Schengen Area Explained: Visa Policy, Border Controls & 29 Member Countries

What Is the Schengen Area?

Established through the 1985 Schengen Agreement and governed today by the Schengen Borders Code (Regulation (EU) 2016/399), this framework allows more than 462 million residents and approximately 1.3 billion annual crossings without systematic identity checks at internal borders.

Why Is It Called Schengen?

The name Schengen comes from a town in Luxembourg where Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands signed the Schengen Agreement in 1985.

Schengen Member Countries

Here is the list of the 29 Schengen member states:

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

Key Facts and Figures

The Impact of the Schengen Area on Border Control

The essential features of the Schengen Area which are based on the elimination of borders between the European member countries are as follows:

• There are no checks in the internal borders between member countries and harmonized controls are carried out at external borders based on jointly agreed criteria.
• No border checks are carried out when traveling between Schengen countries, but identification documents are required at ports of entry and airports.
• Schengen member states must facilitate smooth road traffic flow.
• Police checks may only be carried out to prevent possible public security threats.
• The establishment of joint police centers and teams to increase police cooperation through hot pursuit and cross-border surveillance.
• Common rules and asylum policies for non-Schengen citizens crossing the EU’s external border.

Microstates and Overseas Territories

Schengen’s territorial application involves complex variations addressing European microstates and member states’ overseas possessions These arrangements are based on political realities, historical ties, and practical considerations regarding border control.

European Microstates

There are four European microstates with unique relationships to the zone due to their status as non-members:

Overseas Territories Participating in Schengen

• Canary Islands (Spain): Participate in the Schengen agreement and allow for free movement across their borders, even though they are located off the western coast of Africa.
• Azores (Portugal): Participates fully in the Schengen Agreement and allows free movement across their borders.
• Madeira (Portugal): Participate fully in the Schengen Agreement and allow for free movement across their borders.

A uniform Schengen visa is recognized throughout the Schengen territories and grants the holder free movement to enter and exit any of the territories, without need for additional documentation.

Non-Schengen Overseas Territories

European Countries That Are Not Part of the Schengen Area or the EU

Here is a list of European countries that are neither members of the European Union nor participants in the Schengen Zone:

• Albania
• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Georgia
• Kosovo
• Moldova
• Montenegro
• North Macedonia
• Russia
• Serbia
• Türkiye
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom

Schengen Membership: Chronological Accession

The Schengen Zone expanded in waves from 1995 to 2025 as shown below.

Special Cases: Ireland and Cyprus

Cyprus has not joined the Schengen Zone due to outstanding issues related to the island’s division and potential difficulties in establishing adequate border control over the territory of Cyprus. However, both Ireland and Cyprus do take part in some aspects of Schengen cooperation, such as Ireland participates in SIS for policing purposes, but they do not participate in the passport free movement of people through the Schengen Zone.

Unified Visa Policy: Types, Duration, and Territorial Scope

The European Union member states have a common list of the countries, the nationals of which need a visa in order to enter the Schengen territory. The EU decides on visa exemptions case by case.

The Schengen visa framework encompasses three primary visa categories as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009. Each visa type serves distinct purposes and carries specific territorial validity.

Uniform Schengen Visa (Type C)

Limited Territorial Validity (LTV) Visa

According to Article 2(4) of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009, a visa can be limited to one or more member states, but this will not apply to the entire Schengen area.

LTV visas are issued by member states where the member states have determined that the applicant is unable to meet the criteria for entry and/or the member state determines that the visa should be issued based on humanitarian reasons, national interest or international obligations; when the member state has decided to issue a visa in spite of another member state having refused the applicant a visa and/or a negative consultation response; or if the applicant has a passport that is not accepted by all member states.

Airport Transit Visa (Type A)

Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 identifies the nationality of certain third country nationals who will need to obtain an airport transit visa prior to traveling through the international transit zone of any airport located in the Schengen territory.

The list of nationalities that will need to obtain an airport transit visa prior to traveling through the international transit zone of any airport located in the Schengen territory can be found in Annex IV of the Visa Code.

Additionally, member states may impose an airport transit visa requirement for other nationalities than those identified in Annex IV of the Visa Code during mass influx situations and as such must notify the Commission prior to implementing such measures and annually assess these measures within the framework of the Committee.

Visa Application Procedures: Competence, Representation, and Processing

The Schengen Visa Code (Regulation (EC) No 810/2009) outlines common procedures for each member state to follow on:

• how to determine which country should review a visa request;
• which consulate is geographically responsible for that visa request;
• how member states represent each other for this type of issue;
• under what circumstances a visa application can be submitted;
• how biometric data from applicants is collected; and what documentation applicants must submit to support their requests.

