Has Anyone Left Europe's Schengen Area for 14 Days to Then Enter USA?

[Kay & Evan 60]

1 minute ago, Xurxo r said:

Me, and a Polite Parrot came from Croatia to Serbia to catch the flight from Belgrade tomorrow, and we had no problems crossing the Serbian border. So that’s another positive data point!

Good news! I hope all goes smooth for both of you tomorrow and let us know how it went!

Edited June 19, 2020 by Kay & Evan

[A Polite Parrot 41]

On 6/18/2020 at 1:00 AM, jenny53 said:

Thank you for all the helpful information. I’ll be staying in a Mobil home kind of town almost direct by the beach where they have small homes you can rent. Then I’ll drive to Zagreb and spend 4 days there before hopefully flying.

 

When did you originally plan to fly to the US before you flights got canceled? I’m guessing it was always the Istanbul- US flight that got cancelled? I hope this will be less of an issue in 3 weeks, when I’m flying. 

That sounds like what the Interior Ministry want.

First we booked with Turkish Air but they cancelled all June flights as soon as we got to Croatia two weeks ago.Then we then booked with Air Serbia. I suppose there were some politics as well as the restrictions on Croatia closing all incoming boarders to Serbia. So far BEG to JFK flights are still on. I hope more flights start arriving too.

 

Yesterday we drove through the land boarder crossing Bajakovo & Batrovci within half an hour and with little trouble. The Serbian border police asked us if it was for tourism (yes), checked the passports, stamped them and on we went.

14 hours ago, AB UK US said:

I am looking to fly to Croatia around the 6th of July from the US and my fiancé will meet me there; he is coming from the U.K. For anyone who has been there; any advice on where to stay? 

Where ever you can afford and want to go. It’s been amazing there and the people are incredibly friendly. WIth any connecting flights, be sure to refer to IATA’s country-by-country entry/transit restrictions, and print out any confirmations from any police bodies that can confirm your ability to transit, or enter the country. Our most difficult part was the initial exit from Spain in convincing the Lufthansa check-in staff to re-review the requirements to override the system to let us check-in. Having proof we were allow to transit or enter seemed to be their biggest concern. Which seems ### backwards considering what boarder police are for but that’s how it works.

 

Croatia is pretty easy. All you need is proof of a paid place to stay. See below of some info and links regarding Croatia.

 

9 hours ago, opcav said:

Hi! Random. When my fiancé and I were investigating our options, I contacted Croatia and asked if he would be allowed into Croatia for that reason. This was their response (he’s been in Mexico since the 12th...it was a better option for us). But I hope this is helpful for someone else! 

Be sure to bring a copy of your paid booking when entering Croatia. We printed out our AirBnB receipt, the confirmation from the entercroatia.mup.hr as well as an email from the Interior Ministry. This was two weeks ago so it’s possible more of the border police are familiar with this permission. You can look through this thread for other who offer similar experiences and suggestions.

[A Polite Parrot 41]

Sorry for the double post but the edit time for previous post is a little harsh.

 

1 hour ago, Robin Redemsky said:

Does anyone have any documents showing they can travel to the US on a k1 visa? Manchester airport is giving my fiancé a hard time. He’s leaving for Serbia right now and they told him AirSerbia will want official documents showing he is allowed to travel on a K1. Idk if AirSerbia will even care to be honest. They have nonstop flights to New York.

I’d suggest you call and get an email confirmation from any of the US embassies so it has your email and name on it. We asked a number of consulates to double check and got some prompt replies that clearly restated what’s on IATA’s website and what we understand: K1 visa can enter. You must not have been in or transited through Schengen Area, Iran, China, etc. in the 14 days prior to US entry.

 

Best of luck ya’ll!

[SBML 34]

16 hours ago, Ja3germeister said:

And? How did it go?

I'm in! I had the passport check in Dallas, got asked a bunch of questions, as I was entering with the ESTA, but as I was with my fiancée it was kinda easy. I got asked my reason for traveling, how long I am gonna stay, where did I came from and how long I stayed in Mexico, what do I do for a living and where, and then a bunch of small questions related to that. After that we were free to go and I was able to travel to St. Louis withot problems and here I am! So I'm glad to say that it is safe to enter with the ESTA to visit during this times as long as you stay away the 14 days from the banned countries. 

 

I wish everyone else trying this the best of luck, I'm rooting for all of you!

[pretzelbite 8]

3 hours ago, SBML said:

I'm in! I had the passport check in Dallas, got asked a bunch of questions, as I was entering with the ESTA, but as I was with my fiancée it was kinda easy. I got asked my reason for traveling, how long I am gonna stay, where did I came from and how long I stayed in Mexico, what do I do for a living and where, and then a bunch of small questions related to that. After that we were free to go and I was able to travel to St. Louis withot problems and here I am! So I'm glad to say that it is safe to enter with the ESTA to visit during this times as long as you stay away the 14 days from the banned countries. 

 

I wish everyone else trying this the best of luck, I'm rooting for all of you!

Oh my lord! This just made my day as I’m going to do the same at the beginning of July. So glad to hear that it works with an ESTA too! 
 

Happy for you! Thanks for sharing!!  

[Mackznie 23]

For those of you that traveled to Mexico successfully and were questioned by the airline prior to boarding or Mexican government, what did you say your purpose was for entering the country? My fiances visa is expiring July 23 so we need to act fast!

 

Thank you!

