Do I need to get a multiple entry visa for Spain/Andorra travel as a US citizen?

November 8, 2009 7:21 PM

I'm going to Spain (Barcelona) for 10 days, and I'm a US citizen, which in my understanding grants me a de facto 90-day single entry Schengen visa. I've been thinking about going to Andorra, a non-Schengen country, which suggests to me that I would therefore require a multiple entry Visa. Preliminary research confirms this. Stupid question: do I need to do this before I leave? Can anyone else who has gone to Andorra from Spain attest to the strictness or laxity of the immigration controls?
posted by anarchivist to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

I have not been there but the official Andorra tourist website says that visas are not necessary:
http://www.andorra.ad/en-US/Useful_information/Pages/Frequently_asked_questions.aspx

As long as you can get into France or Spain, you can get into Andorra. The two border crossings are open 24/7. They want you to go there and spend your money.
posted by brianogilvie at 7:39 PM on November 8

Not quite. Spain is part of the Schengen Area, which allows U.S. tourists to enter for 90 days without a visa. Since you're only visiting for 10 days, presumably as a tourist, you fall into that category of people.

Anything you've read about a multiple-entry visa has to do with citizens of countries that require visas to enter the Schengen Area. If one of these people only had a single-entry visa, they'd be able to leave Spain (Schengen) for Andorra (non-Schengen), but they wouldn't be able to return to Spain (since they've used up their single entry). Thus, Andorra might try to preemptively bar them from stranding themselves in Andorra by requring a multiple-entry visa. This isn't applicable to you.
posted by SpringAquifer at 7:52 PM on November 8

Experience:

France to Andorra--nobody cared. Andorra customs might as well have been an abandoned gas station or something on the side of the road. Traffic whizzed past and nobody stopped.

Andorra to Spain--car traffic is stopped twice. Once for immigration (hand over your passport, get waved in), then once for customs.

The immigration guy (the first guy) seemed profoundly bored and waved me in very quickly.

All vehicles were being stopped at customs for a brief inspection by a Spanish official. This was the second stop, all cars got waved into a parking space under a large, open-air metal shed. Spanish official comes around to the car. I opened the car trunk for the guy, customs officer looks inside for two seconds, he's happy, I get waved through. No big deal.

Main reason for controls on re-entry back into Spain seemed to be at customs for tax purposes. I hadn't bought a bunch of cheap stuff in Andorra, so I wasn't a person of interest. Other cars that were bursting with shopping bags and packages seemed to get deeper questioning.

I did not require any further documentation to enter Spain (and back into the Schengen zone) than my U.S. passport with the Schengen rubber stamp that I had gotten on arrival.
posted by gimonca at 7:53 PM on November 8

Note, too: my understanding is that the only way in or out of Andorra is by road, either by private car or by bus. I don't think there's a rail connection at all, and there's no airport. Unless you're going to hike over the high mountains like the Von Trapp family, or helicopter in like a Bond villain, (neither of which are recommended) you'll be entering and leaving by one of a very few highway crossings.
posted by gimonca at 8:00 PM on November 8

Schengen visa-free admission is generally valid for up to 90 days out of a six month period. In other words, you don't need a special multiple entry visa because your visa-free admission already permits you to leave and re-enter the zone. What you're describing isn't really any different than someone who flies to Paris (Schengen), takes the Chunnel into London (non-Schengen) for the day, and subsequently returns to Paris. A gazillion people do it all the time.

In my experience, good luck getting the Spanish authorities to look at you beyond ascertaining that you hold an American passport.
posted by zachlipton at 8:13 PM on November 8

I'm a US citizen, which in my understanding grants me a de facto 90-day single entry Schengen visa.

I think your understanding is incorrect. The visa waiver program allows you to stay for 90 days in a 180 day period, i.e. it is the equivalent of a multiple-entry visa. Where did you read that the visa waiver program is single entry?
posted by ssg at 11:11 PM on November 8

Thanks for the information - I knew I was probably misunderstanding the visa waiver, but any information I dug up either from the Spanish Consulate or the Andorran Tourist Office seemed to fall prey to poor translation.
posted by anarchivist at 4:31 AM on November 9