The Visa Code provides consistency with how visa applications are processed throughout the Schengen area and eliminates practices known as “visa shopping” (applicants submitting multiple applications to different consulates to see who would grant the visa).

Determining the Competent Member State

Article 5 of the Visa Code identifies which member state is responsible for examining a visa application through the use of the following priorities:

• Single Destination: The member state of the single destination examines the visa application.
• Multi-Destination: The member state responsible for the principal destination (i.e., the destination with the longest duration of stay in days, or the destination primarily for the purpose of the visit) examines the visa application.
• No Main Destination Identified: When durations of stay are equivalent, the member state responsible is the one at which the applicant crosses the external border of the member state first.

The priorities outlined above establish legal certainty and eliminate “visa shopping”, where applicants could have submitted their application to the consulate perceived to be the most lenient.

Entry Requirements at the Schengen External Border

To enter a country in the Schengen Area travelers must fulfill some requirements and present documents at the Schengen port of entry in order to be allowed entry.

Everyone must show:

• A valid travel document (passport)
• Schengen visa (based on your nationality)

Schengen border officers might also ask for

• proof of purchased Schengen travel insurance
• evidence of accommodation
• proof of funds to cover living expenses
• travel itinerary and travel tickets

Schengen Area vs European Union

Not all member states of the EU have opted into participation in the Schengen Area.

• Ireland has maintained its opt-out of the Title V Area of Freedom, Security and Justice provisions, although Ireland does participate in select elements of the Schengen acquis (police cooperation, access to the Schengen Information System).
• Cyprus has also yet to join the Schengen Area, although like all EU member states it is required to join eventually as a requirement of EU membership obligations.

Switzerland continues to enforce veterinary and phytosanitary regulations at borders, and is permitted to do so under the terms of the association agreements.

Legal Framework and Regulatory Architecture

Foundation Documents

The legal basis for this framework is the Schengen Agreement signed on 14th June 1985 by the founding states (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands). The agreement established a political commitment to remove internal border controls.

Operational implementation of the Schengen Agreement followed the signing of the Schengen Implementation Convention in 1990. The convention provided detailed rules for the removal of internal borders, for police co-operation and for a common visa policy. These two foundation documents were incorporated into the European Union’s legal structure by the Amsterdam Treaty (1999), that included the Schengen acquis – currently around 140,000 pages of legislation – into EU law.

Main Legal Framework

The Schengen system is based today on an extensive set of interrelated legal instruments:

Organizational Architecture and Governance

Schengen governance differs from traditional EU policy-making frameworks in that it includes different forms of participation:

Denmark and Ireland: Both have opted-out from certain aspects of the Justice and Home Affairs provisions, and therefore have very limited rights to participate. However, Ireland participates in some areas of Schengen (police cooperation and access to the SIS) and maintains passport controls, whereas Cyprus is not yet part of the Schengen Area pending the resolution of border control issues.

Associated Non-EU Countries: Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are associated with the Schengen Area through association agreements.

They implement the Schengen rules and participate in the Schengen area, but do not have voting rights on legislative amendments (this sometimes called “fax democracy”). The three first countries (Norway, Iceland and Switzerland) were able to join the Schengen area via their respective Nordic Passport Union, Switzerland via bilateral treaties (2008), and Liechtenstein as the last addition (2011).

The Schengen framework is developed through the same EU legislative processes, with the European Parliament and the Council adopting amendments to Schengen Regulations to respond to changing security threats, technology developments, and migration flows. Thus, ensuring that the system continues to remain flexible while continues to remain flexible of free movement of persons.

Supervision and Implementation

Each Member State is evaluated periodically in five main areas:

• Management of the external borders with third countries
• Issuance of visas and visa policies
• Procedures for returns of non-admitted applicants and overstaying applicants
• Cooperation in police and cross-border activities
• Implementation and operation of the databases (SIS, VIS, EES)

On-site inspection teams consisting of European Commission experts and Member State representatives evaluate each Member State in terms of compliance with Schengen rules, prepare detailed reports that identify specific deadlines for corrective actions. Where serious non-compliances occur, the mechanism can lead to proposals from the Commission to Member States to temporarily reintroduce internal border controls with the Member State concerned, as foreseen by Article 21 of the Schengen Borders Code.

