When she just doesn't get it

[Gylden]

Facetrok,
Budapest is not in Bulgaria.

XMan,
I went back and read your post about Budapest, are you looking for a tour for yourself or your LIQ?

About the visa for her, my wife was the same way, everyone told her she would never get a visa (and she was not working), but she did and more than a couple of times, without any problems, so I would not put much weight on the difficulties.

[facetrock]

   OOOPS ..... Budapest is in Hungary. I knew that to.

[ECOCKS]

Ed, I dont think this woman is nervous at all. Xman yes. She had a bad trip the first time there but remembered it fondly according Xman and still wants to go back. That doesnt sound to nervous to me.

 I took at trip to Paris with a Ukrainian women and all the travel agency did was get her a visa, plane ticket and a tranfer from the airport to the hotel room.. Very simple for her to do and Bulgaria I think would be easier to get a visa than France. Maybe I am wrong though but I dont think so.

Just going by what he says facet (taken from XMan's post at top of page 7): 

"It's fairly simple.  She is not coming to this hemisphere.  As to why, that is still a mystery to me.  If it is not a beach near her, then she wants something else (i.e. a non-beach) near her.  She does seem convinced that getting a visa to anywhere that requires one is impossible." 

[XMan]

Facetrok,
Budapest is not in Bulgaria.

XMan,
I went back and read your post about Budapest, are you looking for a tour for yourself or your LIQ?

About the visa for her, my wife was the same way, everyone told her she would never get a visa (and she was not working), but she did and more than a couple of times, without any problems, so I would not put much weight on the difficulties.

Thanks to Boethius I seem to be on the way to ironing out a hotel.  At the very least I think I have some better options than what I was finding previously. 

As to the tour, I don't want to show up in Budapest with no idea what to do.  (She is in agreement, so we are both interested in some touring.)  I'd like to have some walking and riding tours (and really would like to have a guide who speaks both Russian and English, but seems quite unlikely right not).  I don't want to go sight seeing 8 hours per day every day.  But it would be great to set 2 to 4 days of sightseeing morning, or afternoon, or Budapest at night.  Then we would have free time plus some scheduled time to see interesting things, of which I am sure there is quite a long list. 

Humorously, she is also now thinking about an alternative (Czech). 
But, that's OK, really.  Just as long as we can work something out that is positive. 

And speaking of positive, she was extremely happy with the rose arrangement I had delivered today, and sent a great message to me.  (The advantage of having a great agency owner is that I got flowers delivered at less than half the cost of the online delivery services you generally see, on a Sunday, in the evening.  This was important because the LIQ worked almost non-stop this weekend, as her second job is doing makeup for weddings, and this weekend was packed with clients.)
 

[Gator]

I met a RW in Budapest for 5 days.  We saw everything in two days, then rented a car and toured the lovely countryside.  The Budapest sights can be seen easily on a self-guided tour (there isn't that much noteworthy).

I have a friend stationed with the Dutch embassy there, and he gave me a lot of inside information on what to do/not to do.


2.5 years ago the 5-star hotels were about 33% the price of Moscow hotels, so I hope you plunge.

[XMan]

I've been doing all this hotel / tour searching and forgot a basic question.

Do Americans need a visa to get into Hungary, or is a passport all that is necessary?

I met a RW in Budapest for 5 days.  We saw everything in two days, then rented a car and toured the lovely countryside.  The Budapest sights can be seen easily on a self-guided tour (there isn't that much noteworthy).

I have a friend stationed with the Dutch embassy there, and he gave me a lot of inside information on what to do/not to do.

2.5 years ago the 5-star hotels were about 33% the price of Moscow hotels, so I hope you plunge.

Thanks Gator, I'll keep that in mind.  I assumed there would be quite a bit more to see.

[OlgaH]

Do Americans need a visa to get into Hungary, or is a passport all that is necessary?

ENTRY / EXIT REQUIREMENTS: A valid passport is required.  Hungary is a party to the Schengen Agreement.  As such, U.S. citizens may enter Hungary for up to 90 days for tourist or business purposes without a visa.  The passport should be valid for at least three months beyond the period of stay.  For further details about travel into and within Schengen countries, please see our Schengen Fact Sheet.  http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1137.html

Embassy of Hungary in Washington, DC
http://www.huembwas.org/default.htm

General information for entering Hungary
http://www.huembwas.org/Consul/ENG/visa/GalInfoEnter.htm

[rambler]

This is where we went to celebrate our engagement.

http://www.cocodemer.com/index.php?langue=ang

You could not wish for a more romantic setting. Ckeck out the PDF and get a suite with the no kids area.  Take your own Champagne and wine on the plane and get ice buckets in you room on your balcony. 300 metres of private beach.... believe me she will be impressed.  She said  " How did you find this place?"....

