Utilizing a previously issued Schengen visa for travel post pandemic

Question

I am fully vaccinated with an EU approved vaccine. I have a multiple entry Schengen visa (Type C) that is valid till Jan 2023. It was issued by the Embassy of Netherlands.

I have used it previously (in 2018 and 2019) to travel to several countries in Europe. I understand that new visa issuance was put on hold during the Corona virus pandemic. But I believe previously issued and valid visas are not impacted by any regulation. Is that correct?

I want to travel to Austria on this visa but the Embassy here gave me TWO different answers: on the phone they said "fine, no problems" but on email they told me "to check with Embassy of Netherlands".

Asking this question as a 're-confirmation' from the community because the official websites (https://reopen.europa.eu/) doesn't say anything. The updated travel restrictions at the time of writing (Sep 29) for the countries I checked (Netherlands, Austria) also don't have any mention for previously issued and active Schengen visas.

TL,DR: want to use an active Schengen visa (issued by NL) but going to Austria this time.

Does this answer your question? Does a multiple-entry Schengen visa allow visiting other Schengen countries later, without going via the issuing country? — Traveller, Sep 29 '21 at 11:05
My question is specific to post-pandemic travel regulations. The appended post is generic and was asked 9 years ago! Also, I understand that new Schengen visa issuance was temporarily halted for non-EU passports; and I want to reconfirm that none of the Coronavirus related travel restrictions impacted previously issued and currently active Schengen visas. — TheYoungMunk, Sep 29 '21 at 11:47
What is your nationality, and what country will you be travelling from? — Krist van Besien, Sep 29 '21 at 12:27
I don't think visa have been invalidated and I would be surprised if they had been but I don't know for sure. +1 to the question, seems like a reasonable thing to ask and definitely not a duplicate. — Relaxed, Sep 29 '21 at 14:28
Running the itinerary Kuwait>Austria>Kuwait through Timatic https://www.timaticweb2.com/integration/external?ref=d975cfc59f5c0abd06d16e872198110b&clear=true doesn’t throw up anything other than ‘visa required’. It would probably be worth checking IATA https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/ too but might be best if the OP checked with the Netherlands Embassy as advised — Traveller, Sep 29 '21 at 19:47

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 15 '21 at 07:12

For the benefit of the community, here is my travel experience:

There are absolutely NO ISSUES in traveling on a previously issued and still active/ valid Schengen visa. I did this and it was smooth, just like pre-pandemic days. So please disregard any false information that travel agents et al are spreading.

Utilizing a previously issued Schengen visa for travel post pandemic

1 Answers1