The Schengen Area

If you are someone who loves to travel, God might be agreeing with your travel plans too as the Schengen Visa is becoming popular. So what is Schengen? Schengen Area is a group of 27 European countries that have abolished internal borders and passport control. This means you can show your Visa at the entering country and travel unrestricted across the 27 countries and then out of Schengen.

Before this whenever you were passing through the countries you had to go through passport control at their toll booths. This took “sooooooooo” much time.

The term “Schengen” derives its name from the Luxembourg village of Schengen, where the agreement was signed in 1985 between 5 countries.

The 27 countries are — Germany, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. They are also called the Schengen states.

Yes UK is not part of it. It still has its immigration processes. As on date Bulgaria and Romania are also partially allowed by EU.

The Schengen Visa is a short visa that is valid for 90 days. There are also different types of visas like single, double, and multiple entry which denote how many times you can enter and exit the Schengen Area.

The process to get one is via the VFS Global website. It’s best to apply 3 months before your travel since there are chances of getting rejected. Here are the set of documents you would need during the Visa application process —

• Visa application form
• Two recent photos
• Valid passport with expiry long after you choose to return
• Round trip itinerary
• Travel insurance policy
• Proof of accommodation
• Proof of financial means
• Employment proof — ID card, company appointment letter, etc

The Fee is 80 Euros (7359 INR) for adults and 45 Euro (4139 INR) for children aged 6 to 12. There is an added service charge added by the VFS as well. So roughly comes to around 10,000 INR. And it takes around 15 working days for the Visa to be processed usually.

As of 2022, around 35 lakh Visas were approved. So what are you waiting for? Get set and go.