R

[XMan]

Thanks OlgaH.

This is where we went to celebrate our engagement.

http://www.cocodemer.com/index.php?langue=ang

You could not wish for a more romantic setting. Ckeck out the PDF and get a suite with the no kids area.  Take your own Champagne and wine on the plane and get ice buckets in you room on your balcony. 300 metres of private beach.... believe me she will be impressed.  She said  " How did you find this place?"....

R

That looks unbelievable. 
Must have been great.

[Gylden]

We stayed at the Boutique Hotel Zara in Budapest, it was clean and modern, we had a suite on the top floor. The staff was friendly and the location was good, but the cleaning staff was up early each day and made plenty of noise. The rooms could have used more furnishings and there were no hooks in the bathroom to hang your bathrobe.
Before our trip I considered booking a room at the Gellart, because of the history of the place and the fact of their bath house, we went there and bathed. It was interesting, but I am glad I didn't get a room there, as it looked a bit run down.
The Széchenyi Spa was the spa we enjoyed the most.
Interesting things to know about Budapest, there are hot springs running along the river underground, there is a monastery built in caves and heated by the hot water springs. The Kárpátia restaurant was fantastic, romantic and impressive service, with gypsy music. We had plenty of good experiences in Budapest.
P.S.  As I said in an earlier post if you enjoy music, the new National Theater is very good.

No visa is required for US citizens.

[UTRO]

This is where we went to celebrate our engagement.

http://www.cocodemer.com/index.php?langue=ang

You could not wish for a more romantic setting. Ckeck out the PDF and get a suite with the no kids area.  Take your own Champagne and wine on the plane and get ice buckets in you room on your balcony. 300 metres of private beach.... believe me she will be impressed.  She said  " How did you find this place?"....

R

Seychelles are very nice Rambler and I can understand your fianceé being more than a little impressed! Maldives and Mauritious can be added as amazing Indian Ocean destinations too.

[CanadaMan]

Spain is loyal to Russians now. A year ago they made getting their visa easier and I will not be surprised if she gets a multi visa for 6 month. Today Spain supports the idea to cancel visas for Russians in the EU zone. We bring good money 

You were right RW!
Today we received the good news that she did in fact get a 6 month multi visa.
Now we can get on with our travel plans. 

[RussianWind]

You were right RW!
Today we received the good news that she did in fact get a 6 month multi visa.
Now we can get on with our travel plans.  

Yeah, that's right. Now she can travel anywhere around Shengen zone but not to have future problems with the next visa, she has to spend more days (or to make more trips) in the coutry which issued this visa. If she enters/exit through another country, advice her to keep travel tickets to prove this.

Have nice time

[OlgaH]

Today we received the good news that she did in fact get a 6 month multi visa.

Very good news!
Congratulations to both of you!   
Did she use an agency?
And as RussianWind already said your plan should start with the country which issued the visa.

[CanadaMan]

...she has to spend more days (or to make more trips) in the coutry which issued this visa. If she enters/exit through another country, advice her to keep travel tickets to prove this.

Have nice time

 Thanks for the kind wishes!
Just to understand this better. Are you saying that after this trip is completed, on her next trip to Europe she will need to make a special trip to Spain again, even if she just wanted to visit say, France?

[CanadaMan]

Very good news!
Congratulations to both of you!   
Did she use an agency?
And as RussianWind already said your plan should start with the country which issued the visa.

Thanks Olga!
Yes she did use an agency. There were good sides and bad sides to this.
The good side was we got the visa!
The bad side was that the agent chose the hotel and plane routing.
The plane routing involves a 13 hour stopover in Moscow!!!

I found another routing that would cut more than 10 hours from the total travel time but the agent wouldn't change the tickets.

[OlgaH]

CanadaMan,

good thing is the agencies know the "roundabouts" the bad thing is that their services cost more and not all agency are honest (some of them take money and return absolutely clean passport I mean without any records of refusal by an embassy in the passport, more over they return it right on the eve of flight when you can change and cancel nothing)

From her first entering into the Schengen area she has to spend more time in the country which issued the visa. And it is also better if she will visit that country first.  

"TRAVELLING WITH A SCHENGEN VISA
If you have a French visa, a Spanish visa, an Italian visa or any Schengen visa issued by one of the following country's consulates, you can travel to any of the 24 countries while your visa is valid. You should ensure that you get your passport stamped in the country of the Embassy that issued your visa - This should be your MAIN DESTINATION."  

[RussianWind]

And as RussianWind already said your plan should start with the country which issued the visa.

No, Olga, I didn't say the plan should start with the country which issued visa. I said "the main destination" should be that country.

