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I was travelling from Germany to Hungary on a valid German (D type national visa). The visa mentions Germany in valid for field. However while travelling to Hungary through rail, I was stopped and checked by Austrian police who, after looking at the visa, said it was not valid for travel to other Schengen states - only Germany. They later handed me over to Hungarian police, who detained me for few hours, checked my visa, and later released me telling me that I should immediately return to Germany, without continuing to my destination (Budapest).

Was this denial of entry legal? And would the Hungarian authorities have entered this incident in SIS, or could it result in problems now that I am in the process of applying for Blue Card in Germany?

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Was this denial of entry legal?

Probably not. Type D visas are automatically valid for short visits (subject to the 90/180 rule) to other Schengen countries, regardless of the "valid for" entry, perhaps unless there is an explicit annotation restricting short visits. (I'm not sure about the explicit annotations, more specifically how it works when one Schengen country wants to issue a D visa despite another Schengen country's having banned the same individual, but it doesn't seem to be relevant to your visa or to you in any event.)

This has been the case since 2010, thanks to Regulation (EU) No 265/2010.

would the Hungarian authorities have entered this incident in SIS?

I doubt it. If they had, they should have informed you in writing. Regulation (EU) 2018/1861, article 52:

Right of information

1.
Third-country nationals who are the subject of an alert in SIS shall be informed of this in accordance with Articles 13 and 14 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 or Articles 12 and 13 of Directive (EU) 2016/680. This information shall be provided in writing, together with a copy of or a reference to the national decision giving rise to the alert, as referred to in Article 24(1) of this Regulation.

2.
This information shall not be provided where national law allows for the right of information to be restricted, in particular in order to safeguard national security, defence, public security, and the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of criminal offences.

Could it result in problems now that I am in the process of applying for blue card in Germany?

I suppose that it's possible, in theory. But since the whole affair seems to have been illegal, it's unlikely that they entered an SIS alert. You do have some limited rights to inquire about your data in SIS and to ask to have it corrected, if it is incorrect. You can find more information about that in the answer to What is the equivalent of a subject access request for the Schengen Information System (ie, SIS)? over at Travel.

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  • Without knowing why the visa has a limited territorial validity, claiming that it was illegal is a bit hasty.
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented Aug 27, 2021 at 7:46
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    @MarkJohnson what makes you think the visa had limited territorial validity? I don't see any provision for D visas with limited territorial validity. Do you?n where is it? On the contrary, I see that the issue of s D visa to someone with an alert in SIS requires the withdrawal of the alert, though the country issuing the alert may continue to maintain it in a national database. On the facts presented in the question, there was no such alert, nor was there likely to have been. The police claimed that the visa was invalid, not that there was an alert. That claim must have been false.
    – phoog
    Commented Aug 27, 2021 at 11:43
  • This question has nothing to do with an alert, but with the fact it is a visa with limited territorial validity (‘VALID FOR’). Thus the refusal in Austria and Hungary and the requirement to immediately return to Germany. What is not clear is the reason for the restriction. You won't find any special provisions on how the uniform format for visas for the field ‘VALID FOR’ for different visa types is to be filled out. Therefore the meaning is the same.
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented Aug 27, 2021 at 12:38
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    @MarkJohnson as explained elsewhere, this was not a visa with limited territorial validity. German D visas always say "valid for Germany" (in German, of course). Try an image search for D visas. You won't find any issued after 2010 that mention "Schengen states" in the "valid for" field.
    – phoog
    Commented Aug 27, 2021 at 12:50
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The visa mentions Germany in valid to field.

This means that, for unknown reasons, the visa is only valid for Germany.

You should try to find out why this is so. The reason would have been entered into the VIS information system when the visa was issued.

Visa Code Article 2 Definitions
4. ‘visa with limited territorial validity’ means a visa valid for the territory of one or more Member States but not all Member States;

Visa Code - Annex VII
1.3. When the sticker is used to issue a visa with limited territorial validity pursuant to Article 25(1) of this Regulation this heading is filled in with the name(s) of the Member State(s) to which the visa holder’s stay is limited, in the language of the issuing Member State.

i was stopped and checked by Austrian police who after looking at the visa said it was not valid for travel to other schengen states but only Germany. They later handed me over to Hungarian police, who detained me for few hours, checked my visa, and later released me telling me that I should immediately return to Germany,

This happened since Austria and Hungry were not listed in the valid to field.

Article 25 Issuing of a visa with limited territorial validity
...
2. A visa with limited territorial validity shall be valid for the territory of the issuing Member State. It may exceptionally be valid for the territory of more than one Member State, subject to the consent of each such Member State.
...

would the Hungarian authorities have entered this incident in SIS

This is unlikely based on the Alert categories and requirements, since you are allowed to be in the Schengen Area itsself. The reason for the territorial restriction would have been noted in the VIS information system when the visa was issued. As mentioned elsewhere, you would have been informed in writing.

could it result in problems now that I am in the process of applying for blue card in Germany?

After arrival in Germany, you are expected to go to the immigration office so that the granted resident permit can be issued.

There you should ask why the visa was restricted and if that restriction also applies for the residence permit.

Sources:

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    -1 for citing and referencing to Visa Code from 2009, which is 12 years old and outdated. If you open the links you provided, there will be a link to the new version of Visa Code in the beginning of the page.
    – Andrey Sapegin
    Commented Aug 27, 2021 at 9:28
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    "This means that, for unknown reasons, the visa is only valid for Germany." - no, it does not
    – Andrey Sapegin
    Commented Aug 27, 2021 at 9:36
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    Because the question was about national (type D) visa. It indeed may have "limited validity" compared to Shengen visa (type C). However, there always were special regulations (some of them also existed back in 2009) for national visa holders that allow them to travel or transit through other Shengen countries. Currently, this is regulated in the Regulation (EU) No 265/2010 cited in phoog's answer. Therefore, I cannot understand why you wrote "only valid for Germany" and cited Visa Code while answering the question about national visa. Only Germany is in that field because it is national visa.
    – Andrey Sapegin
    Commented Aug 27, 2021 at 10:53
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    @AndreySapegin is correct. There has been some inconsistent use of the "valid for" field on D visas, but it seems that the consensus is that giving "Schengen states" here would falsely suggest that the visa authorizes a long stay in any Schengen country. Therefore, most countries, including Germany, only put their own name in the "valid to" field. The authorization for short stays in other Schengen states follows automatically from 265/2010, which establishes that a D visa functions equivalently to a residence permit in that regard.
    – phoog
    Commented Aug 27, 2021 at 11:51
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    @MarkJohnson furthermore, the text you cite most certainly is outdated, since Annex VII of the visa code was deleted in 2019 by regulation 2019/1155. The same regulation provides that "the Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, adopt the rules for filling in the visa sticker." Perhaps you should refer to those implementing acts for the current rules.
    – phoog
    Commented Aug 27, 2021 at 12:05

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