1985 On June 24th, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg signed the Schengen Agreement in the border town of Luxembourg. According to the agreement, its member countries issue visas in a unified format for short-term stays, that is, Schengen visas. Once an applicant obtains a visa from a certain country, he can travel freely in all Schengen member countries within the validity period and stay period of the visa, but he must report to the local area within three days from the second country. The Schengen Agreement also contains the following principles:
1. Schengen countries should adopt unified policies and regulations on the movement of people, especially visas;
2. Schengen countries decided to issue a unified visa that is generally valid in the Schengen area;
3. Short-term travel visas that allow one or two entry, provided that the total number of days of stay within six months after the first entry cannot exceed three months;
4. Before the Schengen visa is used, it is necessary to recognize the national visas of various countries;
According to the Schengen Agreement, travelers with valid residence permits of any Schengen Agreement member country can travel freely in Schengen area without a visa within three months. Passengers outside the Schengen area can travel to Schengen countries without a visa as long as they have a valid residence permit and passport. If the stay exceeds 90 days, the applicant must apply for a national visa according to the relevant laws and the purpose of stay;
6. The unified Schengen visa shall be issued by the diplomatic and consular departments of the agreement countries;
7. In principle, the country that issued the Schengen visa should be the main destination country of the visa holder, or the first Schengen country that the visa holder entered;
8. The validity period of travel documents must be longer than the validity period of visas, and the travel documents must ensure that foreigners outside the Schengen country can smoothly return to their own countries or enter countries outside the Schengen area;
9. Every country has the right to decide whether a person has the right to enter or is refused entry. Schengen visas issued by another country will be restricted to another Schengen country, but that country must inform other countries about the situation;
10.1On March 26th, 1995, the Schengen Agreement first came into effect in Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and seven countries began to implement Schengen visas. At the end of 1997, Italy, Greece and Austria successively implemented Schengen visas; From March 25th, 20001year, five countries, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark, began to issue Schengen visas. Schengen visa member countries have grown to 15 countries, namely Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Greece, Austria, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark.
Two. Types and application methods of Schengen visa:
1. Schengen visas are divided into entry and transit.
1) There are two kinds of entry visas: single entry and multiple entry. Visa holders can stay for 90 days at a time or not more than 3 months every six months. If you need to stay for a long time, you can apply to a member country for a national visa that is only used there;
2) Transit visa refers to a visa for transit to a country other than the agreed country. Generally, there are one or two kinds of transit visas, and multiple transit visas can be issued under special circumstances. Each transit time is generally 3 days, and the longest is 5 days;
2. The Schengen visas issued by Beijing are as follows:
1) If you just travel to a member country, you must apply for a visa for that country, that is, a "country visa". The "country visa" can only be valid in and out of the issuing country, and it is not allowed to enter the issuing country from other Schengen countries, otherwise you should apply for a "Schengen visa". The number of days of stay on the visa is only valid within the validity period of the visa;
2) When transiting a member country or several member countries to another member country, they should apply for a visa from another member country (country of entry);
3) To visit several member countries, you need to apply for the visa of the member country that mainly visits or stays for the longest time. If you can't determine the main country to visit, apply for a visa for the first country to visit;
4) Those who go to overseas territories or trust places of France, the Netherlands, Portugal and other countries should still apply for visas from their own countries;
5) When passing through or visiting several Schengen countries, you need to fill in the itinerary, that is, the details of the countries and routes visited and the schedule of stay, and provide invitations to visit the countries; To apply for a visa from any country, use the visa application form of that country. If necessary, the receiving country may request additional materials. Schengen countries sometimes issue their own visas and can only go to this country, but not to other Schengen countries; The number of days of stay on the visa is only valid within the validity period of the visa;
6) Long-term visas exceeding 90 days are still examined and issued by the host country. Persons who have already held a long-term residence permit in a member country can freely enter any member country without a visa with valid international travel documents, and the stay period shall not exceed 3 months;
7) You can only apply for a valid entry "Schengen visa", and you can only travel in Schengen countries within the validity period, and you can't transfer to non-Schengen countries and then return to Schengen countries;
8) The Schengen Agreement does not stipulate that permanent diplomatic and public officials should be handled by each country.
Three. Positive, Negative and Grey Lists in Schengen Agreement
The Schengen Agreement divides countries other than Schengen member countries into three categories: positive list, gray list and negative list:
1, the list refers to all Schengen member countries and other visa-free developed countries, ***30 countries;
2. The "grey list" refers to countries required by some member countries, while other countries do not need visas. There are ***20 countries, and it is up to each member state to decide whether to apply for visas to countries on the grey list.
3. Negative list countries refer to countries that must apply for visas, * * *130; Including China.
4. Schengen visa application fee
The Schengen visa fee is RMB in 600 yuan, but the embassy settled it in Euro (actually 60 Euro). With the recent appreciation of the euro exchange rate, applicants need to pay extra fees for the appreciation of the exchange rate, for example, 650 yuan RMB may be charged. According to industry insiders, the exchange rate is still high at present, and applicants should prepare more money when they go to the embassy.
