Can I enter another Schengen country as my entry point, if I have a multi-entry 1 year Visa?

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Accepted answer

You can enter the Schengen Area through any country (which makes sense, of course…), but the main reason for your first trip to the Schengen Area on that visa should be in the country which issued the visa.

If there’s no “main reason”, then the country where you spend most of the time should be the one which issued the visa.

More generally, your trip should be as close as possible to what you declared when you applied for your visa (itinerary, duration, reason for the trip…). Variations can be allowed, but for the first trip the less you stray from your original plan the better. Further trips do not have the same limitations (but you must still be able to prove you meet the conditions of your visa on each trip).

So if you plan to stay 2 weeks in Germany but before that you spend one week in Czechia (in the same trip, without exiting Schengen between the two) then it should be fine (be ready to show evidence of your plans at passport control, including any hotel reservations or plane/flight reservations for instance).

If on the other hand you plan to go to Czechia for a week, and then go back home, for a first visit that may raise issues (or not, sometimes they don’t care at all).

Note that this would be an issue even if you entered via Germany but spent nearly all your time in another country.

For trips after the first one, there is no requirement on which countries you visit and no requirement on which country you enter the Schengen Area through.

Finally, just for the avoidance of doubt, I’d like to remind you that a one-year visa does not allow you to stay for a full year, each stay must meet the 90/180 rule, and of course the usual conditions still apply (having a return or onward ticket, having enough funds, not working…).

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