Theoretically, the Schenghen Visa was created to make traveling between the 25 states members of the Schengen area much easier and less bureaucratic. Also in theory, traveling on a Schengen Visa means that the visa holder can travel to any (or all) member countries using one single visa, thus avoiding the hassle and expense of obtaining individual visas for each country.
In reality, there are many issues that may cause travel discomfort for Schengen Visa holders in individual countries. In Germany, we encountered one of the most bizarre cases ever: a holder of a Schengen Visa Type C Multi was detained by the Bundespolizei Münich, fined 660 €, and forced to leave the country to a different destination than her home country. Here’s her story.
Imagine an old lady, who traveled between Georgia and Germany on a Schengen Visa for years, to take care of her little granddaughter who lives in Treves. She is informed in Georgia, by the Deutsche Botschaft Tiflis/Georgien (the German Embassy in Tiblisi/ Georgia), through a document issued by the EU, called the Official Journal of the European Union, that she is allowed to stay in Germany no more than 90 days per period of 180 days:
The purpose of this Agreement is to facilitate the issuance of visas for an intended stay of no more than 90 days per period of 180 days to the citizens of Georgia.
Georgia is not the only country with such an agreement. There are similar issued for Russia and other non-Schengen countries. For citizens coming from these countries, the 90 days per period of 180 days rule is pretty straightforward. For those in charge of the gates in Schengen countries, things are complicated enough to lead to serious repercussions against travelers.
Take Germany, where the Flughafen München Bundespolizei considers mathematical calculus “complicated.” So complicated, that they refuse the official agreement between the European Union and Georgia on the facilitation of the issuance of visas, recalculating 180 days as “halbjahr” – or 6 months, depending on the mood of the policeman in charge, or depending on a mysterious computer system that only favors a so-called German efficiency.
The Federal Police states that they are following the letter of the law: the Schengen Borders Code, which uses a different terminology than the one described in the official agreement between the European Union and Georgia on the facilitation of the issuance of visas. Instead of “no more than 90 days per period of 180 days,” the Schengen Borders Code stipulates that visitors cannot stay in a Schengen country more than “three months in six months.”
“The legal basis for the work of the federal police is the Schengen Borders Code,” told us Matthias Knott, Polizeihauptkommissar and Press Officer at the Bundespolizeiinspektion Flughafen München. “This has European approval. There are of course other laws, rulings and agreements that are legally binding on us.”
But so far, the Bundespolizeiinspektion Flughafen München failed to admit that the Official Journal of the European Union containing the agreement between the European Union and Georgia on the facilitation of the issuance of visas, is binding.
Nino Basinashvili (who entered Germany on July 5, 2012, and exited on October 2, 2012; then returned to Germany January 3, 2013, and attempted to leave March 28, 2013) was apprehended by the police upon accusation to have stayed in Germany 85 days over the “Bezugszeitraum”, had to pay a fee of €660 Euro on threat of imprisonment, and is still threatened with further legal action against herself and her family residing in Germany.
The case number handwritten in this Georgian passport could mean that the holder might never get a Schengen visa ever again. (Image copyright: Holger Eekhof)
This Bezugszeitraum is the main Schengen Visa issue in discussion here. The Bundespolizeiinspektion Flughafen München made an error by not taking into account the Official Journal of the European Union containing the agreement between the European Union and Georgia on the facilitation of the issuance of visas. They criminalized an innocent: Basinashvili based her stay on the 90 days per period of 180 days rule.
Based on the EU agreement with Georgia, this Bezugszeitraum begins July 5, 2012, and ends after 180 days, on December 31, 2012. Also based on the EU agreement with Georgia, a new entry on January 3, 2013, would begin a new Bezugszeitraum. But not based on regulation used by Bundespolizeiinspektion Flughafen München, which converts 180 days into 6 months. In this case, the Bezugszeitraum begins July 5, 2012, and ends January 5, 2013. Because Basinashvili entered Germany on January 3, 2013, and didn’t travel out of Germany before January 5, 2013, according to the Munich-based Bezugszeitraum formula, she overstayed her welcome by some 85 days.
You can see now how easy it is to deem Basinashvili guilty based on a technicality. A PK. M. Troll was stubborn enough to refuse to count 180 days by hand, and all those in charge in München refused to look at the Official Journal of the European Union.
We called the Bundespolizeipräsidium in Potsdam, the official standing executive committee for the German Federal Police, and they confirmed the 90 days per period of 180 days Bezugszeitraum rule. But no one bothered to issue an apology to Basinashvili, or to undo the wrongs done to her.
So here it is, until the German police decides to respect individual agreements between your countries and the EU, don’t count on the 90 days in 180 days rule. Stay less in Germany, and enter later. Take all measures to avoid the humiliation that follows being apprehended by the Federal Police. At 60 years, with life-threatening health issues, Basinashvili had to sleep on the airport floor for two nights, because she didn’t have a credit card to enter the sleeping cabins. No one cared whether she was hungry or sick. The police told us: while in custody, she was offered free coffee and water. Can you understand why she is not grateful?