Types of Schengen Visa - Which One Do You Need?

Posted on: Sep 16, 2022 | | Written by:

Types of Schengen Visa - Which One Do You Need?

Published on September 15, 2022. EST READ TIME: 3 minutes

A host of twenty-six countries from the Schengen area allows uninterrupted movement of every individual Schengen citizen. Among these twenty-six countries, twenty-two of them are members of the European Union. In contrast, the remaining four are part of the special European free table association EFTA. Apart from the twenty-six membercountries included in the Schengen zone, the exclusive Schengen visa even allows unrestricted entry to even three micro-states including the Vatican, San Marino, and Monaco.

You need travel insurance for Schengen visa while visiting the following countries:

● Austria, Latvia, Belgium, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Luxemburg, Denmark, Malta, Estonia, Netherlands, Finland, Poland, France, Portugal, Germany, Slovakia, Greece, Slovenia, Hungary, Spain, Italy, and Sweden.

● The non-EU member states for which you need a Schengenvisa are Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland.

● You do not need a Schengen visa to travel to non-Schengen EU states like Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Ireland, and Cyprus.

● The exclusive Schengen visa is a special short-stay European visa, allowing the visa holder to travel to all the designated Schengen countries. It is issued by one of the special Schengen states and permits you to visit any Schengen country for up to a limited duration of 90 days in an entire period of 180 days.

What are the Types of Schengen Visas?

Depending on the type of travel, Schengen visas can be broadly classified into four categories:

● Type A Schengen visa or the special Airport transit visa allows the designated citizens of non-Schengen states to wait or travel through the international zone of the airport using a connecting flight from a Schengen country. Every individual must travel from a non-Schengen country to another non-Schengen country through a Schengen country. These types of visa holders are restricted from entering the country itself.

● Type B Schengen visa is required for those short trips lasting less than five days.

● Type C Schengen visa is the commonest form of Schengen visa issued by the designated authorities of a Schengen area, allowing free travel and stay in the Schengen area for less than 90days, over an entire tenure of 180 days.

● Type D National long-stay visa is compulsory for any foreigner who is willing to live, study, or work in any Schengen country for over 90 days.

1. Uniform Schengen Visa Categories

The Uniform Schengen visa can only be issued by Schengen area member countries. It permits an optimum stay of 90 days in a period of 180 days. The Uniform Schengen visa can even be used as a transit visa.

USV can be further subdivided into three categories, depending on the purpose of issuance:

● Single-entry visa:

This particular type of USV allows the designated holder to enter a Schengen country only once for a fixed tenure. The visa will automatically expire without further processing as soon as the holder exits the country after that stipulated time.

● Double-entry visa:

The regulations mentioned above are also applicable in this category too. The sole difference that lies here is that in the case of a double-entry visa, the visa holder is eligible to enter any Schengen country twice. After exiting the external border of the Schengen country for the second time, the visa validity expires automatically.

● Multiple-entry visa:

Multiple-entry visa holders can enter and exit the boundaries of any Schengen member state/country an unlimited number of times within the stipulated tenure validity. However, starting from the date of entry, the stay will not exceed 90 days for every six-month tenure.

2. Limited Territorial Validity Visa (LTV)

The LTV holders are only permitted to enter only that Schengen member country that has issued the concerned visa. They are not permitted to enter any other Schengen state or country unless proper authorisation is during the visa application procedure. Under the terms of law, it is considered illegal to enter or exit any other country using an LTV other than the country that has issued it.

3. National Visa

National visas are exclusively granted to individuals willing to live, work, or study with proper authorisation in a designated Schengen country. Under general circumstances, a National visa is supposed to be a single-entry visa for a stipulated period. It covers the reason for the purpose of this visa application.

Depending on the circumstances, some provisions grant multiple-entry National visa applications. The concerned visa applicant must at least fulfil one of these criteria:

● Getting enrolled on any sort of international educational course with an optimum tenure of not more than one year, duly demonstrated through any official and authorised document.

● Applying for any certain pedagogical program at any higher educational and/or research centre.

● Any professional who is willing to travel to Europe because of their proficiency in creative fields like arts, sports or any other types of professions that requires experience in sharing

● Any unprecedented emergency prevents the concerned applicant from returning to his/her homeland, and they get stranded in any Schengen country for a stipulated time.

Schengen Visa Types According to the Purpose of Travel

Depending on your requirement, it is determined how frequently or rarely you travel to any Schengen zone. Under such circumstances, you need to get hold of the special visa accordingly, befitting your needs, without violating the 90/180 regulation. As per the frequency of your travel, you may obtain the following types of Schengen visas of multiple-entry variety:

● One-year multiple-entry visa:

This visa is only granted if you have obtained and legally used at least three visas in the last two years. While applying for this visa, you must show proof of your previously used visas and other relevant proofs of the trips undertaken to the Schengen zone to the designated authorities. The holder of this visa is allowed to enter and exit the Schengen zone unlimited times without violating the 90/180 rule for the stipulated one year.

● Three-year multiple entry visa:

This visa is exclusively granted to those applicants who have obtained and legally used a previously-obtained multiple-entry visa, valid for one year within the last two years. Within three years time-frame, the holder is eligible to enter and exit the Schengen zone multiple times. However, here too, the holder is permitted to remain within the EU for not more than 90 days within a period of 180 days.

● 5-year multiple entry visa:

This visa is eligible for those applicants who have legally obtained and used the last MEV valid for at least two years within the last three years’ time frame. It allows you entry to 26 European countries unlimited times within the five-year tenure without violating the 90/180 rule.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it is evident the details and relevance of the Schengen visa. You need to acquire befitting travel insurance for Schengen visa for hassle-free visits to any Schengen zone.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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