Frequently asked questions about the Schengen visa

A Schengen visa is a permit to enter and stay in the countries of the Schengen Area. The visa is pasted in the passport. A passport with a valid visa is presented at the border of the Schengen Area to enter it. 

The Schengen visa is not an automatic pass to a Schengen country. Border control officers consider each case individually: if in doubt, they ask to present insurance and answer questions about the purpose and duration of the visit. Even if a foreigner has a valid Schengen visa, they may not be allowed to cross the border of the Schengen Area. 

A Schengen visa is required to travel to Schengen countries. The purpose of the trip may be tourism, transit, medical treatment, visiting family or friends, participating in a cultural or sporting event, business or a diplomatic visit. 

A Schengen visa is unsuitable for those planning to find a long-term job in a Schengen country or move.

A visa sticker is a mark in the passport that its owner was issued a Schengen visa. It contains a special hologram placed to protect against forgery and a photo of the owner.

The sticker contains:

• information about the country that issued the visa;
• information about the owner;
• visa validity area;
• its duration;
• period of stay;
• purpose of the visit.

The Schengen visa entitles you to travel to 36 countries and one autonomous territory.

27 member states of the Schengen Area:

• Austria
• Belgium
• the Czech Republic
• Croatia
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• the Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland

3 member states of the European Union that are not yet part of the Schengen Area:

• Bulgaria
• Cyprus
• Romania

4 states that are not members of the European Union, but as per agreement, use the euro as a currency:

• Andorra
• Monaco
• San Marino
• Vatican

2 EU candidate states: Albania and North Macedonia. The Autonomous Territory is the British Territory of Gibraltar.

A Schengen visa can be issued by any of the countries of the Schengen group except for Liechtenstein.

To visit the Schengen countries as a tourist, citizens of 105 countries and independent territories need a visa. Some of these countries are: 

• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Kazakhstan
• Palestine

A Schengen visa is not required for citizens of the Schengen group and holders of a residence permit in one of these countries. Also, 41 countries have signed an agreement on visa-free entry into the Schengen area, so the citizens of these countries visit the Schengen countries without visas.

Some countries whose citizens are allowed to enter the Schengen Area without a visa:

• Argentina
• Australia
• Canada
• Japan
• New Zealand
• UK

No, if a multi-entry visa is issued, you can enter the Schengen countries an unlimited number of times. It would be best if you got a visa by travelling to the country that issued it. Subsequent trips can be immediate to other countries: passing through the country that gave the visa each time is unnecessary.

If this rule is violated, there will be negative consequences:

• A traveller may not be allowed to cross the border if he tries to enter the country on an “unopened” visa. For example, this can happen if a Finnish visa is obtained and the first trip is to Austria.
• The next time the country to which the visa was obtained may refuse to issue it.

Following this rule, entering the Schengen Area through the country that issued the visa is mandatory if the consulate issued a single-entry visa, according to which you can enter the Schengen Area only once. 

The top five regarding the number of visas issued also include the consulates of Italy, France, Spain and Germany.

The largest number of denials — 30% — was issued at the consulates of the Czech Republic. 

With a Schengen visa, you can travel to 27 countries of the European Union: only for a trip to Ireland will you need to get an Irish national visa.

Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Romania are EU members outside the Schengen Area. These countries can only be visited on a multiple-entry Schengen visa. A Schengen visa, which gives the right to enter the Schengen Area only once, is unsuitable for travelling to these countries.

To travel within the European Union without visas, you need to obtain a residence permit in one of the EU countries or second citizenship. The second passport of some countries can become a lifetime alternative to the Schengen visa.

Visas to the Schengen Area are issued at the embassies and consulates of the Schengen countries. To obtain a visa, you need to:

1. Collect a package of necessary documents;
2. Fill out a visa application;
3. Make an appointment at the consulate or visa centre;
4. Come to the appointment, submit documents and take fingerprints, if necessary.
5. Wait for the consul’s decision, and get a passport with a visa in person, by post or courier service.

You can apply for a visa directly at the consulates and embassies of the Schengen countries or private visa centres.

Visa centres are intermediaries between the applicant and the consul. They help to correctly fill out the application form and control the completeness of the documents, thereby reducing the risk of refusal to issue a visa. 

Employees of the visa centres do not decide on issuing a visa or refusing it: they send a package of prepared documents to the consulate. Only the consul can issue a visa.

A visa application form can be obtained at a consulate or visa centre, as well as downloaded from the Internet and printed out on your own. Many consulates accept online applications. For example, the consulate of Norway offers such an option. You can fill out an application for a Schengen visa to Norway on the official website.

