I have been issued an overlapping Schengen Visa, would there be an issue?
I have an existing used Schengen visa from the 21-July-2015 to 20-July-2016 issued by Belgium. I recently applied for a Schengen visa from Germany & was issued a visa from the 19-July-2016 to 18-July-2017. As you can see, there's an overlap of 19th & 20th of June. Would this cause an issue when I'm traveling? The agents at VFS assured me that this wouldn't be an issue but can someone please confirm?
Best Answer
As @HenningMakholm mentions the belief that it's illegal or impossible to have two overlapping visas is misleading. The Visa Code (EU's main law on the Schengen area) mentions nothing about overlapping visas. However the Handbook for the processing of visa applications contains the following recommendation:
A holder of a multiple-entry visa may apply for a new visa before the expiry of the validity of the visa currently held. However, the validity of the new visa must complement the current visa, i.e. a person cannot hold two uniform visas valid for the same period in time.
Note that the rule is for the consulate, not for the applicant. Hence you cannot be held responsible for the consulate's mistake in issuing the visa correctly. Seeing that the previous visa has already expired you shouldn't have any problems at the border.
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Can I apply for double entry Schengen Visa?
Schengen visas allow to make one-entry, two-entries or multi-entries. With one-entry visa you can travel the Schengen area only once.What is a double Schengen?
A double-entry visa (\u201c2\u201d on the visa sticker): allows its holder to enter the Schengen area twice during the validity period of the visa. You can thus leave the Schengen area and re-enter it during that period of time. The second time you leave the area, your visa expires.Can I apply for two visas for different countries at the same time?
Yes you can. No 2 countries share data with each other. Neither are they bothered about you applying visa at the same time. You can apply visa to N number of countries at the same time.Is it easy to get Schengen Visa second time?
Assuming you mean a second visa (rather than a second application because the first one was inadequate), It won't necessarily be quicker the second time than the first. Different countries may take less or more time to process an application, consulate's workload may vary according to time of year, etc.REASONS WHY SCHENGEN VISA APPLICATIONS GET REJECTED (Highly requested)
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