That means that when she brings her passport for the next visa, they will count stamps of entries and exits and the days of stay there.

[CanadaMan]

No, Olga, I didn't say the plan should start with the country which issued visa. I said "the main destination" should be that country.

That means that when she brings her passport for the next visa, they will count stamps of entries and exits and the days of stay there.

Believe it or not this still isn't clear with me.

"That means that when she brings her passport for the next visa..."
did you mean for her next application for a new Schengen visa, or did you mean on her next trip after this one?

Because if you meant the former, then what about this possible scenario:
On this trip she just visits Spain for 12 days and leaves Europe.

Next trip to Europe she just visits France for 14 days.
Third trip to Europe she just visits Germany for 10 days.

If they count up the days as you were mentioning, then France will be the greatest number.
More than Spain, the country that issued the visa. Is that a problem?
Must all future visits with the Schengen visa show a tally of less than 12 days for countries other than Spain?

[RussianWind]

There are no strict rules. In your example when she applies for the next visa, they will say she needed to apply in the French consulate. If there is no big days difference, they will say "bad girl" and issue her next visa.

If she visits Spain for 2 days, France for 12, she can be punished with a refusal.
If she visits Spain for 3 days, then France 12, then Spain 3 days again, they can say "it's ok".

It's all about having a reasonable balance. Just warned you

[CanadaMan]

There are no strict rules. In your example when she applies for the next visa, they will say she needed to apply in the French consulate....

It's all about having a reasonable balance. Just warned you

But, from my understanding of a six-month visa, she wouldn't need to apply for another visa until six months have passed.
Or maybe I have that wrong?

If her first trip consists of visiting just Spain, why couldn't she then visit other countries on her subsequent trips?
Isn't that what a Schengen visa is all about?

Are you saying that whatever the country is who issued the Schengen visa (in this case Spain), you must somehow continue to favor them in all of your subsequent trips for the next 6 months?

[RussianWind]

CM, sorry if I confuse you.

She can visit any Shengen countries with this visa during 6 months and stay there all together no longer than her visa allows. For example 30, 45, 60 or 90 days (it will be shown in her visa). Single or multiplay trips.

When this visa expires after 6 months, you may want to go somewhere else again. Before issuing her next visa, consulate people will check how she used the previous one.

[mies]

CM, sorry if I confuse you.

She can visit any Shengen countries with this visa during 6 months and stay there all together no longer than her visa allows. For example 30, 45, 60 or 90 days (it will be shown in her visa). Single or multiplay trips.

When this visa expires after 6 months, you may want to go somewhere else again. Before issuing her next visa, consulate people will check how she used the previous one.

if visa is issued by Spain - she should visit Spain during her trips, and her stay in Spain should be longer than in other countries. It says so at the embassy websites.
If she plans to spend more time in France than in Spain - then she should have applied for a French Shengen visa. This is the way how it is explained at embassy websites.
I once had Austrian Shengen visa, and visited several other countries during the same trip. When I was leaving these other countries - I was several times asked whether I indeed visited Austria, and the border officer checked how long I staid there - to make sure that the duration of my stay in Austria was longer than duration of stay in any other Shengen zone country.

Also - the 6 month visa does not necessarily mean that she can stay full 6 months in the Shengen zone. Usually visa specifies how many days out of these 6 months she can stain in Shengen zone. Can be 5, or 15, or 30, etc. Similar as tourist USA visa - may have duration of 5 years, but in each particular year visa holder cannot exceed total amount of 180 days in USA.

[CanadaMan]

if visa is issued by Spain - she should visit Spain during her trips, and her stay in Spain should be longer than in other countries. It says so at the embassy websites.
If she plans to spend more time in France than in Spain - then she should have applied for a French Shengen visa. This is the way how it is explained at embassy websites.

Thanks RW and mies, it's starting to make more sense to me now.

There's just one thing I don't get.

For this Spain trip, it was logical to apply for a Schengen visa through the Spanish consulate.
I don't know if a 6-month visa was applied for or not, but that's what was issued.

How can a person know in advance what their travel plans will be two, three, five months from now?
Let's say in four months, she wants to travel to France for two weeks?

Is she supposed to apply for a new Schengen visa in that case?
Or can she use her 'Spanish' Schengen visa and get slapped on the wrists for a visit to France?

[Gylden]

What is really strange about all of this shengen visa talk, is that my wife and I have been traveling all around Europe (shengen countries) for the last 5 years and neither one of us has ever had to go through any passport control in any of the countries. No stamps in our passports, not any one word to any immigration agents, nothing.
If you are entering a shengen country from outside the shengen zone, then there is control. If you are traveling from one shengen country to another, there is no control. So there is no evidence of what shengen countries you have been in other than the first final destination.