RTD + Schengen

little flee

Registered Users (C)
I am kind of confused about this whole thing.

Situation:

- I have been granted asylum in the US. Soon I will be applying for RTD.
- My passport (Serbia) allows Serbian citizens to travel visa-free in Schengen zone.
- I want to travel around Europe and meet my family because I can't go to Serbia anymore.
- I realize that some EU countries recognize RTD and some don't.

My question: if I get a French visa for example (which I assume will be stamped in my RTD and not my Serbian passport, right?), and after sightseeing I hop onto a train to visit Germany, and then Hungary to meet my parents, and someone stops me and asks for my papers - do I show them my RTD or my Serbian passport? Should I even carry my Serbian passport just in case if RTD falls through so I can show that I am allowed to enter the Schengen?

To make it clearer - if I obtain a visa on my RTD for one country in Schengen, am I obtaining visa for that particular country or am I obtaining a Schengen visa for the entire zone? And should I even carry my Serbian passport?
 
You're obtaining a visa for the entire eurozone with the Schengen visa. You should only take with you your RTD document. Note that many, but not all Schengen countries are visa free for US-RTD holders, included AFAIK France. Other countries (ie. Austria) are not visa-free to US-RTD holders and require a visa, such as the Schengen.
 
Yes, nevermind, France isn't. There are several other countries in the E.U. that, however, are visa free to US-RTDs.
 
if you are planning to visit only RTD-visa free countries you do not need visa. this works not only if your port of entry and leave do not require visa in RTD, but also if during the trip you are entering a country (even for transit only) which does not require visa. you could use Germany as arrival/departure airport for example, and fly from there to other country that does not need visa, example - Croatia.
 
Last year, I flew from LA to Oslo-Norway and I didn't have any problems. I checked my bags in LA at the auto-check in and I didn't even see an airliner personnel.Then from Oslo I flew to Venice (Just like a domestic flight) then I flew from Venice to Santorini (Just like a domestic flight also) then I flew from Venice to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to DC. (The only little problem: From Frankfurt to DC they announced my name through the speaker...and at the gate they wanted to make sure I had valid a valid RTD to fly back to America.

Ps: Just because you have a RTD it doesn't mean you are VISA FREE. At the immigration in Oslo, the immigration officer told me that "If you are from a country that doesn't need a visa, you wont need a visa. Now, JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONLY A RTD IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU ARE VISA FREE , IF YOU ARE BORN IN A COUNTRY WHERE THEY NEED VISA, DONT BUY YOUR TICKETS AND GO TO THE AIRPORT BECAUSE THE AIRLINER PERSONNEL WONT LET YOU BOARD THE PLANE.




I am kind of confused about this whole thing.

Situation:

- I have been granted asylum in the US. Soon I will be applying for RTD.
- My passport (Serbia) allows Serbian citizens to travel visa-free in Schengen zone.
- I want to travel around Europe and meet my family because I can't go to Serbia anymore.
- I realize that some EU countries recognize RTD and some don't.

My question: if I get a French visa for example (which I assume will be stamped in my RTD and not my Serbian passport, right?), and after sightseeing I hop onto a train to visit Germany, and then Hungary to meet my parents, and someone stops me and asks for my papers - do I show them my RTD or my Serbian passport? Should I even carry my Serbian passport just in case if RTD falls through so I can show that I am allowed to enter the Schengen?

To make it clearer - if I obtain a visa on my RTD for one country in Schengen, am I obtaining visa for that particular country or am I obtaining a Schengen visa for the entire zone? And should I even carry my Serbian passport?
 
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