Visit Finland with visa issued from Norway during the COVID-19 outbreak

Upvote:-1

Up to now, the European Commission has given no advice about how to deal with any irregularities caused by the COVID-19 outbreak for the area of issued visas and their usage within the Schengen Area.

In the European Commission Coronavirus response site, this topic is not meantioned at all. This is a sign that it is considered a low priority matter.

So should Norway or the Czech Republic not let anybody in

that could not be forseen when the visa was issued.

Reinforcing health measures at the Schengen Borders
Under the Schengen Border Code, all decisions to refuse or accept entry to the territory of a Member State must be subject to an individual assessment undertaken by the competent authorities. It is the responsibility of the Member States to refuse entry on public health grounds to individual third country nationals.

Sources:

Upvote:4

I must say that nobody knows what's going to happen and that the situation is developing quickly in Europe.

First I would suggest that you talk to your airline. Normally if you miss a single segment then the whole rest of your trip (including your return) would be cancelled automatically.

Given the circumstances then the airlines are generally being very flexible, but you must first check what they will and will not allow and then change your itinery accordingly and not just not take a flight.

Next (or in parrallel) I would suggest contacting your local Finnish embassy and explaining the situation. Tell them that your Schengen visa was issued by Norway, that you are flying via Helsinki anyway and would now like to spend the enture trip there rather than the couple of days you previously planned. And then ask if they would, given the circumstances, allow you to enter and remain therer for xx days.

It really depends on how flexible they are. They might allow this. They might say that you should get a new visa issued. They might reduce or waive the cost. But you should check first.

If I was you, I would also consider making alternative plans. Talk to the airline about rescheduling the trip, as it is likely that they will allow you to do this free of charge at the moment.

Only you can judge if this is a worthwhile trip for you given the cirumstances.
My personal opinion is that the next two weeks are going to get worse, and it will be awhile before the situation improves.

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