Agents have raised concerns on Open Jaw by Travelinfo that
clients might now need to apply for both a multiple-entry Schengen visa and a
Croatian visa when travelling on an itinerary that includes both regions.
This
comes after an agent posted on Open Jaw that her clients applied for a multiple-entry
Schengen visa for the following itinerary: three nights in Rome
followed by 14 days in Croatia, and a final three nights in Venice. She
reported that Capago had told her clients that they would need to apply for a
Croatian visa as they would be spending the bulk of their time in Croatia. They
were also warned that, without this, their Schengen visa might be
declined.
However,
Croatia has always allowed travellers in if they hold a multiple-entry Schengen
visa. As a result, in the past, agents have instructed clients to apply for a
multiple-entry Schengen visa and use this to travel to Croatia, cutting the
cost of their trip.
Visazonehas
advised that this season, certain Schengen countries have been clamping down on
issuing multiple-entry Schengen visas when the client will be staying in
Croatia for the majority of their trip.
It
adds that, whether or not the multiple-entry Schengen visa is approved in these
cases is at the discretion of the Schengen embassy in question and always has
been. However, previously the embassies were more relaxed about clients relying
on the visa to enter Croatia. Now they might reject the application, or issue a
multiple-entry visa that only covers the days the client will be in a Schengen
country and excludes the days spent in Croatia.
Visazone
suggests that agents check the number of days issued on the multiple-entry
Schengen visa granted to their clients. It adds that agents should also
allow sufficient time to process a second visa in the case where the
Schengen embassy informs the client that their Schengen visa will not cover
their stay in Croatia.
