Minhaaj
Traveller
5 comments
Posted 13 years ago
Ok, i didnt find it anywhere else and i guess its time to ask that. It may be naive of me to ask that but i have kind of a bet with my friend about the priviliges and distinction of an EU residents vs EU Citizens. My Friend is a German Resident with an Indian passport. Its a student residence permit. I have a Swedish Student Residence permit with a Pakistani passport. To me it seems a logical progression that buying an interrail global pass means access to all countries mentioned on the website including countries in eastern Europe e.g Croatia, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Bulgaria WITHOUT needing a visa to enter the countries. My friend somehow thinks that being a Resident is not the same as being a Citizen and hence we are subjected to visa requirements for Non-EU nationals and hence have to apply for and pay for the visas.
Bottom line is that i believe, we dont require visas and he doesnt believe we are visa-exempt residents of EU. Uptil now i have been able to prove him wrong only about Croatia with the help of this.
za.mfa.hr/?mh=331&mv=2046
I wonder if someone else has experienced the same problem or have the same question and can relate to someones example? I would be really thankful for that.
Minhaaj
from Sweden.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi Minhaaj,
just some short thoughts.
- InterRail as a rail ticket per se has nothing to do with immigration laws, so you dont cant enter countries with an IR that you couldnt without.
- If you have a passport or a residency permit for one of the Schengen member countries you can freely move within the Schengen boundaries.
- If you are leaving the Schengen area, the immigration laws of the relavant country apply - so your IR wont help if you'd be entering a country for which Pakistani or Indian citizens need a visa.
- Croatia seems to only recently loosened their immigration policy - this can be because of advanced negotiations for entering EU and Schengen or simply because it is more comfortable for tourists...I dont know..
Flo 8)
Minhaaj
Traveller
5 comments
Yea makes sense now. Thanks for explaining. This neo-Nazism is driving me crazy!
Minhaaj
Traveller
5 comments
Ok i found something that should help everyone who have passports like me. This is the link with proper referencing about visa-exempt countries that let us in. Maybe its similar for others.
LINK TIMED OUT