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I received my Schengen visa, thanks to numerous Q&A found on this site. I have flights booked for in and out, and I'm considering to use Ryan Air to travel between a few cities.

I'm a Sri Lankan citizen with a passport that is not due to expire anytime soon. I have an ETAS SCHENGEN visa on my passport.

In the Ryan Air web site, this page says that non EU/EEU passengers should get their documents stamped by a special counter.

  • Is it legal for a third party in general to stamp my passport? I understand immigrant officers can stamp it, and may be banks too when exchanging currency. But can a third party airline?

I should probably ask this from Ryan Air, but given their lack of support (as far as I can see), I thought to ask this on the people I love for traveling. That is you!

  • Is this a one-time document check only, or do I have to go through the same procedure every time?
  • Does this mean I cannot check-in online, and have to pay for their desk check-in every time, even if I wanted to do so online?
JonathanReez
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AKS
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    I wouldn't advise using Ryan Air at all - they have just about the worst rep of all airlines here in the UK. – A E Aug 31 '15 at 18:44
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    Thanks @AE. I compared prices with other full fare airliners, but only Ryan and EasyJet can give this cheap fares. EasyJet doesn't seem to require the visa checks though. – AKS Aug 31 '15 at 18:46
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    If the choice is between the two of them them go with easy jet. https://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/07/29/easyjet-vs-ryanair-who-winner-consumers/ With both of them, watch out for hidden charges and for airports that are a long long way from the city they claim to serve. – A E Aug 31 '15 at 18:53
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    That means before you go to immigration control your passport and ticket have to be checked by staff(usually same quene for luggage drop). You have to print the ticket(cannot use mobole ticket) and it happens everytimes. – Him Aug 31 '15 at 19:55
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    There's a reason they are cheap: they'll cheat you as soon as they can. – o0'. Sep 01 '15 at 08:03
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAg0lUYHHFc – Michael Hampton Sep 01 '15 at 19:28

1 Answers1

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Is it legal for a third party in general to stamp my passport?

Your passport won't be stamped. Only the print out of your boarding pass, with a stamp that says "VISA VERIFIED" and a signature. Here's an example:

ryanair visa stamp

Is this a one-time document check only?

No, unfortunately you will have to go through the same procedure every time you fly. Just why Ryanair cares about checking visas on intra-Schengen flights while full-fare airlines don't care is a mystery.

Does this mean I cannot check-in online?

You can check-in online. In fact you definitely should unless you're willing to pay €35 for checking in at the airport.

The only difference is that you will have to visit the Ryanair check-in counter at least 45 minutes before your flight to stamp your boarding pass. The check-in counter is the same place where you drop-off your luggage if you have one.

Community
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JonathanReez
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  • Thank you very much! That is exactly what I needed to know. – AKS Aug 31 '15 at 16:10
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    Note the check-in counter is also the baggage drop location, if you're travelling with any luggage. – gsnedders Aug 31 '15 at 16:48
  • Does RyanAir charge a fee if you forget to have your pass stamped before boarding and need to have it done at the gate; or delay you enough for the oversight that you need to change flights and pay an It's Your Fault Not Ours so Pay Up (tm) fee to do so? If so, I think I can guess why they do it. – Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight Aug 31 '15 at 17:24
  • @DanNeely officially you won't be allowed to board the plane without a stamp. not sure how it works in practice. – JonathanReez Aug 31 '15 at 17:50
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    "Just why Ryanair cares about checking visas on intra-Schengen flights while full-fare airlines don't care is a mystery." - the mere fact that the cheapest of them all does the check is not that mysterious at all. If the goal is to block illegal immigrants, and especially the ones who will not be able to fund themselves - in other words, exactly the same ones who will try and travel the most economical way -, it seems like a reasonable assumption to try and find them on one of the most economical means of transport. – O. R. Mapper Aug 31 '15 at 20:42
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    @O.R.Mapper why would Ryanair care about illegal migrants on Schengen flights? – JonathanReez Aug 31 '15 at 20:43
  • @JonathanReez: That part of the question I didn't respond to. I just provided a possible reason why it shouldn't be surprising that checks are done on a very cheap service, but not on more expensive ones. – O. R. Mapper Aug 31 '15 at 20:44
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    @JonathanReez: A quick check merely brings up this article, where RyanAir claim they do the checks "to ensure compliance with immigration authorities", and imply that all other airlines do the same checks at the check-in counter, as the other airlines do not offer a pure web check-in. If you ask a separate question about this, maybe someone knows a more authoritative answer, though. – O. R. Mapper Aug 31 '15 at 20:48
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    afaik if the entry is denied the airline is responsible (at least economically) to send back the person that has no right to enter in the destination country. – Guido Preite Sep 01 '15 at 04:21
  • Guido is correct. If a person is denied entry into a country for reasons the carrier could have foreseen (such as missing or invalid papers) the carrier is responsible for the cost of repatriation. So they check the visa to save themselves the potential problem of having to fly you back at their expense (though knowing Ryanair they might well try to charge you that repatriation...). – jwenting Sep 01 '15 at 06:08
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    @jwenting there's repatriation on internal Schengen flights? – JonathanReez Sep 01 '15 at 06:25
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    if an illegal immigrant is caught on an internal border he should (according to EU regulations) be returned to the first place of entry into the EU to await processing. In reality this rarely happens (in no small part because there's no border control of course, but the same's true if he's caught later during a police check for example), but that's the law. – jwenting Sep 01 '15 at 07:27
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    @O.R.Mapper care to put that answer in the relative question itself? – o0'. Sep 01 '15 at 08:05
  • I have seen WizzAir do the same check. I don't know if they always do it. – Szabolcs Dec 22 '15 at 19:14
  • At this point I wonder why Ryanair thinks paying someone to staff the desk is worth it. We were nearly the only non-EU pax (possibly only ones) on a recent UK-France flight and there were two employees at the visa desk, looking very bored, zero queue. – Andrew Lazarus Sep 07 '17 at 16:25