If I visit every Schengen state for equal duration, then am I eligible to apply for a Schengen visa with the embassy or consulate of any country?
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1 Answer
The Schengen Visa Code is explicit about this. You must first consider whether your trip has a main destination. If, for example, you're attending a conference in one of those countries, and that is the principal reason for your trip, then you must apply in the country where the conference is being held.
If there is no other means for determining the main destination, then you use the duration of stay to determine the main destination. You have already ruled that out, because you are staying an equal amount of time in each country you will visit.
In such a case, you should apply to the country where you will enter the Schengen area.
This is governed by Article 5:
Article 5
Member State competent for examining and deciding on an application
1. The Member State competent for examining and deciding on an application for a uniform visa shall be:
(a) the Member State whose territory constitutes the sole destination of the visit(s);
(b) if the visit includes more than one destination, the Member State whose territory constitutes the main destination of the visit(s) in terms of the length or purpose of stay; or
(c) if no main destination can be determined, the Member State whose external border the applicant intends to cross in order to enter the territory of the Member States.
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8Interestingly those rules would imply that if you intend to stay equally long in two countries and happen to be travelling through a third country as you enter you would have to apply in that third country even if you are only there on transit.– kasperdCommented Jul 14, 2017 at 20:50
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3Or you could measure the time up to 1 hour precision and most likely you won't incur in equal durations. :P Commented Jul 14, 2017 at 23:49
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2@AndreaLazzarotto hour precision doesn't seem precise enough, picosecond should be good enough for visa purposes.– user33319Commented Jul 15, 2017 at 10:33
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3@HagenVonEitzen as you enter. Someone spending a month each in Germany and Spain who flies to Germany with a connection in Paris would indeed have to apply to France.– phoogCommented Jul 15, 2017 at 11:18
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3@HagenvonEitzen Say you live in Serbia and want to visit Austria and Slovakia. If you stay equally long in each country and thus neither can be determined to be your main destination, the country where you enter is where you would have to apply. However if you are driving from Serbia to either of those countries you are likely to enter Schengen through the Hungarian border. So you'd have to apply in Hungary even though you are just driving straight through Hungary.– kasperdCommented Jul 15, 2017 at 11:26