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Schengen Visa Guide Part 1 – What is it and who needs one?

What is a Schengen visa? The topic is both vast and complex. With this in mind, we have decided to create a series of blog posts on this topic to ensure we can answer as many questions and concerns for you as possible.

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What We’ll Cover

  • What a Schengen Visa is

  • Which countries are included in the Schengen Zone

  • Which nationalities require a Schengen Visa to travel into the zone

  • Who can travel visa-free into the zone

  • Which passport holders are not allowed to enter the zone

In a nutshell, a Schengen visa allows nationals of countries outside of the Schengen zone to travel within the area without the need to apply for several visas. They can be issued for a single destination country, or several along the same trip. But who qualifies for these visas, what do you need to apply and where do you start?

What is the Schengen Zone?

Schengen is an area in Europe which consists of 26 countries, where control at their mutual borders has been abolished. This means that if you are a citizen of one of these states, you can move freely between other member states visa-free. They mainly consist of EU members, though there are several countries who are not part of the EU, yet are still part of the Schengen agreement.

The agreement attempts to standardise the process of pre-travel visas to visit member states, and this allows one country to issue the visa which will also in turn allow entry into additional member countries. For example, someone from The Philippines wishing to travel to France, Germany, Spain and Italy in one trip wouldn’t need to apply for a visa for each of these countries individually. They would only need to apply for a Schengen visa at one of the Embassies of these countries and this will allow entry into them all.

This doesn’t mean the visa holder has free movement between all states of course: they must declare which countries they will visit and give an itinerary for their trip, but it still streamlines the process dramatically. Which country you apply to for the visa is dependent on several factors, such as order of travel and length of stay, which we will explore in our next blog post.

The 26 official Schengen area members are:

AustriaHungarySlovakia
BelgiumItalySlovenia
Czech RepublicLatviaSpain
DenmarkLithuaniaSweden
EstoniaLuxembourgIceland
FinlandMaltaLiechtenstein
FranceNetherlandsNorway
GermanyPolandSwitzerland
GreecePortugal 

The countries which are not members of the EU, but have signed agreements in association with the Schengen Agreement are:

  • Iceland
  • Liechtenstein
  • Norway
  • Switzerland

You can therefore still travel to these countries using this visa type. There are several EU countries which have yet to sign the Schengen agreement but are legally obliged to do so in the future. You are still able to travel to these states with a Schengen visa in the meantime:

  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Romania

Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City are not members of the Schengen Area, but they have open borders with the area due to their position.

schengen zone map

Who requires a Schengen visa to enter these countries?

Citizens of the following countries are required to apply for a Schengen Visa if they wish to visit the zone, regardless of their current country of residence:

AfghanistanGabonNorth Korea
AlgeriaGambiaNorthern Mariana’s
AngolaGhanaOman
ArmeniaGuineaPakistan
AzerbaijanGuinea-BissauPapua New Guinea
BahrainGuyanaPhilippines
BangladeshHaitiQatar
BelarusIndiaRussia
BelizeIndonesiaRwanda
BeninIranSao Tome And Principe
BhutanIraqSaudi Arabia
BoliviaJamaicaSenegal
BotswanaJordanSierra Leone
Burkina FasoKazakhstanSomalia
Burma/MyanmarKenyaSouth Africa
BurundiKosovoSri Lanka
CambodiaKuwaitSudan
CameroonKyrgyzstanSuriname
Cape VerdeLaosSwaziland
Central African RepublicLebanonSyria
ChadLesothoTajikistan
ChinaLiberiaTanzania
ComorosLibyaThailand
CongoMadagascarTimor-Leste
Ivory CoastMalawiTogo
CubaMaldivesTonga
Dem. Rep. Of CongoMaliTunisia
DjiboutiMauritaniaTurkey
Dominican RepublicMongoliaTurkmenistan
EcuadorMoroccoUganda
EgyptMozambiqueUzbekistan
Equatorial GuineaNamibiaVietnam
EritreaNepalYemen
EthiopiaNigerZambia
FijiNigeriaZimbabwe

Who doesn’t require a visa to enter these countries?

