A Saudi newly-wed couple are back here even before they started their honeymoon in Germany after the authorities there deported them for breaking the rules of the Schengen visa, according to Makkah daily on Monday. The couple was sent back last week after being denied entry into Germany for violation of the visa rules. They realized their mistake only while submitting their travel documents to the passport authorities at Frankfurt airport to complete their entry procedures. They had obtained their Schengen visa from the French consulate in Saudi Arabia and as such France should have been their first destination in Europe. Instead, they traveled to Germany where they were denied entry and deported and prevented from ever entering Europe for ever. The German authorities considered their arrival first in Frankfurt as a security threat so they deported them with guards to Dammam and handed over their passports to the Saudi passport authorities. The husband, whose name was not disclosed, said he was shocked by the sad end of their journey, which cost him about SR25,000. He said he and his wife were planning to spend their honeymoon in France and had no idea that their arrival in German first was a violation of their legal visa to Europe. He said he is now fighting to regain his money from the travel agency, which he held responsible for what happened to them especially that he and his wife have been banned forever from going to Europe. Abdullah Al-Moajel, the officer in charge of the citizens' affairs at the Saudi consulate in Frankfurt, said this was not the first case of its kind and asked all Saudi citizens to be aware of the Schengen rules and regulations before they travel to any country in Europe. "The consulate receives many similar cases resulting from the ignorance of the Schengen rules. We cannot help them in such cases," he said. Moajel explained that the German authorities will immediately cancel the entry visa which is obtained from another European country, deport the traveler and ban him or her from ever entering Europe again. He said it is an Schengen rule that the country, which stamps the visa to any traveler for the first time should be his or her first place of entry. "The European countries tend to overlook this condition in case the traveler is using the visa for multiple travels," he added. Rashid Al-Muqait, a travel agent, said the EU laws prevent making the first station of arrival another country than the one that gives the visa. He said the deportation of the Saudi couple was according to the EU laws and nothing could be done about that. Muqait, however, believes that the German attitude towards the Saudi couple was harsh because of the rising tension in Europe and the general panic of terrorism. He said the harsh German attitude might have been caused by the behavior of the Saudi citizen who might have resisted arrest or talked back to the authorities.
