Germany has long been, and remains, one of the most sought-after destinations in Europe. Every year it draws thousands of tourists, travelers, business partners, colleagues, and investors. With its unique culture and atmosphere, the country has become an almost essential stop on any tour of Europe.
Germany is part of the eurozone and a member state of the Schengen Agreement. All countries belonging to it have signed a treaty under which visa issuance is now standardized across all of them. A visa may be issued for travel directly to Germany, or it may be intended for a visit to another member country. The holder of a valid Schengen visa may cross the borders of any country that is party to that agreement. It is important to know that a traveler cannot obtain a visa for one country and then travel to another instead. In the vast majority of cases, the traveler must first visit the country that issued the visa. The only exception applies to countries a tourist must pass through in transit on the way to their final destination.
A Schengen multiple-entry visa is a type of Schengen visa that allows an unlimited number of entries into the territory of the Schengen states during its period of validity. In other words, a multiple-entry visa is simply a Schengen visa that can be used more than once.
As lawyers often say: “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Everyone crossing the border of a foreign country must therefore remember how important it is to comply with the visa regime, to use the visa only for the purposes for which it was issued, and to observe the length of stay specified on the visa. Germans in particular, with their well-known love of order and strict adherence to established legal procedures and rules, take a very strict view of such violations. As a result, even an unintentional slip on the part of an unlucky tourist can lead to a host of unexpected problems — from a ban on entering the Schengen countries to criminal prosecution in the very country whose rules of stay were violated.
In such a situation, it is crucial not to panic and to avoid making an already difficult position even worse. Turning to an experienced, knowledgeable lawyer capable of finding the right tools to escape what seems like a hopeless situation makes it possible to defend a client’s position as effectively as possible. This article recounts one interesting case from our practice, involving a violation of the rules governing foreign nationals’ stay in Germany.
Client Story: €5,000 Paid to a Travel Agency for Multiple-Entry Visas
A well-off Russian national once came to our firm — let’s call her Anastasia. She was in a highly unpleasant situation: two separate criminal cases had been opened against her in Germany. This came about after she, a frequent traveler on her way to visit a German friend in November 2017, was arrested during passport control in Munich and then forcibly deported back to her home country. No one was prepared for such a sorry end to a long-awaited vacation, but let’s take things in order.
Anastasia, who had spent most of her life in Moscow, was used to a fast pace of life, endless traffic jams, and juggling several matters at once. With an excellent education, a well-paying job at an international company, and two minor children, she always tried to optimize her time and often spared no expense when it came to things that affected her quality of life. As mentioned, Anastasia traveled willingly and often, both alone and with her children. At some point, our client decided she no longer wanted to “bother” with obtaining Schengen visas each time and decided to get a Schengen multiple-entry visa for herself and her children valid for the next five years. Trusting the supposed “professionals” at a Moscow travel agency recommended by a friend — a decision she would come to regret — she paid them €5,000 without hesitation for three promised five-year Schengen multiple-entry visas. The agency told her the simplest way was to apply through the French Embassy. As our client happened to be planning a weekend trip to Paris anyway, she quickly agreed. She signed the application forms carefully prepared for her in French, without paying much attention to reading them, and personally went to the French Embassy to submit the documents.
And indeed, to our client’s premature delight, she and her children soon received French multiple-entry visas valid from March 2017 to March 2022, opening the doors to every Schengen country. Anastasia wasted no time taking advantage of the opportunity, traveling to France, Italy, and other European countries several times in the spring and summer of 2017. Nothing marred this active traveler’s life until November 2017, when she flew into Munich and was arrested at passport control and taken in for police questioning on suspicion that her long-term visa was a forgery.
Arrested at Passport Control and a Fateful Admission About the Amount Paid
One can imagine the psychological state of a woman who had suspected nothing, finding herself for the first time in her life in such a situation — and in a foreign country, no less. At the police station she grew nervous, gave somewhat contradictory statements, and played voice messages from the travel agency staff who had helped her obtain the visa. For some reason, she candidly admitted to having paid €5,000 for the service, which ultimately dismayed the conscientious German police officer, who duly noted it in the interview record.