[dpnce 102]

Little update from White House Reporter Zeke Miller: 

 

 

And update regarding the EO - for regular news, you may follow Mr. @gsiskind updates on Twitter -: 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2020 by dpnce

[Ja3germeister 90]

I. Am. Here.

 

Thank God. But it wasn't as I expected. I got the biggest spook of my life. Right before landing the flight attendant told me to wait at the door so I could be the first one to leave. When the hatch opened 4 guys from CBP were ready to escort me. The head of the squad asked me how long I've been in Mexico for. I showed him the stamp in my passport and that's all he needed to know. We then joked about how scared I was and talked for a little bit; very nice people. I just had to go through second immigration just to confirm my arrival. This is Orlando airport btw.

 

BUT what counts the most is that I'm here. Thank you all for your inspiring messages and stories and I wish the rest of y'all good luck. So; if the CBP squad is waiting for you just know it'll be fine. 

[dpnce 102]

Just now, Ja3germeister said:

I. Am. Here.

 

Thank God. But it wasn't as I expected. I got the biggest spook of my life. Right before landing the flight attendant told me to wait at the door so I could be the first one to leave. When the hatch opened 4 guys from CBP were ready to escort me. The head of the squad asked me how long I've been in Mexico for. I showed him the stamp in my passport and that's all he needed to know. We then joked about how scared I was and talked for a little bit; very nice people. I just had to go through second immigration just to confirm my arrival. This is Orlando airport btw.

 

BUT what counts the most is that I'm here. Thank you all for your inspiring messages and stories and I wish the rest of y'all good luck. So; if the CBP squad is waiting for you just know it'll be fine. 

Congrats, I am so glad you made it!!!

[ek1357 116]

10 minutes ago, Ja3germeister said:

I. Am. Here.

 

Thank God. But it wasn't as I expected. I got the biggest spook of my life. Right before landing the flight attendant told me to wait at the door so I could be the first one to leave. When the hatch opened 4 guys from CBP were ready to escort me. The head of the squad asked me how long I've been in Mexico for. I showed him the stamp in my passport and that's all he needed to know. We then joked about how scared I was and talked for a little bit; very nice people. I just had to go through second immigration just to confirm my arrival. This is Orlando airport btw.

 

BUT what counts the most is that I'm here. Thank you all for your inspiring messages and stories and I wish the rest of y'all good luck. So; if the CBP squad is waiting for you just know it'll be fine. 

Wow, so pleased you made it but my god I would have needed a change of clothes after that.. 😳😂 

[Leah88 192]

29 minutes ago, Ja3germeister said:

I. Am. Here.

 

Thank God. But it wasn't as I expected. I got the biggest spook of my life. Right before landing the flight attendant told me to wait at the door so I could be the first one to leave. When the hatch opened 4 guys from CBP were ready to escort me. The head of the squad asked me how long I've been in Mexico for. I showed him the stamp in my passport and that's all he needed to know. We then joked about how scared I was and talked for a little bit; very nice people. I just had to go through second immigration just to confirm my arrival. This is Orlando airport btw.

 

BUT what counts the most is that I'm here. Thank you all for your inspiring messages and stories and I wish the rest of y'all good luck. So; if the CBP squad is waiting for you just know it'll be fine. 

Yessssssssss 🍾🍾🍾 I told you you’d be fine !! So excited to read you go there safely! Best wishes to you and keep us updated on your journey and stay!!

[Orbey 8]

On 6/18/2020 at 12:20 AM, Kay & Evan said:

I’ve been here since the 11th! Food drink transportation is very cheap! You can have a decent meal with like 10 euros or even less. Supermarket is cheap too. People are very nice and friendly, most people speak enough english to communicate. You can order food with wolt application (menus in English). Cargo is a taxi application to use. You can also ask the hotel restaurants etc to call you a taxi. The pink company is the cheapest one (here taxis are 4 private companies and have differences in prices). It is advised not to take taxis from the street or the airport cause they charge way too much for tourists. 
people are wearing masks and there is antiseptic hell everywhere. 
There are a lot of exchange desks in the city with better rates than the airport so keep that in mind too. 
The castle is very nice to visit.

Zdravo is hello and hvala is thank you!

good luck to your fiancé! 

Hello! Newbie deep in this thread! Gradually feeling emboldened by you guys so thank you for sharing. Question to people who have gone the Croatia or Serbia route - did you get a stamp in your passport? Or it scanned? Basically how do you intend to prove to authorities that you have done the 14 full 24 hour periods out of Schengen? Thank you and good luck!

[Kay & Evan 60]

31 minutes ago, Orbey said:

Hello! Newbie deep in this thread! Gradually feeling emboldened by you guys so thank you for sharing. Question to people who have gone the Croatia or Serbia route - did you get a stamp in your passport? Or it scanned? Basically how do you intend to prove to authorities that you have done the 14 full 24 hour periods out of Schengen? Thank you and good luck!

Hi! I’m in Serbia and I have a stamp on my passport to prove it. My hotel also registered me with the police (something they All automatically do) anD gave me a copy that shows the address of the hotel the dates I’m staying there my name and passport number as well as date of birth. So if you come here and you ask your hotel you will have two ways of proving it. The “White paper” as they call it form the Police and the passport stamp 

[TheEggman 0]

Has anyone used Cyprus as a 14 day stay option?

[sl1pstream 551]

1 hour ago, dpnce said:

Little update from White House Reporter Zeke Miller: 

 

 

Honestly, no surprise there. It just shows that his earlier remark during the press briefing a few weeks ago was complete junk.