The visa is completed in English. All information in the application must be documented. For example, if the applicant indicates in the questionnaire that he plans to stay at a hotel, he must attach a document confirming the reservation.

Immigrant Invest specialists have compiled instructions for filling out the questionnaire.

The embassy solves state issues, and the consulate deals with citizens’ issues, including visa issues. There can be only one embassy on the country’s territory —  in its capital, where the consular department operates, and several consulates in other cities.

Yes, but the non-resident applicant needs to explain in writing why they are applying to this particular consulate.

If you plan to travel to several Schengen countries, you need to apply for a Schengen visa from the country where you’re planning to spend the most time or which he intends to visit first.

Appointments can be booked online, by phone or by e-mail. There is no single appointment service: on the website of each specific consulate and visa centre, you can find information on how to make an appointment with them.

You must make an appointment several months in advance if you apply directly through a consulate. There are long queues at consulates because here, you can get a Schengen visa cheaper than at visa centres.

You can often make an appointment in visa centres on the next business day. To sign up for a convenient time: in the morning before work or the evening after, we recommend signing up 2 weeks in advance.

To obtain a Schengen visa, all applicants over 12 must submit biometric data such as fingerprints. Children under 12 are exempt from this procedure.

The validity of biometrics is 5 years. If an applicant has been fingerprinted for a visa within the past five years, there is no need to retake biometrics.

In most cases, you do not need to pass an interview to obtain a Schengen visa. However, there are several countries, namely Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Switzerland, and Estonia, whose consuls usually conduct short interviews for visa applicants. It lasts about 5 minutes.

If the applicant submitted documents without an interview, but the consular staff had questions, they would call them and either clarify everything by phone or schedule an interview at the consulate.

The Schengen visa is not an immigrant visa and is unsuitable for people who want to move to the European Union. Those who are most often called in for an interview are those who raise suspicions that they want to stay in the Schengen area longer than they should, asking for political asylum or staying illegally.

During the interview, all sorts of questions are asked about the proposed trip: its timing and route, how the traveller plans to move between countries and what hotel they plan to stay in.

To obtain a Schengen visa, it is not necessary to contact intermediaries; you can fill out the form yourself, collect the required documents and come to the consulate for an appointment.

Yes, but only in some cases. You can send documents to the visa centre by courier service, provided the database contains the applicant’s fingerprints, and a personal interview is not required at the consulate.

Fingerprints are stored in the database for 5 years, after which the data must be updated.

Yes, you can apply for a Schengen visa on the public services portal.

If a visa needs to be extended when a foreigner is in one of the countries of the Schengen Area and can not leave it for a good reason, they need to contact the foreign affair office. Department employees check whether the conditions necessary for extending the visa are met — whether the validity of the passport and medical insurance is coming to an end and whether the applicant has enough money to stay in the Schengen Area to make a decision.

If a Schengen visa needs to be extended while a foreigner is outside the Schengen Area, they need to obtain a new visa.

The issuance of a Schengen visa may be denied for various reasons: due to offences, incorrectly completed documents, and financial insolvency.

Grounds for a Schengen visa denial:

Problems with the law

• Applicant was convicted or is under investigation; 
• Applicant is trying to obtain a visa using forged documents;
• Applicant violated public order during their previous visits;
• Applicant exceeded their duration of stay in the Schengen Area.

Problems with the passport

• Applicant’s passport expires in less than 3 months;
• Passport does not have two free pages for a visa;
• Passport has missing, falling out, or damaged pages or cover.

Problems with documents

• Not all required documents were provided;
• Documents contain errors or are not formatted correctly; for example, photographs do not meet standards.

Problems with tickets or accommodations

• Applicant did not provide the itinerary proof;
• Applicant does not have a return ticket;
• Applicant has not confirmed accommodation for the entire duration of the trip;
• Applicant plans to spend most of the trip in a country other than the one which consulate they visited for application. 

Problems with insurance 

• Insurance does not cover the entire trip;
• Insurance is not valid in all Schengen countries;
• Insurance indemnity amount is less than €30,000.

Financial insolvency

• Funds on the applicant’s account are below the minimum required for the trip;
• Credit card statement was submitted instead of an account statement;
• Position and qualifications of the applicant do not correspond to the specified income.

Schengen visas are national and uniform. A single Schengen visa entitles you to enter all Schengen countries, and a national one only to that particular country of the Schengen Area that issued it.

Uniform visas are of two types: transit (A) and short-term (C). A transit visa is obtained to make a transfer at the airport of a Schengen country without leaving the airport’s transit zone: it cannot enter the country. A short-term uniform visa can be single, double or multiple.

