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I had five years ago a Schengen Visa delivered by France but then I had a change of plans and travelled to Austria and returned from Germany instead. This year I wanted to go back to Austria so I applied for a tourist visa and got rejected for "unreliable travelling conditions and because my intentions to leave before the expiry of the visa could not be ascertained". I have provided many documents proving that I have a job and salary and I have booked a round trip plane ticket.

Could this be related to the change of itinerary I made on my last trip?

Do I risk to get rejected if I apply for tourist visa in a different Embassy?

Relaxed
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MAk
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    See https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/53411/schengen-visa-refusal-justification-for-the-purpose-and-conditions-of-the-inten – Traveller Aug 07 '22 at 20:47
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    Does this answer your question? Schengen Visa Refusal: Justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not reliable – littleadv Aug 07 '22 at 21:06
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    When you entered or exited Schengen on your last visit, did you get any questions about your actual itinerary and the discrepancy between your stated and actual travel plans? If not the chances this is a reason for the rejection are slim, and you probably need to look elsewhere. On the other hand, trying to get a visa from a different country after the rejection will nearly certainly be seen as a red flag. – jcaron Aug 07 '22 at 21:25
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    Could be simply because the itinerary wasn't clearly laid out? Such as unverifiable/untrustworthy hotel bookings, cancellable flight tickets and similar basic things? – Захар Joe Aug 07 '22 at 21:32
  • Thank you for your answer No I was asked no questions. Tbh the hotel accommodation was made via a travel agency and I think it's not very reliable because I chose a pay at property option with free cancellation because I cannot pay without having a visa – MAk Aug 08 '22 at 13:00

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It seems you misunderstood how the system works when you applied five years ago. Although a tourist visa issued by any Schengen area country allows you to travel anywhere in the Schengen area you are required to apply for the visa in the country you intend to visit:

You must lodge the application for a Schengen visa at the Consulate of the country that you intend to visit, or – if you intend to visit more than one Schengen State, the Consulate of the country where you will spend the longest period.

By applying for a visa in France, and then using that visa to visit Austria you broke the terms under which you were offered the visa, and it is likely that this breach is why your visa was now refused. You also cannot "apply for tourist visa in a different Embassy" because you wish to visit Austria so the only country that can grant you that visa is Austria (and even if you could, since these agencies share information they would likely know you had been recently refused and refuse any further application).

Jack Aidley
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Could this be related to the change of itinerary I made on my last trip?

No, this seems exceedingly unlikely. Schengen countries do not consolidate or share this information. Furthermore, even the data that is shared is not kept forever and I think 5 years is often the default expiration date (thinking of SIS alerts for example, although they can be renewed).

Even countries that do collect data on entries (e.g. based on passenger manifests / APIS or document scans at the border) will inevitably have a partial record sitting on the systems of the border force. I seriously doubt each and every Schengen country (and especially France) has built systems to make it effectively usable in consulates or staffed them to routinely analyse past travel patterns (which is a lot of very messy data). I have read many comments from people who seem to believe it ought to be that way but this is just not how this works.

The only way in which it could matter is if some official noticed the change at the time and deemed it serious enough to act on it. For example, if you somehow got a fine and a ban following a police check of some sort or maybe during the exit check. In that case, there would in fact be a record and it could easily lead to a refusal (but with another justification than the one you got). Obviously, you would probably have noticed if something like that had happened.

Do I risk to get rejected if I apply for tourist visa in a different Embassy?

That’s much more risky. The refusal is still fresh and much more relevant than any potential small violation five years ago. A record of your earlier application is actually shared between Schengen countries using the exact same system the other consulate will have to use to track your new application (it's called the VIS and it will contain a record of the refusal, which is also kept for 5 years by default). When examining any new application, the consular officer is bound to notice and take that into account.

And it doesn’t look good: It suggests that you are trying to circumvent the earlier decision and might not be completely sincere in your wish to visit any of these countries but rather looking for a consulate that will issue a visa and ready to tell them anything to get that.

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  • Thank you for your answer – MAk Aug 10 '22 at 06:12
  • VIS is more important here, depending on the exact date when the previous visa expired. With the new application the previous entry/exit stamps will be examined. Visa Information System (VIS): Data is kept in the VIS for five years. This retention period starts from the expiry date of the issued visa, the date a negative decision is taken or the date a decision to modify an issued visa is taken. The question here is if the OP informed them that they skipped France on the previous visit. – Mark Johnson Aug 17 '22 at 12:39
  • @MarkJohnson Informed who of what? Your quote provides another example that 5 years is a common retention period but most of the info we are talking about is not in the VIS in the first place. Regarding the earlier visa, you may not even have your passport from five years ago and the stamps wouldn't show anything of relevance as phoog explained earlier. – Relaxed Aug 17 '22 at 21:23
  • I do agree that the VIS is important here, though: It's the database that will reveal that the OP applied very recently to the Austrian consulate (but retention rules do not matter for that, as we are talking of something that happens a few weeks ago). I will add a note on that, thanks. – Relaxed Aug 17 '22 at 21:23
  • I just noticed @phoog comment has been deleted with David's answer. To recap: It's perfectly normal to have entry stamps from other countries and it's hard to draw any conclusion from that, consular officers do not materially have time for this. Maybe Malta or Slovenia would raise eyebrows but leaving / entering through Germany and Austria to go anywhere in Europe would in fact be a common occurrence, Frankfurt is the third-busiest hub in the EU and Vienna is a major secondary hub for the LH group. – Relaxed Aug 17 '22 at 21:32