schengen visa

[Chirimoya]

Yes, checked online and it is Austria! Didn't think of that one.

Consulado Honorario de Austria en República Dominicana

[qgrande]

Originally Posted by granca

Hola grande, where is it written that Dominican Republic citizens do not need a transit visa for Madrid?I could then copy it and my wife can show it to Spanish passport control. Gracias.

For instance here: Ambassade Londen (En) - Transit Visa , but every Schengen country has the same rules, and every embassy should have that information. That being said, I don't think immigration officials will be impressed by a print-out from a website, so I don't see what help it would be to bring it. And of course if the airport does nt have an international/transit area, you would need a visa, or rather your wife would.

[Matilda]

There is no pure transit area in Madrid. You get off plane from Santo Domingo and go through to the terminal for flights to London where everyone else is. For some reaosn it didn't happen on the way back. No idea why not.

Matilda

[Matilda]

Originally Posted by qgrande

Dominicans do not need a transit visa for the Schengen area. The transit visa for Schengen only applies for a small number of countres that are considered particularly suspect.
Matilda, interesting account of how immigration in Madrid deals with the situation. I wonder whether that separation and police-control is particular for Madrid, or something that happens in other aiports too. Any experiences with this process in Paris, Schiphol, etc?

No no experiences there - we have just been via Madrid. Anyone else know as I would like to go via Brussels next time as it is significantly cheaper.

Matilda

[rubio_higuey]

Originally Posted by Matilda

No. My husband is Domincan and when he has UK visa and we go there via Madrid, he and I get separated at Madrid airport. After we have left the plane from Santo Domingo he is taken off and has to wait (somewhere) and then boards the plane to England and I go through the normal channels and board the plane. He cannot come with me as I go into international departures and they sort of arrest him (and the kids) but then put them on the plane!! It was a bit traumatic the first time but now we are used to it. At the check in for the plane to England I refuse to board until they confirm to me that he is on board the plane. It works!!

So no transit visa required but expect to be separated in Madrid.

There is no pure transit area in Madrid. You get off plane from Santo Domingo and go through to the terminal for flights to London where everyone else is. For some reaosn it didn't happen on the way back. No idea why not.

Matilda

That is strange!!! Very much indeed! Every international airport in the Schengen zone has to have Schengen and non-chengen area.

Arrivals in Madrid from the DR are in non-Schengen zone. Departures to UK are also from non-Schengen zone. This means, no passport control in Madrid. If YOU passed passport control, you most likely entered Schengen zone and then left it again to board plane to UK. Every airport in Schengen has to have non-Schengen areas connected, even if it is by bus, or walkway.

My GF travelled via Paris and Prague to Slovakia (at that time neither Slovakia nor Czech Rep were in Schengen) in Paris just got off Air France flight (non-Schengen gate), took a bus to the terminal for departures for Prague (again non-Schengen zone) and off she went. No hassle, no "company", no nothing. Straightforward.

I have never travelled via Madrid, but I think it's the same thing. It has to have Schengen and non-schengen zone. Flights from DR arrive at non-Schengen, and flights to UK depart from non-Schengen as well. Same would be as if somebody took flight to Russia, Turkey or Japan for that case.

In Paris, however, same as in Frankfurt, the one who does not know the airport well may well run into passport control or enter/leave Schengen zones on getting from point A to point B. Paris, for example, is so messy that 4 times a year I go via Paris CDG and it seems to me that every time I take a different route to get from A to B there.

[rubio_higuey]

Originally Posted by dv8

chiri, no polish embassy, trust me, polish flag is white and red (monaco and indonesia have very similar but red and white). to re-new my passport i have to travel either home or to venezuela...

No Slovak embassy in the DR either. But everything can be done via mail/courier either in Havana or Mexico City. Visas, passports, copies of birth certificates, documents from country of origin, etc. Now that they are introducing biometric passports, I do not know how passport applications will work, though. No much worries anyway, it's not expiring soon.

[Matilda]

Originally Posted by rubio_higuey

That is strange!!! Very much indeed! Every international airport in the Schengen zone has to have Schengen and non-chengen area.

Arrivals in Madrid from the DR are in non-Schengen zone. Departures to UK are also from non-Schengen zone. This means, no passport control in Madrid. If YOU passed passport control, you most likely entered Schengen zone and then left it again to board plane to UK. Every airport in Schengen has to have non-Schengen areas connected, even if it is by bus, or walkway.

You walk from plane when it arrives from Santo Domingo following signs to terminal where the flight to Uk leaves, You come to passport control. They let me through and send Dominicans back. I go with them. You go to another desk where they have to leave me and are taken off to 'holding pen. I am not allowed to go with them. I have to go through passport control into the terminal for UK. Didn't happen the first time - 2002 - but happened the last two times. i wish it didn;t but it did.

Matilda

[dv8]

Originally Posted by rubio_higuey

In Paris, however, same as in Frankfurt, the one who does not know the airport well may well run into passport control or enter/leave Schengen zones on getting from point A to point B. Paris, for example, is so messy that 4 times a year I go via Paris CDG and it seems to me that every time I take a different route to get from A to B there.

yes, paris airport is a mess, and strangely no one speaks spanish. even thou i speak only a bit of spanish i had to serve as a translator between travellers and staff on few occasions.
miesposo's sister travelled to UK via france recently and she did not mention any problems with immigration.

[granca]

What a c..k up! Spain seems to be the biggest muddle I´ve come across. None of the 4 email addresses for the Spanish Embassy nor Consulate in Santo Domingo work, emails are returned ¨user unknown¨. The ministry pages MAEC in Spain itself for Visas reports ¨page Not found or 404 or over bandwidth limit¨. The London embassy when you click on the Visa tab takes you to some advertising page via a popup,even though supposedly blocked. Madrid Airport doesn´t have a page of its own , it is operated by some commercial company who only give you information about external to airport contacts. I think we´ll be better off telephoning Puerto Plate to see if they have any spare seats on a charter flight!

[qgrande]

Originally Posted by Matilda

No no experiences there - we have just been via Madrid. Anyone else know as I would like to go via Brussels next time as it is significantly cheaper.

Matilda

You mean with Jetairfly? But they don't fly to the UK, do they? So you would have to leave the transit area and check in for your Brussels-UK flight... and leaving the transit area would mean you'd need a Schengen visa.... The only alternative to Iberia/Madrid I know is Air France/Paris