Operational Implementation and Technology

Interoperability of Information Systems

Key Computerized Systems Used Within Border Management

Interoperable Technical Architecture

In order to allow seamless communication between the various systems, Regulations (EU) 2019/817 and (EU) 2019/818 establish a technical interoperability framework consisting of three main building blocks:

Data Protection and Fundamental Rights

As extensive as the amount of data that is collected, there are also very strong protections to safeguard the rights to privacy:

• Retention Limits: Data in the EES is deleted after 3 years from the last date of exit; VIS data is kept for 5 years after the visa expires; ETIAS authorizations are valid for 3 years.
• Access Controls: Only border guard personnel, police officers, visa application officials and designated Europol/Interpol personnel can access the systems and conduct searches; all searches are recorded and audited.
• Purpose Limitation: The data collected for border management purposes cannot be used for any other administrative purpose than that stated in the regulation governing the use of the data unless there is a specific legislative provision.
• Right to Information: Individuals can ask for any data that is stored about them, and can seek to correct inaccurate data via their respective national data protection authorities.

Key Institutions and Their Roles

How Institutions Interact: A Practical Example

Consider how institutions collaborate when a security gap is identified:

1. Frontex identifies in a risk analysis report that a particular airport has weak document fraud detection
2. European Commission includes this in a Schengen evaluation of the concerned member state
3. Member state must submit action plan to Commission detailing corrective measures and timeline
4. eu-LISA provides technical support to upgrade document readers connected to SIS
5. Frontex deploys document fraud experts to train national border guards
6. Fundamental Rights Agency monitors to ensure enhanced checks don’t lead to ethnic profiling
7. EDPS verifies that expanded SIS queries comply with data protection rules
8. European Parliament questions Commission on follow-up in Committee hearings
9. If member state fails to comply, Commission can launch infringement proceedings before the CJEU

Border Control Mechanisms: Internal Abolition and External Enforcement

Internal Border Controls: The Abolition Principle

Border guards have authority to conduct checks on persons in the area around the internal border (typically defined as 30 km from the internal border and entirely throughout the territory of Malta and Cyprus under certain circumstances):

• Checks conducted by border guards on persons within the area around the internal border must not have an equivalent effect to border checks and can only be based upon general information and/or experience of the police regarding possible threats to public order and safety.
• Random checks conducted at or immediately adjacent to the internal border are permissible if they are not systematic.

The Schengen rules still allow national authorities of each country to exceptionally and temporarily reintroduce internal border controls in case of a serious threat to security or of serious deficiencies at the external border that can put the overall functioning of the Schengen area at risk. This is regulated through the Regulation (EU) No 1051/2013 that the EU has adopted.

External Border Controls: Harmonized Standards

Articles 6 through 14 of the Schengen Borders Code detail the procedures to be followed for external borders.

When a third country national attempts to cross an external border of a Schengen State, border guards must determine whether the individual meets the entry conditions and verify the authenticity of the individual’s travel document(s) against stolen/lost travel document databases; SIS; and national registers.

Additionally, border guards must assess the potential threat posed to public policy or security.

When assessing the potential threat, the border guard must:

• determine if the individual has sufficient resources to sustain themselves during their intended stay;
• verify the purpose of the individual’s visit; and
• confirm that the individual does not have any SIS alerts associated with them.

Entry/Exit System (EES): Digital Border Management Transformation

Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 gives authority to implement the EES which will create a common entry/exit database across the entire area that includes information about every time a third country national crosses an external border during a short stay.

As far as travelers are concerned there will be a number of practical ways in which traveling in the Schengen Area will change because of the EES. Once a traveler has completed biometric enrollment they can use automated gates and self-service kiosks at future border crossings; however, the system also will provide travelers with accurate and reliable calculations of how many days they have left before their permitted length of stay expires, removing uncertainty associated with complying with the 90/180-day rule.

It is important to note that the EES applies equally to third-country nationals who require visas as well as to nationals who do not require visas to enter the Schengen Area.

Temporary Reintroduction of Internal Border Controls

When Can Border Control Be Restored?

Internal border control can be reinstated when a state identifies serious threats to its public policy or internal security. For these threats to qualify as “serious” they need to represent a genuine, current, and sufficient risk to the basic interest of the state. In addition, when considering whether to reinstate border control, it needs to be demonstrated that the reinstatement of border control is the least restrictive alternative to achieve the desired level of protection, i.e., that no less restrictive measures have been proven inadequate to protect against identified threats to public policy or internal security.

Examples of the most common reasons why internal border control has been temporarily restored by EU member states include:

• Secondary migration movements resulting from irregular migration flows overwhelming normal control arrangements
• Terrorism threats associated with major international events (e.g. G7/G20 Summits, Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup)
• Serious weaknesses in the external border controls of another member state undermining the integrity of the entire Schengen system
• A credible threat of an impending terrorist attack

Notification Procedure and Time Limits

Notifications must detail:

• Justification for the decision to implement border control, including documentation to support the justification;
• Scope of the reinstatement (which borders will be affected, what type of control will be implemented);
• Length of time for which border control is expected to be in place; and
• Date by which the member state intends to lift the border control.

