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I have a 1-year multiple entry Schengen visa 90/180 issued by Italy.

Out of five trips, I used it twice to enter Italy. The other three times, I entered Germany but stayed once in Luxembourg and twice in Holland.

I arrived and departed from Germany because the flights there were cheaper.

My last return trip from Germany resulted in my fingerprints being taken, and extra attention paid to all the pages in my passport. Nothing was said or asked and I was allowed to leave.

Now I worried. Did I do something wrong? On my next trip, will my Schengen tourist visa be cancelled or will they refuse me entry? Am I on the radar with German authorities now?

In summary, I spent in a total of 25 days in Italy and as per my passport. It looks like I "spent" 33 days in Germany, although I was actually in Luxembourg (8 days) and Holland (25 days). Of course, that is not shown in my passport.

OK, then let me rephrase... did I do something wrong or is there any reason for border officers to refure me entry or cancel my visa next time I come (to Germany)?

Martin Schröder
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    What control point? – Gayot Fow Jan 18 '17 at 15:20
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    @Gayot Fow - German airport, international departure, Dusseldorf. –  Jan 18 '17 at 15:22
  • @pnuts - No, sorry for confusion. I have 1 x multiple entry Schengen visa 90/180 days. I used it till now two trips to Italy (25 days), and I travelled inbound and outbound to Germany (3 trips), but I effectively stayed in Holland (25 days) Luxembourg (8 days). Just the flights were cheaper to and from Germany, so thats my entry and exit points in my passport. –  Jan 18 '17 at 15:43
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    @pnuts - and how is that relevant for this post? –  Jan 18 '17 at 15:49
  • @raulbaros it is not particularly relevant. At issue is that you are asking us to tell the future and we're not prophets. – Gayot Fow Jan 18 '17 at 15:57
  • @Gayot Fow - OK, then let me rephrase... did I do something wrong or is there any reason for border officers to refure me entry or cancel my visa next time I come (to Germany)? –  Jan 18 '17 at 16:00
  • You have some good answers now. I have read two. They are both wonderful. Please select one and accept it when you are ready. – Gayot Fow Jan 18 '17 at 16:10
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    One point that hasn't been mentioned is that fingerprinting is in particular useful to match you to your passport and visa. So it's possible that there were some concern that you were using falsified documents or travelling with someone else's passport/visa. The careful inspection of the booklet suggests the same and none of this is necessary if there are concerns about your travel patterns. But if you used a visa that wasn't yours, it would have been annulled then and there and you would not have been able to leave so easily so it seems they were satisfied at the end. – Relaxed Jan 18 '17 at 17:24
  • @Relaxed - thats very valuable insight and makes sense. Italy did take my fingerprints when I applied for my original Schengen 1 year multiple entry visa, so I would suspect that my fingerprints would be in the visa database (I believe it is called VIS?). Sorry, English is not my first language, but what does this sentence means exactly..." The careful inspection of the booklet suggests the same and none of this is necessary if there are concerns about your travel patterns." Whats wrong with my travel patterns? –  Jan 18 '17 at 20:59
  • @raulbaros I meant that carefully inspecting the passport itself is something they do when they doubt the document is legitimate. It happened to me once in Germany too. On the other hand, if the concern was about something else like whether you have a good reason to be the in Schengen area, whether you are coming too often, etc. (which is the type of things that might lead to being denied entry in the future) then the border guards would look at the stamps, ask questions, etc. They would not check if the pages are sewn together correctly and the like. – Relaxed Jan 18 '17 at 21:09
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    Also, I don't know your nationality, but if you posted because this just happened a few days before, keep in mind that between your entry and exit, the attack on the Berlin Weihnachtsmarkt happened. That may have added to extra scrutiny without you doing anything wrong but merely being unlucky in your timing! – Layna Jan 19 '17 at 07:30
  • Why are you not entering Italy directly? Schengen visa rules require you to enter the country that first issued visa (Italy). They probably became suspicious as you were moving around a lot in Germany etc. which is why they were checking 90/180 rule. See here: https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/frequently_asked_questions_en.pdf – pbu Jan 19 '17 at 18:15
  • @pbu According to the post, his first two trips were to Italy. – djr Jan 19 '17 at 21:41
  • @djr Yes, his first two trips through Italy. But what is his business in Germany? I know he has a genuine reason (cheaper route), but if i am immigration officer, i would suspect him, because of entering three times through Germany. – pbu Jan 20 '17 at 15:01
  • @pbu My understanding - backed up by other questions here e.g. http://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/9646/does-a-multiple-entry-schengen-visa-allow-visiting-other-schengen-countries-late - is that a multiple entry visa doesn't require further trips to be to the country that issued it. – djr Jan 21 '17 at 11:03

3 Answers3

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You've made several trips to the Schengen area using a multiple-entry visa, and when you most recently left, German officials gave you extra scrutiny. The purpose of that scrutiny was almost certainly to check whether you have violated the 90/180 rule. You have not, so there is nothing to worry about.

In particular, it's perfectly normal (and very common) to enter and exit the Schengen area in Germany when flying through Germany to another Schengen destination.

Am I under scrutiny?

It certainly looks that way.

Did I do something wrong?

I don't know.

[Did I do something wrong related to the time I've spent in the Schengen area or the destinations I've chosen?]

No.

On my next trip, will my Schengen tourist visa be cancelled or will they refuse me entry?

Unlikely.

Am I on the radar with German authorities now?

Probably.

[Should I be worried?]

No.

phoog
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    @GayotFow but not everybody gets that kind of close scrutiny. It seems likely in this case to have been triggered by the frequency of the trips, perhaps in combination with the country of citizenship (I never received such scrutiny when traveling frequently on a US passport in 1999-2000.) – phoog Jan 18 '17 at 16:17
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    @GayotFow is the fingerprint check routine? It sounds like raulbaros went through Italian controls four times and German controls five times without being fingerprinted. It looks like Germany (Schengen countries generally?) only fingerprint travelers when they start to get suspicious. – phoog Jan 18 '17 at 16:37
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    Taking 5 holidays within a year to western Europe (for someone who doesn't live in Europe, and comes from a country which needs a visa) is unusual, and therefore might trigger scrutiny. The fact that the OP leaves promptly every time probably helps on the immigration front, but the scrutiny is probably more for law enforcement reasons than immigration. – djr Jan 18 '17 at 16:48
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Did I do something wrong?

No.

On my next trip, will my Schengen tourist visa be cancelled or will they refuse me entry?

We can't predict the future. There's nothing in your question to suggest that outcome is likely.

Am I on the radar with German authorities now?

Yes (I surmise), you made more than a handful of short trips and your pattern of past travel, dress, luggage, appearance, state of mind etc did not, in some minor way, fit the usual patterns they see from the greater majority of travellers.

One year I made a number of short business trips to Rotterdam which I was asked about and was held up a little while my bags were searched before being allowed to proceed. I was not told why. On subsequent trips, nothing unusual happened.

Of course, since they didn't ask you about anything specific, there is no way to tell why they chose to handle you differently on that occasion.

RedGrittyBrick
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There are a few possible reasons why they took your fingerprints randomly

1) To verify that you're the same person as your visa

2) To check you haven't violated the 90/180 rule

3) They suspect you might be a threat to a member state

4) They might suspect you of "visa shopping" i.e after being refused a schengen visa from one member state, you apply to another.

Here's more information about the Visa Information System https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/visa-information-system_en

Jordy
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  • How would fingerprints help them detect visa shopping? I would think that searching visa records using the passport data would be enough. – phoog Jan 19 '17 at 22:07