National visas are short-term (LTV) and long-term (D). Short-term national visas are issued in emergencies. They differ from a single short-term visa only in that they allow entry to a strictly defined country or Schengen countries, not to all.

A long-term national visa is also called a resident visa. It allows foreigners to enter the Schengen country to apply for a residence permit. It is received by those who are going to live in the country for more than a year or move permanently. 

Single-entry Schengen visas

Multiple-entry Schengen visas

The Uniform Schengen Visa, USV, permits one to enter and visit the country that issued the permit and any other state in the Schengen Area.

A USV visa can be single, double or multiple entries, i.e. it gives the right to enter the European Union one, two or an unlimited number of times. A multiple-entry visa is also called a multiple-entry visa.

Multiple-entry visa is a single Schengen short-term visa that allows you to enter and leave the Schengen Area unlimited times. A multi visa, or multiple entry visa, is opposed to a single entry visa. A single-entry visa entitles you to enter the Schengen Area only once and expires when the traveller crosses the border in the opposite direction.

A national Schengen visa is issued by one of the Schengen countries. It can only enter this country. A long-term national visa is needed for those who plan to spend more than 90 days in the Schengen country in six months. 

Holders of national category D visas are entitled to apply for a residence permit. A D visa is often a double-entry visa, and its validity period is 120 days.

A Tourist Schengen visa is a single short-stay visa. It can be obtained for:  

• a business trip;
• visiting family or friends;
• treatment in a European clinic;
• transit through European airports;
• tourism;
• study;
• participation in cultural events;
• sports competitions;
• official visit to government offices;
• other purposes, such as religious gatherings.

 On a tourist visa, you can spend up to 90 days in the Schengen Area in half a year. A visa can be extended only in exceptional cases; for example, if a person has been seriously injured and cannot be transported to their homeland.

A student visa is issued to international students who have entered European universities for undergraduate, graduate or postgraduate programs or participate in long-term exchange programs.

To enter the country, students are issued a category D visa. If the study lasts longer than a year, they receive a student residence permit during the validity of the visa.

A Schengen Visa for Medical Reasons is a subtype of the Schengen visa category C. It is obtained to undergo an examination, rehabilitation or surgery in a European clinic. 

In urgent cases, the application is considered in 3 days. To obtain a visa on an emergency basis, you need to attach a letter from the attending physician about the patient’s severe condition or information about the operation scheduled for a specific date.

A medical visa can be obtained even if the country’s borders are closed to tourists. Nearly every European country accepts foreigners for treatment if “lack of treatment increases the risk to life or health”. This must be documented.

The validity of a medical visa is at most 90 days, but it can be extended. If the treatment does not go according to plan, and the patient needs to spend more time in the clinic, he needs to contact the migration service of the host country 30 days before the expiration of the visa.

If short-term treatment is required, for example, at the dentist, a medical visa is not needed; it is enough to get a tourist visa.

A transit visa gives foreigners the right to move around the international zone of airports of the states of the agreement. With such a visa, you cannot enter the country through border control.

To obtain a Schengen visa, you will need the following documents:

• a completed application form;
• a photo;
• an international passport;
• a national passport;
• an insurance policy;
• booking tickets and accommodation;
• documents confirming solvency;
• consent to the processing of personal data.

Depending on the purpose of the trip, additional documents may be required.

To obtain a visa for a child under 18 years of age, parents or guardians complete and sign the application form on behalf of the child. Both parents must sign the form. Also, provide the following:

• child’s birth certificate;
• certificate from the place of study of the child;
• notarized consent to the child’s departure, signed by both parents. If only one parent has full custody of the child, provide a family court decision or death certificate of the other;
• certified copies of the passport of those who signed the consent to leave; 
• documents confirming the solvency of parents;
• an international passport and a national passport for children over 14 years old.

Children under 14 can be included in the parent’s passport. Parents can also get separate passports for their children. There are no age restrictions on obtaining your own passport.

All visa applicants need to prove their financial solvency. Providing a certificate of employment is one way to do this. 

If the applicant is employed, they are recommended to include a certificate of employment indicating the salary in the package of documents. If there is no such certificate, you can provide a copy of the employment contract, an account statement on expenses and income for the last six months, a certificate of income and the amount of taxes paid.

Entrepreneurs provide copies of the company registration certificate and TIN, company account statement for the last six months and income tax return.

Pensioners submit a pension statement for the last six months. Students provide a certificate from the university and a travel permit on behalf of the university.

A sponsor letter is submitted if another person pays for the trip. The letter is in free form; it indicates the relationship between the sponsor and the applicant. Copies of all completed spreads of the sponsor’s passport and documents confirming their solvency are attached to the letter.

Yes, if the applicant has old passports, you must provide copies of the pages with personal data and Schengen visas for the last three years.

Photos for a visa must meet specific requirements and be taken within six months. They accept photos sized 35 x 45 mm, colour, on a white background. 

If the applicant submits biometric data, one photograph is required. If the database contains valid applicant biometric data, two photographs are required.

Yes, suppose there is not enough information to make a decision. In that case, the applicant can be called from the consulate and clarified the information required by phone or invited to an appointment with a request to bring the missing documents.

It is recommended to book flights before applying for a visa. Before obtaining a visa, it is not necessary to redeem tickets.

If you apply for a visa directly through the consulate, much time of up to several months can be spent waiting in line for an appointment. When the application is accepted, it will be considered within 15 days.

If you apply through the visa centre, you can get a visa faster. You will have to wait for an appointment at the visa centre for several days. In this case, sending documents to the consulate and back will take time. Usually, obtaining a visa takes about 3 weeks.

The consul decides to issue a visa or refuse it within 15 days.

A Schengen visa can be issued for 1 month to 5 years. If the applicant receives a visa for the first time, its validity will be a year at maximum. Repeat visas can be issued for one, two, three and five years.

On a Schengen visa, you can spend up to 90 days out of 180 in the Schengen countries. If you exceed this limit, your next visa may be denied.

A long-term Schengen visa is valid from 4 months to one year. Suppose the applicant plans to spend less than a year in the Schengen country, for example, six months, to study at a European university. In that case, they will be issued a visa immediately for the requested period.

If the applicant plans to spend more than a year in a Schengen country, they will be issued a category D visa for 120 days. He needs to obtain a residence permit in the country during this time. If the foreigner does not get a residence permit card during this time, the visa can be extended for another 90 days.

The fee for a short-stay visa is between €35 and €80. Children under 6 years of age are exempt from the visa fee.

For a long-term visa, the fee is €90.

Services of visa centres are paid additionally. The average cost is between €30 and €35 for processing one application.

It depends on where the applicant plans to go. For example, it is enough for a trip to Finland to have €30 on the account for each day, €50 to Greece and €100 to Spain.

The amounts may change. Before applying for a visa, we recommend that you check the current data on the websites of consulates or visa centres.

The insurance cost depends on the policy’s duration, coverage amount, the list of included risks, and the insured person’s age. For children, a multiplying factor is applied in the calculation.

For example, an insurance policy for a week for one adult costs approximately €10. Such insurance will not cover the costs associated with active and extreme sports.

No, all fees are non-refundable.

Travel medical insurance guarantees its holder that they will receive emergency medical care during their holiday abroad and compensation for related expenses.

According to the EU visa code, all travellers who enter the Schengen Area with a visa must have an insurance policy.

The insurance must be valid in all 27 countries of the Schengen Area, and the amount of insurance must be at least €30,000. The insurance policy must be valid for the entire trip and 15 days after it if the dates of the trip change unexpectedly.

Standard health insurance covers all costs associated with the following:

• returning home for medical reasons;
• provision of emergency medical care;
• emergency hospitalisation;
• death in one of the Schengen countries.

Additional medical services can be added to the insurance.

In addition to life and health insurance, the policy can include coverage for expenses in other situations:

• trip cancellation;
• flight delay;
• loss of baggage by the airline;
• imposed quarantine;
• civil liability is the unintentional infliction of injury to another person or damage to another person’s property. 

Border control officers do not always ask for an insurance policy. However, this is illegal: everyone who travels on a Schengen visa must have insurance.

To get a medical insurance policy, you only need a passport.

Travel insurance for the Schengen Area can be obtained at some visa centres when applying for a visa. You can also choose an insurance company and get insurance at the office or online.

Yes, you can. To do this, you must fill out a form with personal data, e-mail address and travel information. After payment, a letter with the policy will be sent to the specified e-mail, and it can be saved to the phone and printed.

If an emergency occurs during the trip, you need to:

1. Call the 24-hour service centre of the insurance company: the phone number is always indicated on the insurance policy;
2. Describe the details of the incident to the operator;
3. Follow their instructions.

If medical assistance is needed, the operator will find a doctor and send a letter of guarantee to the clinic so that the traveller is admitted free of charge. If the patient gets to the clinic by taxi, you can keep the receipt and return the money for the journey.

If the doctor’s help is not needed, the operator will tell you what to do to get reimbursed.