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My original plan was to travel from Türkiye to Czechia and Poland for 7 days. With this plan, I applied at the French embassy (which represents Czechia in my country) for a single-entry Schengen visa. After receiving my passport, I found that I was given a 22-day multiple-entry visa valid for 1.5 months.

Now, if I travel to Czechia, then Poland, then to Türkiye, and then go to Greece, and afterwards to Bulgaria, will there be any issue when making that second Schengen entry? Will it cause any problem for future Schengen visa applications since I didn’t mention a second entry in my original plan (which was for a single entry).

Note: I previously traveled to Schengen three times on single-entry visas issued by a non-French embassy. This is my first multiple-entry visa, even though I applied for a single entry one. This is also the first time I’ve applied at the French embassy.

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    In which country did you apply and what itinerary did you provide in your application? There’s something weird here. Commented Sep 29 at 19:47
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    Why did you apply at a French embassy if your itinerary was Czechia and Poland? Commented Sep 29 at 20:19
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    @Traveller That was my initial reaction as well (hence my comment), but it could happen if OP applied in a country (not Türkiye) where France represents Czechia or Poland (because they don't have an embassy or consulate there). Commented Sep 29 at 21:36
  • @jcaron My main destination is Czechia (5 days), and then 2 days in Poland. That’s the itinerary I submitted. Commented Sep 30 at 3:44
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    @Traveller The French embassy represents Czechia in my country for Schengen visa cases. Edited my question to include this clarification. Commented Sep 30 at 3:45

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You have been given a multiple entry visa, which by definition means you can enter multiple times.

With single entry visas, it's important that your actual itinerary matches your application. However, a multiple entry visa effectively "pre-authorizes" future trips as well and there's no need to proactively declare where you're going each time.

All that said, I'm a little surprised they gave you a multiple entry visa with such short validity when your original itinerary did not require multiple entries. The most plausible explanation is that the embassy mistakenly assumed your travels to Czechia and Poland were separate trips, and that you would be returning to Türkiye between them. However, even in this case they would normally have given a double entry visa, not a multiple entry visa.

But in the end that doesn't really matter. Since you do now have a multiple entry, you can come and go as many times as you can fit the visa validity period. Of course, the usual rules about being able to fund your stay, have a return flight back, passing entry interview etc still apply; but simply by being a multiple entry visa holder you're already viewed as more trusted and reliable.

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    I had a 10-day trip and also got a multiple entry visa valid for only 1 month. That's not my first Schengen visa though Commented Oct 1 at 2:41
  • @phuclv Did you make a second entry into the Schengen area in the same trip? Commented Oct 1 at 10:24
  • @dsi no, it's too short for going out then back Commented Oct 1 at 14:28
  • Isn't it somewhat common practice to issue multiple-entry visas if the applicant already has a history of multiple prior single-entry visas (and no issues, of course)? Maybe it's just a policy thing that the n-th time you would get a single-entry you get multiple-entry instead. Commented Oct 2 at 9:57
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I will suppose there a good reason why you applied for the visa from the French embassy for travel to Czechia and Poland, and that the itinerary you provided for your trip there actually matches your plans.

On a single entry visa, your itinerary should match as much as possible the itinerary your provided. This includes spending the most time in the country which issued the visa or on behalf of which the visa was issued, in the case of representation.

On a multiple entry visa, while the first visit should similarly match the provided itinerary, you can use it to visit any Schengen country for subsequent travel.

However, you must make sure that:

  • Any day in the Schengen Area is between the "valid from" and "valid to" dates on the visa
  • Your total number of days in the Schengen Area (partial days count as a full day) remains under the "duration" on the visa (22 days)
  • You abide by the 90/180 rule (days spent in the Schengen Area on previous visas count for this purpose, switching to a new visa does not "reset the clock").
  • You still meet the other usual requirements (have a good reason to travel, have sufficient funds, don't work, etc.) and have the documents to justify it.

It's however surprising (IMHO) that you got this weird mix of a multiple-entry visa and pretty limited duration/validity (22 days over 1.5 months). Multiple-entry visas are usually issued for longer periods, unless they are required for a complex itinerary or multiple closely spaced visits. I wonder what the reasoning is here.

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