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I have Germany residence permit i.e. Blue card and a valid work permit till January 2016.

I am currently in Germany and will be returning to my native country in one month.

I would like to visit few other European countries in August, however port of entry will be Germany. Do I need separate tourist visa?

My Nationality is Indian, and I am traveling 2-3 times in a year on Deputation for work to Germany on Blue card. Whenever I travel from India to Germany I will have my deputation letter.

However in case of personal vacation there will not be any work related deputation letter.

I am very sure about that after leaving from Germany my Blue card still will be valid. Any pointers towards any helpline related to visa will be helpful as well.

JoErNanO
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1 Answers1

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As long as your blue card is still valid, you can in any case visit other countries in the Schengen area (that's most of the EU together with a handful of other countries like Switzerland and Norway) for up to 90 days. You can also visit Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Croatia (EU countries that are not Schengen members yet but apply the same rules).

Even though they are full EU members, the blue card, along with most other German residence permits does not grant you the right to visit the UK or Ireland. Depending on your citizenship, you might therefore need a visa to go there.

There are also a few non-EU countries that exempt some Schengen visa holders from the requirement to get a local visa (e.g. Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina) but I am not sure this exemption also covers residence permits. Depending on your citizenship, you might therefore need a visa to go there too.

Beyond that, I don't know whether your blue card would still be valid. My guess is that it might depend on how you left your job and other details of your circumstances but that's more of an expat than a travel question.

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