5

I am recognised as a refugee person in New Zealand (NZ) and I also was granted permanent residency on a Refugee Travel Document (RTD). I'd like to travel for a vacation to the U.S, Mexico, Italy or the Netherlands. It says if you're a legal resident in NZ you can enter Germany, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia for 90 days visa-free.

Will be able to travel to the other Schengen states visa-free or if not, do they normally accept an NZ RTD to apply for a visit (tourist) visa?

In case you were wondering my home country passport has no visa exemptions for Schengen states or North America. I can't use it to apply for any visa either.

Improve this question
1
  • @pnuts The layout of the results page from that form is horribly confusing. For instance, it doesn't clearly delineate what sections apply to the country being entered and the countries being transited.
    – Michael Hampton
    Commented Jan 14, 2017 at 5:43

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

Will be able to travel to the other Schengen states visa-free

No. Well, yes, but no. I mean... in practice, many / most of the time when you cross a Schengen border with car/bus/foot nothing much happens, sometimes not even a flight incurs a passport check. But anything goes. You cross the border, five minutes later the police is signalling the car demanding paperwork. I had a Budapest-Milan flight which ended in a passport check much to my surprise (a few days later a Rome-Marseille one didn't nor did a Basel-Budapest one a few weeks later). This Christmas driving from Hungary into Austria there was a passport check on the border but driving from Austria into Hungary noone gave a damn. So: to stay within legal limits and avoid huge problems, you need a visa.

or if not, do they normally accept an NZ RTD to apply for a visit (tourist) visa?

Absolutely. The 1951 convention document equals a passport in these cases.

Improve this answer
2
  • Thanks for the info. It strikes me that some EU countries allow visa-free entry and some don't with an NZRTD when they all sort of need to agree who enters their zone given how easy you can go through these countries undetected.
    – Traveller101
    Commented Jan 14, 2017 at 18:12
  • 2
    I warned several times on this site: don't try to bring common sense into an immigration fight.
    – user4188
    Commented Jan 14, 2017 at 19:08

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .