What is a Schengen Visa and do you actually need it?

Thanks to EU regulations, those who wish to travel to the Schengen Area fall into two different categories: Annex I and Annex II countries.

Individuals who hold a passport on the Annex I list are required to obtain a short-term stay visa before visiting the Schengen Area. This visa iscommonly known as the Schengen Visa. Annex II countries, on the other hand, can visit the Schengen Area visa-free.

While it is certainly more advantageous to be from an Annex II country, even passport holders from Annex I countries are better off today seeing that they now only need one visa to access the entire region — versus needing a visa for every country they plan to visit — and they can travel unimpeded throughout much of Europe once they enter.

The process to obtain a Schengen Visa is much like any other visa process.You must apply and then send in your passport. If approved, your passport will be stamped and returned to you.

The Schengen Visa costs €60 ($66), although Russians, Ukrainians, and citizens of select countries only have to pay €35 for the short-stay visa. The fee must be paid upon application and cannot be refunded, even if the visa is refused. The fee is waived for students of an official school or university trip, as well as for the spouse and minor children of EU nationals. Children younger than six do not have to pay the fee, regardless of their nationality.

If you are from an Annex II country, you can skip the visa application process and enter the Schengen Area by simply presenting your passport upon entry. Over the years, the EU has enhanced and expanded the list of qualifying Annex II countries. Just recently, they added countries like Colombia, Kiribati, Timor Leste, Vanuatu, and Moldova. And Georgia will be added in the near future. But there are a lot of countries from Peru to the South Pacific that can visit visa-free for those 90 out of 180 days.

EXTERNAL BORDER CONTROLS

Once inside the Schengen Area, visa holders and visa-free travelersalike can travel throughout the internal borders of the region without border checks, irrespective of nationality. As such, the largest concern for travelers when visiting Europe will be entering and exiting through one of the Schengen Area’s external borders. Anyone crossing an external border, be they a citizen of a Schengen member state or a foreign national, will be checked by a border guard. Regular cross-border commuters are the only exception.

These external border checks are located at road crossings, seaports, trains, and airports. If entering via air, the airline must check that you carry the correct travel documents before allowing you to board to ensure that you can enter the Schengen Area upon arrival.

I made the mistake once of showing a passport that did not have visa-free access to the Schengen Area to airline staff and they almost refused to allow me to board until I realized my mistake and whipped out a different passport.

At every external border location, the checks are coordinated by the EU’s agency Frontex. All details of the border check are outlined in the Schengen Borders Code.

In summary, they will check your travel documents, including your visa if required, they will ask you to justify the purpose of your stay, and then they will check the SIS and other relevant security databases for any alerts that would justify refusal of entry. Pretty standard stuff.