Know what is Schengen Visa and Schengen area

A Schengen visa is a short-stay visa that allows a person to travel to any members of the Schengen Area, per stays up to 90 days for tourism or business purposes. In fact a Schengen visa is a short stay visa allowing its holder to circulate in the Schengen area.

The Schengen area covers 26 countries (“Schengen States”) without border controls between them. These countries are: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

A Schengen visa is an authorisation issued by a Schengen State with a view to:

• Transit through or an intended stay in the territory of the Schengen States of a duration of no more than 90 days in any 180 days period (“short stay visa”),
• Transit through the international transit areas of airports of the Schengen States (“airport transit visa”).

The Schengen visa is the most common visa for Europe. It enables its holder to enter, freely travel within, and leave the Schengen zone from any of the Schengen member countries. There are no border controls within the Schengen Zone.

However, if you are planning to study, work, or live in one of the Schengen countries for more than 90 days, then you must apply for a national visa of that European country and not a Schengen Visa.

Over 14.2 million people used their Schengen visa in 2018 to travel around Europe.Sources: www.schengenvisainfo.com/, https://ec.europa.eu