Travelling to Europe/Frankfurt with a criminal conviction

[stevemilo]

I have been reading and replying to a few posts in the USA criminal conviction thread. I was just wondering if it as difficult to enter Europe if you have a upcoming court case? Does anyone have a copy of the customs form you have to fill out upon entering Frankfurt for a 15 day Cosmos tour?

 

[Brettmcg]

Are you an Australian citizen? If so, you will be entering Germany/the EU on a Schengen Visa issued upon your arrival. In my many experiences travelling to/through Europe, and especially Germany I have not once had to fill out a Customs or Immigration form. In fact, security and passport control is pretty lax.

 

[Travel Guru]

I'd second what Brettmcg said, ive been to Europe twice this year to several countries including Germany and the only country requiring a customs form was the UK.

Customs is extremely lax in most European airports of late, infact in several its been one person on a chair sitting at the exit.

Im not a lawyer and so dont offer this advice as concrete, but the US tends to be alot more strict on criminal records than the EU, so I dont imagine you'll run into too many difficulties depending on the nature of your conviction.

TG

 

[Dave Noble]

I would think that EU would be likely to be easy to get in, however I would still recommend getting advice from a lawyer versed in immigration rather than relying on opinions on here since FRA is a long way to fly straight back from if there are any issues.

Dave

 

[Brettmcg]

I would still recommend getting advice from a lawyer versed in immigration rather than relying on opinions on here since FRA is a long way to fly straight back from if there are any issues.

Definitely. You may even wish to contact the German Embassy here in Australia to see what they can advise.

 

[JohnK]

Does anyone have a copy of the customs form you have to fill out upon entering Frankfurt for a 15 day Cosmos tour?

I am not sure what is required when entering Germany but I will find out in 2 weeks as I will be on a Cosmos tour starting in Frankfurt.

As mentioned by others always seek official advice when not certain but a rough guide as to what is required on the application for a Schengen visa does not require you to provide a criminal record history like the USA.

 

[stevemilo]

Thx guys for your help. Yes, if you could let me know after your Cosmos tour, that would be really helpful. Regards, Steve

 

[JohnK]

Does anyone have a copy of the customs form you have to fill out upon entering Frankfurt for a 15 day Cosmos tour?

No need to complete any customs forms when entering Germany.

And from my experience a few days ago there does not appear to be any outbound customs/passport control.

 

[NM]

No need to complete any customs forms when entering Germany.

And from my experience a few days ago there does not appear to be any outbound customs/passport control.

Outbound passport control is only required when departing Germany (or any country/state that is a member signatory to the Schengen agreement) for a non-schengen destination. So it depends on where your next destination is to be.

 

[JohnK]

Outbound passport control is only required when departing Germany (or any country/state that is a member signatory to the Schengen agreement) for a non-schengen destination. So it depends on where your next destination is to be.

You are probably right. I was going to Helsinki which is still Schengen. Interesting though that whilst in transit in Helsinki I had to go through passport control for flight to Zurich.