A Schengen visa is a short-stay visa that allows a person to travel to any member of the Schengen Area, per stay up to 90 days for tourism or business purposes.
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. Depending on the purpose of travel, types are-
- Tourist Schengen visa
Tourist Schengen visa is a permission to visit any country within the Schengen Area for pleasure or to visit friends or family who have residence in any of the Schengen countries. The holder of the Tourist Schengen visa can stay in the Schengen Area for the number of days indicated on the visa, which cannot exceed 90 days in the period of 6 months.
- Business Schengen visa
If you want to travel for business purposes, you must apply for a Business Schengen Visa. This type of visa only allows you to enter the country for business purposes The holder of this type of visa is not required to have the citizenship of the designated country in order to follow their business agenda yet it such an authorization has its limitations as well. Depending on the visa issued they may be allowed to enter once (single entry) or multiple times (multiple entry) and stay for no longer than 3 months 90 days per year in between the period of 6 months.
- Student Schengen visa
A Student Schengen Visa allows students to visit all the countries in the Schengen Zone, granted to third-country nationals wishing to travel and stay for a short period in any of the member states, under the purpose of studying. Together with the visa, if the duration of the studies is longer than 90 days as it happens with most of the students that wish to complete a whole academic year or even more, students must also apply for the residency permit that allows you to reside in the designated country for a period of one whole year.
- Working Schengen visa
The holder of this visa is allowed to stay and work in the selected country within the Schengen Area. EU citizens and the citizens of the USA, Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland may apply for a residence/ working visa upon their entry in the Schengen Area. The citizens of the aforementioned countries do not require a visa to enter the Schengen Area.
- Transit Schengen visa
This type of visa is issued as either
- An A-type Transit Visa for the airport transit in the Schengen Area. The holder of the visa is not allowed to leave the so-called transit area at the airport, or
- A B-type Transit Visa valid for 5 days, which allows the holder to travel through the Schengen Area on his/her way to the final destination outside the Schengen Area.
A visa issued by one Schengen state is valid for travelling in any Schengen state, but you must apply for the visa from the country of your main destination. If you are travelling to several Schengen states, none of which will be your main destination, you need to apply for the visa from the country that you will enter first. A visa is granted provided that you intend to leave the Schengen area before the visa expires. In addition, you must have sufficient means of subsistence for the duration of the stay and present the relevant supporting documents.
