Is the duration of stay on a Schengen visa specific to the country that issued the visa?
Does the duration of stay particular to the visa-issuing Schengen country or does it indicate how long as a whole I can be anywhere in the Schengen Area?
I was issued visa from Italy with validity from 18-28 May, and duration of stay of 8 days. I'll be arriving in Italy on 18th May and, besides Italy, I plan to visit Greece and will be leaving there on the 27th May. Is this a problem?
Best Answer
As it is stated in the European Commission website:
DURATION OF STAY………DAYS indicates the number of days you may stay in the Schengen area. The days should be counted from the date you enter the Schengen area (the entry stamp) to the date you exit the Schengen area (the exit stamp), i.e. both days included.
So, it doesn't depend on the country, it's counted from the date of entry to the Schengen area till the date of exit out of the Schengen area. In your case that makes 10 days.
The period of time between "FROM …UNTIL" is usually longer than the number of days printed in the "DURATION OF STAY" field. The difference in period is meant to give you flexibility to plan your entry into and exit from the Schengen area, but your stay in the Schengen area must never exceed the exact number of days in the "DURATION OF STAY …DAYS" field.
As your planned stay in Schengen area (10 days) exceeds your allowed duration of stay in Schengen area (8 days), it is a problem and you should consider to reschedule your trip.
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