From there, events unfolded predictably: Anastasia was sent back to Moscow, and later received a letter from Germany by post. The letter made clear that Anastasia had been charged under two serious provisions:
- §267 of the German Criminal Code — document forgery (potential liability: a fine or up to five years’ imprisonment). Under German law, document forgery covers both forging an official document outright and altering one, as well as presenting such a document to a public authority while aware it is fake;
- §95 of the Residence Act (“Act on the Residence, Economic Activity and Integration of Foreigners in the Federal Territory,” Aufenthaltsgesetz — AufenthG) — unlawful stay in Germany (potential liability: a fine or up to one year’s imprisonment).
What is more, if upheld, such serious charges would have subjected Anastasia to a ban on entering the Schengen area for the next several years (typically five).
The Lawyer’s Work: The French Visa Had Only Been Valid for Six Months
The situation was alarming. Understanding that she needed to act professionally and without delay, Anastasia turned to us for qualified help in good time, on the recommendation of a well-known Moscow law firm. She also informed us that, through her lawyers in Moscow, she had already filed a lawsuit against the travel agency that had caused her these problems — which, of course, denied any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, the German police sent an inquiry to the French Embassy in Moscow regarding the validity of the visa issued to our client. According to information received from the embassy, the visa had indeed been issued by the French Embassy for a period of six months, exactly as requested in the application. That meant the visa had, in fact, expired back in August 2017. In other words, the expiry date actually printed on the visa had been forged. The forgery was so skillfully done that it was impossible to establish whether it had happened immediately after the visa was issued or only after it had expired. According to the French authorities, forged visas for France had recently become fairly common, and the quality of such forgeries was, unfortunately, only getting better.
Having immediately requested the case file from the police and clarified every detail, our firm’s lawyer set about preparing a detailed, well-reasoned petition to discontinue the criminal case for lack of sufficient grounds (§170(2) of the German Code of Criminal Procedure — “for lack of sufficient grounds for prosecution”).
The lawyer’s main arguments were as follows:
- our client had neither forged the visa nor altered its expiry date in her passport, had not instructed any intermediary to do so, and had presented the document at passport control when crossing into Germany without suspecting that the visa’s period of validity had already expired. It was impossible to establish either that Anastasia had forged the Schengen visa in her passport or that she had been aware of that fact when crossing into Germany;
- the €5,000 Anastasia paid for the three five-year Schengen visas was in line with the average market price for such services in Moscow;
- Anastasia’s passport had remained in the intermediaries’ hands long enough for the visa’s expiry date to have been altered. Our client received her passport back from the travel agency two to three days after the visa was issued by the French Embassy — giving the agency’s staff ample opportunity to alter the visa’s period of validity in order to meet the client’s expectations and “deliver on” the money received for the three five-year multiple-entry visas;
- our client promptly filed a lawsuit against the travel agency that had provided the service, demonstrating the legitimacy of her intentions and ruling out any collusion with the fraudsters;
- the unlawful crossing of the German border was unintentional and resulted from Anastasia’s genuine, mistaken belief about the validity of her Schengen visa.
Outcome: Case Closed, No Entry Ban Imposed
All of the above arguments, set out in detail in our firm’s petition, together with the supporting documents and the German police’s own independent findings, determined a positive outcome for the case. Just as we had rightly expected, the German criminal case was discontinued on every count, no decision was made to ban Anastasia from entering the Schengen countries, and there were no obstacles to her obtaining new visas. As a result, she was free to travel as often as before, including to Germany.
Conclusion
In closing, we would like to once again stress how important it is not to lose your head in a critical situation and to seek professional help from qualified lawyers in good time. This guarantees that, in each specific case, all necessary evidence will be gathered, and the supporting documents so essential in Germany will be requested and submitted correctly. Communication with law enforcement authorities will be conducted in proper legal language, something an ordinary person caught in a “stalemate” situation cannot always manage on their own. This highly professional approach, combined with attention to detail, gives our clients a strong chance of success even in resolving complex, unusual problems.
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