Residence Permit + Schengen Visa?

[jonas1234]

Ni hao,

I know that is maybe not the 100% correct place to post this, but I just hope that former Chinese students which have been abroad have any experience and can share their comments here. Also everyone else is welcome of course

So here is the case: My girlfriend from China will do her Master Degree in September in Copenhagen, Denmark and needs therefore a residence permit as she will life for 2 years here. She got that residence permit and is ready to study.

Though she has to visit the summer university in Copenhagen as well, as she will have to do a course there which is required for the Master degree studies. Sadly her residence permit starts in August but the summer university at the end of June.

So the embassy says she needs a business visa for the summer university though the Danish immigratation service says it might not be possible to have a residence permit AND and schengen visa at the same time.

Actually the immigration service and the embassy say different things in many points, so we are not sure what to do now.

Is it possible to hold both visa and residence permit? Would she have to return after the visa expires to China and come then 1 day later back when her residence permit starts? Is it correct to apply for a business visa?

Thanks in advance!

[renzhe]

It's an unusual case and nobody other than the consulate will really know. I'm not in Denmark, nor do I work for the consulate, so this is all speculation.

If she has a resident permit, I assume that should act like a visa, and be tied to her studies. With that, she can travel anywhere in Schengen. A residence permit in one Schengen country is automatically a visa for any other Schengen country.

So I don't understand how you can't hold a residence permit and a Schengen visa. The resident permit IS the Schengen visa. At least the one I have, and the one my girlfriend has.

The problem is that she wants to visit earlier, and probably stay until her residence permit starts. Actually, she should have got a visa/residence permit starting from June in the first place. A lot depends on whether she has to enroll at the university in June or not. If she doesn't, she can go on a tourist visa and claim she's visiting you or whatever. If she has to enroll, the university will almost certainly ask for a residence permit.

Your options are basically:

- Get a new residence permit starting from June, which is something the consulate and the immigration will likely not be too happy about

- Get a tourist or some other visa for the time between June and August and then plea with University to let her take part without a residence permit and/or to let her enrolled based on the residence permit starting in August.

- Skip the summer school and plea with the university to let her miss that or take equivalent course at some later time

In any case, explain her situation to the university and the consulate, see what options you have and what to do. If she gets a tourist visa that expires at the same time her residence permit starts, she probably won't have to leave and re-enter.

[peekay]

So I don't understand how you can't hold a residence permit and a Schengen visa. The resident permit IS the Schengen visa. At least the one I have, and the one my girlfriend has.

Technically, a residence permit is not a Schengen visa (or any other visa, for that matter.) Residence permit holders are allowed to travel to other Schengen countries visa-free, but the permit is not a visa in itself.

Also, I'm speculating that jonas's girlfriend does not actually have a resident permit (yet). Instead, what she may have is a special non-Schengen, single-entry Danish visa. So Danish immigration might be correct that she probably can't obtain a Schengen visa concurrently with the non-Schengen Danish visa.

First thing to check is the exact terms of the Danish visa. The girlfriend might actually be allowed to enter Denmark for some period before the residence permit starts (e.g., 30 days before.) This may/may not be sufficient for her purposes.

If not, unfortunately she might have to obtain a new visa and have her resident permit application adjusted as well.

As renzhe noted, it's best to work with the university to see what options are possible.

Edit: hmm, it appears under the Danish system there isn't a separate entry visa, so my suggestion to check the visa above probably doesn't apply. Unlike the Schengen visa, residence permit rules differ for each country, unfortunately.

Edited May 25, 2009 at 08:02 PM by peekay

[renzhe]

Technically, a residence permit is not a Schengen visa (or any other visa, for that matter.) Residence permit holders are allowed to travel to other Schengen countries visa-free, but the permit is not a visa in itself.

Yes, but it basically replaces a visa, doing everything a visa usually does, and more.

Also, I'm speculating that jonas's girlfriend does not actually have a resident permit (yet). Instead, what she may have is a special non-Schengen, single-entry Danish visa. So Danish immigration might be correct that she probably can't obtain a Schengen visa concurrently with the non-Schengen Danish visa.

You might be right, but do such visas still exist? I don't remember seeing one in a long time.

Once you enter Denmark, you can go to Germany, Sweden, and any Schengen country freely, since there is no border, so I thought they only issued Schengen visas nowadays?

[peekay]

A Residence Permit does not replace a Schengen visa. With a Schengen visa, for example, you're allowed to goof around doing nothing for 90-days. A Residence Permit, on the other hand, may only be valid as long as you're attending school, etc. Hence the invention of a "hybrid visa" (see below, might be something jonas's girlfriend could obtain.)

Non-Schengen visas are still commonly issued by Schengen countries. They're often called "National", "Long Stay" or "Type D" visas. These visas are valid only for the issuing country, plus you may transit other Schengen countries for max 5-days.

Typically, you get one of these National visas so you can enter the country, then after arrival you have a certain amount of time to process your Residence Permit (similar to the X-visa system in China.) Once you have the Residence Permit then you can travel to any other Schengen country without a visa. In other countries, you don't have to apply for a Residence Permit (similar to the F-visa system in China) but it would mean you're stuck in that particular country on the National visa.

Some countries issue a combination of a National visa and a Schengen visa (called "Type D+C Visa" or hybrid visa) so the holder isn't "stuck" in the issuing country while his Residence Permit is being processed (or for countries without a Residence Permit.)

Some countries combine the Residence Permit with the Type D or Type D+C visa, so there is no separate Residence Permit to apply for after arrival. Looks like Denmark is one of these countries.

(Technically, permission to study is also separate from the Residence Permit, though the distinction is usually transparent to the student. But it would mean if jonas's girlfriend gets a Schengen visa, she must be sure that she gets a study permit as well for this portion of her stay.)

Unfortunately when it gets into National visas, the rules vary widely between countries, so I'm afraid we're all just speculating and not really helping jonas with his problem.

[chrix]

I'm afraid I can't help either, but for anything involving similar problems in Germany, there's this excellent German-language forum which is frequented by many experts, government employees, immigrant activists, lawyers, consular officers etc. If you understand German, you might consider asking your question there, maybe someone on there knows.