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There is a provision for issuing Schengen visas at the border (see section 1.7 of this document): apart from meeting all regular criteria, the individual applying must show that they were not in a position to apply for a visa in advance. Furthermore, this entire process comes with the caveat that it is supposed to be exceptional.

I am considering a (single-ticket) non-Schengen to non-Schengen flight itinerary that involves a short (approximately two hour) stopover in Amsterdam.
There is only one flight everyday between Amsterdam and my final destination; missing my connection would probably lead to an overnight halt.

If I were to miss my connection, is there any evidence to suggest that I might be able to successfully apply for a Schengen visa at the airport (and avoid spending the night at Schiphol)?

Alternatively, is there evidence to suggest that missed connections and long layovers are not exceptional enough to warrant the issuance of Schengen visas at the border?

Some (possibly) salient points: I require a visa to enter the Schengen states. I am not from a country whose nationals require a visa to transit through airports in the Schengen states, or from a country where consultations are required with certain national authorities before its citizens can be issued Schengen visas.
I have held multiple short-stay (C) Schengen visas over the last 10 years, of varying (longish) validity- 1/2/3 years. Over the past 5 years, I have visited the Schengen area on average 3-4 times a year, with my average length of stay being a week or so.

JonathanReez
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flaneur3231
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  • A missed connection is unlikely to be considered 'exceptional' as such things happen all the time. Although not a duplicate, it is addressed by this response – Giorgio Dec 21 '16 at 15:27
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    @pnuts Does the specific nationality matter? I think not. We know that the traveler requires a visa to enter the Schengen area. – phoog Dec 21 '16 at 15:36
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    @pnuts False, if you require a visa to get in, you're not getting in without one, period (other than in accordance with existing provisions, which do not apply here) – Crazydre Dec 21 '16 at 16:10
  • There are hotels situated right in the airside area of Schengen, and airlines will probably put delayed passengers who lack a visa up in one of them. However, it is distressingly difficult to find any information on the net stating whether these hotels are located in the non-Schengen or Schengen part of the transit area (the airport's own terminal maps don't even seem to show the boundary between these parts clearly), so I may be wrong. – hmakholm left over Monica Dec 21 '16 at 16:22
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    @HenningMakholm They are in the non-Schengen area – Crazydre Dec 21 '16 at 16:42
  • Did you ask the border guard for a temporary admission? – Gayot Fow Dec 21 '16 at 18:43
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    @GayotFow We have no such thing in Schengen - you may qualify for a 15-day visa on arrival on unforseeable and imperative grounds (the latter not applying here), but that's it – Crazydre Dec 22 '16 at 06:35

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The document you linked states:

submits documentary evidence of the existence of unforeseeable and imperative reasons for entry.

The word imperative means "of utmost importance", which this is not - you simply want the convenience of not being "trapped" on international territory during your stopover.

So I'm afraid you would have to sleep in the transit area of the airport. There is a Mercure Hotel as well as the Yotel to choose from, both located in the non-Schengen zone and starting at €85-90 (although of course, the airline will pay for it if you miss your connection due to your Inbound flight being delayed).

Crazydre
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  • Do you know that these hotels are on the non-Schengen side of passport control? Neither the hotels nor the airport seem inclined to reveal this on their websites. (Or if they do, the links to the information is too well camouflaged for me to notice). – hmakholm left over Monica Dec 21 '16 at 16:37
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    @HenningMakholm Schiphol's Website https://www.schiphol.nl/en/transfers/ "Whether you’d like to sleep, rest or just freshen-up with a hot shower, pay a visit to either the Mercure Hotel or Yotel. They are both located after passport control and are open all day, every day". Plus, I've seen it myself – Crazydre Dec 21 '16 at 16:38
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    Hmm, I wonder how you make that page display that text. For me it just show a menu with choices "Check that you're good to go" / "Enjoy yourself at Schiphop" / "Find your way to the gate" -- and neither of the pages in that menu contain that text either. (Also, for a transfering passenger, shouldn't "after passport control" mean on the Schengen side?) – hmakholm left over Monica Dec 21 '16 at 16:51
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    @HenningMakholm Sorry https://www.schiphol.nl/en/facilities/sleep-after-passport-control/ – Crazydre Dec 21 '16 at 16:57
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    Not to mention, if he misses the connection due to the airline's fault, and they have to leave him there overnight, the airline should be paying for the hotel anyway. – Michael Hampton Dec 21 '16 at 18:28
  • @HenningMakholm You can see it on the map too. Loung 3 with gates F, G, and H is dedicated to non-Schengen flight, the limits of the area are marked with an orange dotted line. – Relaxed Dec 22 '16 at 07:14
  • @Relaxed: The map doesn't say which gates are Schengen, though. Wikipedia agrees with your information, but also says that (1) pier M is Schengen, but there is no dotted line between "Gates G-H" and "Gates M", and (2) the upper level of pier D is Schengen, yet that is also where Yotel is located and there is no dotted line anywhere between that area and the upper levels of pier E, F, etc, or Mercure. Perhaps the dotted line on the map is hidden by perspective and/or pictograms, but that doesn't add up to "can see it on the map". – hmakholm left over Monica Dec 22 '16 at 09:21
  • @HenningMakholm Pier M works differently and isn't shown at all, I didn't get into these details because it's only for low-cost/short-haul flights. The Schengen level of pier D is accessed through a stairs in lounge 1, clearly marked on the map, Yotel is accessed through a stairs in lounge 2. There is no dotted lines between them because there isn't even a corridor but empty space. This is also shown on the map (the light yellow parts on the map of the second level), although it's obviously easier to understand it if you are familiar with the airport and know what to look for. – Relaxed Dec 22 '16 at 11:16
  • FYI, just to clarify how pier M works: There is a glass wall dividing the whole building in two parts. If you access it from lounge 3, you're in the non-Schengen area, if you access it from lounge 4, you're in the Schengen area. IIRC correctly, both flows meet in a part of the building that isn't represented on the map but I think a glass wall is missing somewhere. – Relaxed Dec 22 '16 at 11:21