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My flight to Vienna was scheduled for April 9, 2022. This is also the date when my visa starts. However, it was rescheduled to April 8. Can I still enter Austria a few hours before my visa starts or wait in the airport for a few hours before passing the passport check?

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Edgar Vardanyan
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    What's your citizenship and where are you flying in from ? – Hilmar Mar 04 '22 at 11:42
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    How long is ‘a few hours’? What happens if your flight arrives early (not uncommon). You certainly won’t be able to clear Immigration before the start date. Your first problem may well be whether the airline will allow you to board. Related question https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/72111/arriving-in-zurich-the-night-before-schengen-visa-validity-begins – Traveller Mar 04 '22 at 12:19
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    Take this to the airline, explain this to them so they can re-schedule the flight later, otherwise you might be denied boarding or entry. You also need to take it to the airline so you can re-schedule the flight free of charge since it's their mistake. – Nean Der Thal Mar 04 '22 at 12:31
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    Indeed usually when an airline moves you to another day or flight, it’s only a proposition, but you can always contact them to change to a different date which matches your requirements. Some airlines allow you to do that online directly but I believe that’s quite rare, so you’ll probably need to call them. – jcaron Mar 04 '22 at 12:39
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    What is the Austrian governments position on this? Did you contact their local Consulate? – dave58 Mar 05 '22 at 14:29
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    @dave58 their position is clear, they have made the visa valid from April 9th 2022. – Nean Der Thal Mar 05 '22 at 22:16
  • Note that it’s not just when the day changes that you can rebook at no cost or get a refund, typically it’s any time the airline changes your schedule by more than an hour or two (exact details vary by airline). – Noah Snyder Mar 06 '22 at 13:32
  • @jcaron I'm not sure I'd call it a "proposition," if you do nothing, that's when your flight is. I suppose it's never happened to me internationally, but there's no active choice to accept it. – Azor Ahai -him- Mar 06 '22 at 15:06
  • @nean-der-thal Respectfully, you are not the OP. My question was whether the OP has queried the local/responsible Austrian Consulate. – dave58 Mar 07 '22 at 01:55

1 Answers1

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No, you will not be allowed to enter Austria before the visa starts just because the airline has rescheduled your flight. You must expect that the airline will refuse you to board if you are landing before your visa becomes valid.

You should contact the airline and ask to be rescheduled to a later date instead.

Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
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    Out of pure academic curiosity, I assume that the flight lands a few hours before the 9th. If he is allowed on the airplane, can he wait before going to passport control (let people cut in front of him in line, or take an extended bathroom break) until midnight? – HanMah Mar 06 '22 at 15:41
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    Most likely he would be (short of airport closing times, etc.). His bigger problem is actually to be allowed to board. – Grzegorz Oledzki Mar 06 '22 at 15:59
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    @HanMah That depends on the layout of and the arrangements at the airport he is flying to (which I don't know). Not all airports have a centralized immigration checkpoint with an area where you can wait before going through immigration. On some airports, the immigration checkpoint is directly at the gate and you have to go through immediately after deboarding the plane. On other airports, the immigration checkpoint may also only be staffed and open in connection with relevant arrivals. Particularly within Schengen, airports often only have occasional arrivals from non-schengen destinations. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo Mar 06 '22 at 18:06