Citizens in the following table do not require a visa in order to enter any member state of the Schengen Area for tourism or business purposes. Citizens of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland do not require a Schengen Visa, although they are not officially part of the zone, they do have free movement within most of these countries.

Albania (with biometric passport)IsraelSaint Kitts and Nevis
AndorraJapanSaint Lucia
Antigua and BarbudaKiribatiSaint Vincent
ArgentinaMacao S.A.R (Hong Kong SAR passport holders)Samoa
AustraliaMacedonia (with biometric passport)Serbia (with biometric passport)
BahamasMalaysiaSeychelles
BarbadosMarshall IslandsSingapore
Bosnia and Herzegovina (with biometric passport)MauritiusSolomon Islands
BrazilMexicoSouth Korea
BruneiMicronesiaTaiwan (if passport contains ID card number)
CanadaMoldova (with biometric passport)East Timor
ChileMonacoTonga
ColombiaMontenegro (with biometric passport)Trinidad and Tobago
Costa RicaNauruTuvalu
DominicaNew ZealandUkraine
El SalvadorNicaraguaUnited Arab Emirates
GeorgiaPalauUnited Kingdom
GrenadaPanamaUnited States of America
GuatemalaParaguayUruguay
HondurasPeruVanuatu
Hong Kong S.A.R (Hong Kong SAR passport holders)Republic of IrelandVenezuela

Are there any passport holders who can’t apply for a Schengen visa?

There is a small number of citizenships who will not be granted a Schengen visa under any circumstances. These are usually administrative regions which the Schengen agreement do not recognise as legitimate and official states. Anyone holding a passport issued by any of the following territories will not be granted entry into the Schengen area:

  • Abkhazia
  • Artsakh
  • Northern Cyprus
  • South Ossetia
  • Transnistria
  • Western Sahara

In our next blog post on this topic, we will look at how to apply for the visa. We will go into more detail regarding which Embassy you need to apply to based on your travel plans and what information you will need to provide.

Read part 2 of our Schengen series here!

While you’re here, why not keep up to date with all the latest comings and goings by following us on social media?

Declan Ramsden
Declan Ramsden

Declan is a Content Creator at Vital Consular. He studied English Literature for 4 years before joining the company. Outside of work, he enjoys listening to retro music and reading classic novels – particularly Charles Dickens!

Articles: 42

12 Comments

    • Hi Chidozie,
      Generally you can’t work on a Schengen visa, unfortunately. Guidelines for work permits differ from country to country, so you’ll need to get in touch with the Embassy of the country you’re wanting to work in and ask them what their guidelines are. Hope this helps!

        • Hi Alozie,
          You can work in pretty much any country, just not on a Schengen visa. You will need to apply for a work visa for whichever country you want to go to. Hope this helps!

  2. If i work in the Cayman Islands and have a Jamaican passport how do i apply for a Schengen visa ?

    • Hi Chris –
      Thanks for your enquiry – unfortunately, we no longer offer visa services, so I’m unable to advise you on Schengen visas. I’d recommend getting in touch with the British Embassy in the Cayman Islands and they should be able to advise. Sorry that we’re able to help.

  4. Good morning ,

    Pls am Nigeria my name is Tekena larry E. I work as a Bosun in the vessle DSV Tug vessle,etc I need Schengen visa as part of my cv bc most of the job offer Schengen visa is part of the request . Advice me on that and guid me . Bc am a sailor , I want to upgrade my cv.

    Thank u

    • Hey Tekena,

      A Schengen visa lets you travel freely through the Schengen area of the EU for business or tourism purposes – but keep in mind that they’re only valid for 90 days, so I’d try not to think of it as ‘upgrading your CV’. To get one you’re best off getting in touch with the Embassy of the specific country in which you’d be starting work in. Hope this helps!

  5. Great article on Schengen visas! Could you explain more about the specific visa requirements for citizens of countries outside the EU? Are there any exceptions or special conditions for certain nationalities?

    • Hey,

      Unfortunately we no longer offer visa services, so we’re not best placed to answer this anymore – we wouldn’t want to give you any outdated or incorrect information. I’d recommend getting in touch with the Embassy of one of the countries involved in the Schengen Visa scheme and asking them. Apologies we couldn’t be more help!

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