Border crossing can sometimes be a bit tense, as you are always at the mercy of officials checking your passport/documents. Below are my experiences for various countries during my 2019 trip -
1) Greece - no issue both times (at the airport and while returning by road from Albania).
2) Albania - no issue (night time crossing) and was pretty smooth.
3) North Macedonia - bag checked for drugs or banned items. Just a couple of questions asked.
4) Bulgaria - specifically, called outside to understand what is first name and what is last name, as there is no surname on my passport. Otherwise, not an issue per se.
5) Romania - the police officer asked a lot of questions (whether I was a student, how many days, wanted to see my hotel bookings and flight bookings out of Romania) and was not convinced that the passport and visa photo of mine was similar to my face. He checked twice - for a long time and asked me to remove my spectacles and wasn't convinced at all (first time, this has happened to me). Two of his colleagues joined the party and I uttered my correct name and spelled it out for them. I felt that he let me into the country reluctantly.
Timisoara (no border crossing, just a random check, which has happened to me for the first time) - police checked my passport randomly in the park and asked me questions on my studies (everyone in Europe thinks I am a student 25-26 years old, which is flattering). After looking at my valid visa and satisfied with my answers, they wished me a good day (I guess they asked me because I was sitting on the bench for so long).
6) Serbia - not much checking at all as I did not get down even from the vehicle. The officer opened my passport and looked inside the vehicle, to which I raised my hand. And it was done :)
7) Bosnia & Hezregovina - the guys just checked my passport and I did not have to get down even from the bus.
8) Montenegro - no problem at all. It was a breeze (they look at either a valid Schengen visa or a valid American visa).
9) Croatia - we were asked to get out of the bus and show our passports one by one to the officer. After a couple of questions, my passport was stamped. But, I had to wait a while to board the bus till the process was completed for all the passengers. However, the main issue was we had an Albanian bus in front of us and it was checked thoroughly for drugs by the officers (took more than 30-40 mins) and the entire process at Montenegro and Croatian immigration took around 2 hours.
10) Bosnia-Croatia - to go from Dubrovnik to Split, you have to pass through Bosnia and Croatia check posts (a city called Neum in Bosnia is on this route) and at both places, the officials came on the bus to collect the passports. But, it was a breeze as they just ask you if you have valid visa, scan the passport in the system and stamp it.
11) Slovenia - I was with German friends for this border check and everyone breezed through the checkpoint except, of course me :) What happened was that the Slovenian officer wanted to check my fingerprints on the system. He did not find any record for it and he asked me to scan all my fingers. He even asked me which one have you got scanned when you got the visa. I told "all of them" but after calling his senior on the phone, he let me through even though there were no fingerprint records of mine on the system. I was calm about the whole situation, after the multiple border checks I have faced on this trip but it was quite amusing (and touching) to see my German friends get worried about what happened to me, as they have never faced such a situation with a German passport/ID. Later, I realised that I had got my fingerprints taken only for UK/US visa and not for Schengen visa, as it has always been renewed without any need to go to VFS/French Embassy for any formalities. Anyway, all's well that ends well :)
12) Hungary - I came from Ljubljana to Budapest via train and surprise surprise, there was no passport check at all. If only, it was a breeze everytime I cross countries (though, no major issues for me on this trip).
13) Slovakia - I came from Budapest to Bratislava via train and again, there was no passport check at all. Funny, because the Slovakian embassy in India had told me that I could not travel to Slovakia as my Schengen visa for business visa issued by France, and K am not utilizing it for the purpose I mentioned in my visa application.
14) Austria - I came via train from Bratislava. Again, there was no passport check - if this carries on, I will forget the drill during passport control :)
15) Italy - I came from Innsbruck to Vienna on an overnight bus. The bus driver checked my passport and there was no passport control at the border. At least, I took out my passport in the last few days. This Euro zone is such a cool concept and you can visit so many countries without even showing your ID. Quite a different experience for an Indian passport holder 😀. If only the world could be a place without any boundaries..
16) France - The country which actually gave me the Schengen visa and I am entering it so late into Nice/Monaco. No checks on the bus.
17) Germany - I took the bus from Nice to Sovano in Italy and there was no check. After that, took the bus from Genova, Italy to Zurich in Switzerland - again, no check. But, while traveling from Zurich to Freiburg in Germany, the officials checked my passport at Basel (Fed-land) - they asked me what I do and the purpose for my travel. He flicked my passport
pages and remarked that I travel a lot 😂
18) Switzerland - From Freiburg, I took the bus to Geneva and normal service resumes - no checking.
19) Spain - I traveled to Barcelona by bus but there was no check from the officials anywhere.
20) Portugal - I took the bus to Lisbon but again, no checks. The passport was checked at the airport, of course, when I left the Schengen area.
To conclude, my experience was that the passport is checked more often in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe, where the concept of "no borders" might actually hold true (even though we live in tough times where immigration is such a big issue).
If only, the world was a place without borders and we were free to travel everywhere without a passport. Wishful thinking yes, but I had the luxury of living that carefree life without worrying about the passport or visa on foreign shores and it is a wonderful feeling !
Comments