Hi, we are thinking about going to Croatia (from canada) late November but are wondering if anyone has been there recently and had to show them their return flight? We are planning to fly to Dubrovnik and then travel by land/ rail to Slovenia. Then from there spend 90 days in Spain before we fly back to canada. Not sure what they will ask for as we don’t plan to book our return flight until early April.
Posted by
Washington DC
27062 posts
If you are traveling on a Canadian or US passport, your tentative plan will have you in violation of the Schengen Area limitation of 90 days within any rolling 180-day period. Both Slovenia and Spain are Schengen countries.
In addition, don't forget that both arrival days and departure days count. The penalty for overstaying the Schengen limit can be a substantial fine and a multi-year ban on travel to the Schengen Area. I limit my Schengen time to 88 days to allow for problems that might cause a delay in my planned departure.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
We won’t be stay the entire 90 days so have been thinking about going to Morocco instead. Probably book a one way flight to Spain, then at the same time book a flight to Morocco so if Spain needs to see our exit we can show them we are leaving before the 90 days is up. We just weren’t sure if Spain requires a return ticket or not..I can’t find any info about it..so better to be safe than sorry.
Posted by
Washington DC
27062 posts
I don't think you can be sure what the Immigration agent will ask for. I'm a female retiree and don't seem to raise any questions from anyone upon arrival. I flew to Spain in 2016 (at 64 years old) with no outbound ticket. Midway through the trip I booked a frequent-flyer ticket home for Day 88. I did receive unusual attention from an airline employee while I was waiting to check in at BCN for the return flight; he wanted to see pictures I had taken during the trip; that may have been a fallback option since I didn't have something else he asked for (proof of inbound flight??). I assume that attention was triggered by the one-way return ticket.
Flying to Morocco is a great idea. You may be able to get a non-stop flight to Fes or Marrakech rather than ferrying to the much less interesting Tangier. You may find it necessary to fly to Casablanca if you're departing from somewhere other than Madrid or Barcelona and don't have much date flexibility. Casablanca is a modern city of not much interest to tourists; don't plan much time there if you have to make it your landing or departure point.