Security Cooperation: Beyond Physical Borders

Because internal borders had to be removed from the area, a vast framework of cooperative security was developed to compensate for the loss. While the Schengen Information System (SIS) serves as the primary tool, many additional mechanisms have been developed to support police cooperation.

“Hot Pursuit” enables officers to pursue suspects into another country, subject to defined circumstances, for a maximum period of five hours or until they are relieved by local law enforcement. Additionally, cross-border surveillance enables officers to continue tracking suspects into another country for a limited time without advance approval.

While these measures do not entirely replicate the security features of traditional border control — a point that is frequently made by critics — they establish new capabilities which did not exist prior to the implementation of Schengen, including the ability to share information in real time. This capability would be unachievable using physical border inspections.

Criteria for Joining the Schengen Zone

Admission Requirements for Membership

Potential members of the Schengen Area must demonstrate the required capabilities in five key areas:

Evaluation Procedure

Candidate countries will first have to undergo a complete evaluation prior to being permitted to apply the Schengen rules. Experts from the European Commission accompanied by experts from the member states will carry out on-site inspections in the candidate country in order to evaluate:

• Border infrastructure, such as crossing points, surveillance systems and equipment
• National legislation transposing the Schengen acquis
• Organisational structures and staffing levels
• Training programmes for border guards and consular officers
• Risk assessment capacity and cooperation with Frontex
• Return procedures for individuals who are refused entry or who are overstaying

Experts from the evaluation team will compile detailed reports in which they identify shortcomings which require correction before the Schengen rules can be applied.

If serious shortcomings exist, then the date of accession of the new member to the Schengen Area will be postponed until the shortcomings have been removed. Minor shortcomings may result in recommendations to improve after the accession has taken place, but do not prevent the accession to the Schengen Area.

Continuous Ongoing Monitoring and Evaluation

Schengen evaluations do not end with the accession of a country. Regulation (EU) No 1053/2013 lays down ongoing monitoring by means of planned and unplanned visits. Every year approximately 5-7 member states are evaluated; each country is evaluated at least once every 7 years.

In addition to the previously mentioned areas, evaluations cover the entire area relevant to Schengen: external borders, issuing of visas, returns, data protection, police cooperation and the operation of the SIS and VIS.

Shortcomings identified during the evaluations will result in the publication of recommendations with specific deadlines for remedial action. In extreme cases, shortcomings may result in the Council recommending, pursuant to Article 21 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399, the temporary reintroduction of border controls at the external borders of the state concerned.

Cross-Border Travel and Schengen Statistics

Schengen has dramatically altered European mobility patterns and facilitated a massive increase in cross-border travel volumes (i.e., it changed European integration). Statistics illustrate this trend and scale of the system:

• Approximately 593 million people traveled to an EU country from outside the Schengen area in 2022 via an external border crossing; this represents a dramatic recovery to pre-COVID levels of approximately 744 million people in 2019.
• Approximately 3.5 million people travel via an internal Schengen border on a daily basis for work.
• Consulates of member states issued more than 11.7 million Schengen visas in 2024 to nationals requiring a visa.
• The refusal rate for Schengen visa applications is approximately 15-18%; however, refusal rates vary significantly by nationality and destination state.
• As of 2022, the VIS database contains over 70 million applicant records.
• In 2024, there are over 93 million active SIS alerts which have been queried an estimated 15 billion times per year.

Studies estimate that the reduction in transaction costs due to Schengen border abolition results in large increases in gross domestic product (GDP), as well as the enhancement of labor market integration and tourism. In particular, reductions in waiting time at borders result in substantial savings in freight transportation time (i.e., 20-30%) resulting in increased efficiency in the supply chains of companies that require “just-in-time” delivery.

Future Development: ETIAS and Ongoing Evolution of the Schengen Framework

The Schengen Framework is developing in response to new security challenges, technological advancements and policy objectives.

Development of ETIAS

Following the successful implementation of EES, ETIAS will represent the next significant development in the evolution of the Schengen Framework, representing a pre-travel authorisation system for visa exempt third country nationals entering the Schengen Area.

According to Regulation (EU) 2018/1240, ETIAS will be an online pre-travel authorisation system that all third country nationals travelling visa free into the Schengen Area (i.e. citizens of US, Canada, Australia, Japan, etc.) must obtain prior to their departure for the Schengen Area.

Current Debates Regarding Schengen Policy Reform

There are a number of current debates in relation to various aspects of Schengen policy which may result in changes to the existing policies in the future:

FAQ