[Edit this paragraph] Schengen Convention member countries
Remarks on the date of China's accession to Schengen Convention and the date of cancellation of border inspection
Belgium1990 June19June1995 March 26th.
Germany1990 June19June1995 On March 26th, 2006, during the 2006 World Cup, the Schengen Convention was temporarily invalid for Germany for security reasons.
France 1990 June 19 1995 March 26th.
Luxembourg1990 June19June1995 March 26th.
Netherlands 1990 June 19 1995 March 26th.
Portugal1991June 251March 26, 995 During the 2004 European Football Championship, the Schengen Convention was temporarily invalid for Portugal for security reasons.
Spain1991June 251March 26, 995
Andorra
(Non-member country)-1995 was not clearly signed on March 26th, but there was no border inspection between Andorra and its two neighboring countries, Spain and France.
Monaco
(Non-member)-1995 was not clearly signed on March 26th, but there was no border inspection between Monaco and its only neighboring country, France. French personnel are responsible for the border inspection of Monaco ports.
Italy1990165438+1October 65438+July1997 65438+1October 26th.
San Marino
(Non-member country)-19971kloc-0/October 26th, but there is no border inspection between San Marino and its only neighbor Italy.
Vatican
(Non-member)-19971kloc-0/October 26th was not clearly signed, but there was no border inspection between the Vatican and its only neighbor Italy.
Austria 65438+April 28th 0995 1 997 65438+February1
Greece 1992 165438+2000 10/6 March 2 6 1997 came into effect, but due to security concerns of other EU countries, it was actually implemented in 2000.
Denmark1996 65438+9 March 2006
Finland19961219 20065438+0 March 25th.
Sweden1996 65438+9 March 2006
Iceland19961219 March 2006 5438+0 Iceland is not a member of the European Union, but has joined the Schengen Convention as a member of the Nordic Passport Union.
Norway19961219 March 2006 5438+0 Norway is not a member of the European Union, but has joined the Schengen Convention as a member of the Nordic Passport Union.
Ireland
May 29th, 2000-Limited participation, only providing police cooperation, but not canceling the border inspection (except for going to and from Britain).
Britain, England
May 29th, 2000-Limited participation, only providing police cooperation, but not canceling border inspection (except for going to and from Ireland).
Estonia, May, 2004 1 day-It is expected that the border inspection will be cancelled on February 3, 20071day.
Latvia may 2004 1 day-it is expected that the border inspection will be cancelled on February 3, 20071day.
Lithuania May 2004 1 day-It is expected that the border inspection will be cancelled on February 36, 2007.
Malta, May, 2004 1 day-It is expected that the border inspection will be cancelled on February 3, 20071day.
Poland, May, 2004 1 day-It is expected that the border inspection will be cancelled on February, 3, 20071day.
Slovakia, May, 2004 1 day-It is expected that the border inspection will be cancelled on February 3, 20071day.
Slovenia May 2004 1 day-It is expected that the border inspection will be cancelled on February 3, 20071day.
Czech Republic, May 2004 1 day-It is expected that the border inspection will be cancelled on February 3, 20071day.
Hungary May 2004 1 day-It is expected that the border inspection will be cancelled on February 36, 2007.
Switzerland 10, 200416-It is expected that the inspection by border inspectors will be cancelled in early 2008, but the inspection of goods will still be retained.
Liechtenstein
(Non-member)-Not explicitly signed, but Liechtenstein and Switzerland form a currency and border inspection union, and there is no border inspection between the two countries; Swiss and Austrian personnel are responsible for border inspection between Liechtenstein and Austria, another neighboring country. With Switzerland's accession to the Schengen Convention, Liechtenstein's border inspection is expected to be cancelled in early 2008.
Cyprus, May 2004 1 day-It is expected that the border inspection will be cancelled as early as 2007.
Bulgaria, June 5438+1October 1- When the border inspection will be cancelled is unknown.
Romania, June 2007 5438+1October 1- When the border inspection will be cancelled is still unknown.
[Edit this paragraph] Status of Schengen Agreement
The purpose of the Schengen Agreement is to cancel the border checkpoints between them and coordinate the border control outside the Schengen area. That is, the border control between seven or seven member States will be abolished, and people holding valid identity cards or visas of any member state can move freely within the territory of all member States. According to the agreement, tourists can legally visit all other Schengen countries as long as they have a valid visa in one of them.
Since the signing of the agreement, new countries have joined in. By 2003, the number of Schengen member countries had increased to 15: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Except Norway and Iceland, all Schengen countries are EU countries. On the contrary, Britain and Ireland, as EU countries, are not yet members of the Schengen Agreement.
The 10 countries that joined the EU in May 2004 (namely Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus) also participated in the Schengen Agreement, but it should be implemented after 2006 according to the actual situation of each country.
Switzerland also held a referendum on whether to join the Schengen Agreement on the 5th of this month. As a result, 54.6% of the voters supported Switzerland's accession to the Schengen Agreement, making Switzerland the16th Schengen country.