a flight to Prague on the day he flies out to Singapore and not exit the Airport. He is flying by Finair. Can he somehow make the flight out of a European Country(let's say Bulgaria) a connecting flight and not need a Visa and fly out of Czech Republic using the flight booked earlier? Obviously without exiting the Airport.

I had even suggested him to visit embassies around Sofia but he says after contacting them some of them said that they won't be able to process the visa in Sofia and they can only do so in his home country or country of residence(Singapore). The Netherlands embassy suggested that they can proceed with the Application but will first have to cancel the existing valid Schengen visa.

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  • Not sure why this old question turned up in "hot network questions list" for me. Anyway, perhaps applying for a Czech national visa would have been a good option instead of trying to get a Schengen visa.
    – akostadinov
    Commented Mar 8, 2019 at 5:46

2 Answers 2

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I imagine it might be possible if not flying with luggage:

  • Register online for your flight to Singapore.
  • Fly from Bulgaria to Czech republic - you will be let out to non-schengen cleared area after your flight.
  • Go to your Singapore flight gate and board. You will not be entering Schengen area at any point or pass through passport control.
  • You will not be able to check in luggage because that will require going thru passport control.

This assumes you have a direct flight Czech -> Singapore and not e.g. Czech -> Finland -> Singapore. No intra-Schengen legs. If you do, you can try to re-book your flight, e.g. go from Bulgaria to Helsinki directly and there board a Singapore flight without connecting leg.

This also assumes you're missing your Czech event because you're not exiting airport.

This also assumes that Czech airport (Prague?) has cleared non-Schengen transfer area and that there are flights from Bulgaria coming in before Singapore flight is departing, and you're on it.

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    By registering online you mean check in Online? Yes, the flight goes via Helsinki. Will Finair accept the flight if he misses the Prague -> Helsinki link? Will contacting the Airline help? Can he possibly get a temporary visa just for flying out of Czech Republic?
    – gyani
    Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 16:17
  • @gyani Does he have a single Prague-Helsinki-Singapore ticket?
    – Crazydre
    Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 16:27
  • Yes, that's a Single Ticket - Finnair
    – gyani
    Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 17:01
  • @gyani Yes he should rebook the ticket to drop the first leg and instead fly to Helsinki from Bulgaria without entering Schengen (via Moscow for example). Keep in mind that skipping the first leg without telling the airline will likely lead the whole trip to be cancelled.
    – alamar
    Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 19:48
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    @Crazydre what if you call them and ask to change your itinerary?
    – alamar
    Commented Jul 17, 2017 at 7:01
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Your friend made a grave mistake somewhere

Connecting at Helsinki, if the trip from Singapore to Bulgaria was on one ticket, he should not have cleared Finnish immigration at all; thus, his Schengen visa should not have been "activated"

If it was on separate tickets (meaning luggage had to be collected) then he should in fact have specifically requested a double-entry visa, presenting the itinerary as evidence and noting that it's on separate tickets (meaning luggage has to be collected past immigration).

Unfortunately your friend is completely out of luck regarding the Czech event. Most, if not all, Schengen embassies will not process visas for people not citizens or legal residents of the country of location.

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  • Can he still fly out of the country without entering Prague?
    – gyani
    Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 16:19
  • @gyani If it's in a single booking, then yes. Means the luggage is checked through and you don't have to clear Immigration if the Airport has a Transit corridor (which Prague does)
    – Crazydre
    Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 16:24
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    @gyani That won't work - because he has no valid Schengen visa the airline will not let him board such a flight. Even if you have a connecting ticket, in practice if it's not in the same booking, airport staff will treat Prague as the final destination. He needs a single ticket via Prague to somewhere where he doesn't Need a visa. So, my question is: what is his nationality?
    – Crazydre
    Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 16:32
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    @gyani "Do you have any comments on the dutch embassy asking him to cancel his visa before applying for another visa" Shouldn't be necessary given that his visa has been used up. Probably there was a misunderstanding. Of course, if the embassy is willing to issue him a new visa, he can get it - even if it means cancelling the old one (which is now useless anyway). However, this has to be obtained from the Czech, not Dutch, embassy. If the Dutch but not Czech embassy is willing to issue it, he has to fly to Amsterdam, then to Prague and then catch his flight to Helsinki and Singapore
    – Crazydre
    Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 17:44
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    @gyani He wouldn't be illegally in Bulgaria, as he has a valid and current entry stamp. So if this speech in Delft is before his return flight, tell him to go to the Dutch embassy immediately, do whatever Needs to be done to get a "Dutch" Schengen visa, attaching proof of his speech (he should explain what he'll to do embassy staff and ask what proof they want). Then go to the Netherlands, then fly to Prague and then hop on his Finnair flight
    – Crazydre
    Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 17:50

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