Millions of travellers enter and exit the Schengen area each year yet many still wonder about the validity of a Schengen visa. If you have previously been granted a Schengen visa, then it is better for you to look at your old visa stamp and understand the details of your Schengen visa. If you have never applied for a Schengen visa and are wondering about the validity of an approved Schengen visa, then read through this article and hopefully you will be enlightened about it.
Before proceeding to the details of the validity of a Schengen visa, here are the pertinent documents required by Schengen member embassies to tourists who wish to secure a Schengen visa:
- Valid passport and copies of the front and back pages
- Current passport-sized photos with white background
- Completed Schengen Visa application form
- Proof of travel such as flight booking, travel itinerary, and hotel booking – You may get a Flight Booking for Visa and Hotel Reservation for Visa just for your visa application without having to pay for the airfare or hotel booking.
- Travel Insurance – It is better to acquire this from Schengen Travel Insurance, an affordable and reliable insurance company.
- Personal Coverage Letter
- Bank Documents
- For employed travellers, a No Objection Letter is highly recommended
Understanding the Validity of a Schengen Visa – Validity vs. Duration:
The validity of a Schengen visa is quite easy to understand; however there are several travellers who confuse the term ‘validity’ with the term ‘duration.’ If you look at your Schengen visa stamped on your passport, you will find three sections with the word ‘validity.’ The first is “Area of Validity.” This section refers to the specific territories you are allowed to enter through your Schengen visa. Usually, this section will indicate that you are allowed to enter the Schengen States unless the consul who granted you the visa enumerated specific Schengen States that you are allowed to enter.
The second is “Start of Validity.” Under this section, you will see a date written in the Day-Month-Year order. This date indicates when your approved Schengen visa takes effect. This is the date when your visa is valid.
The third is “End of Validity.” Written in the same Day-Month-Year order, this date indicates when your Schengen visa expires. This means after indicated date, you can no longer use your Schengen visa.
If you look at the details of your Schengen visa, you will find a section that says ‘duration.’ This section indicates the number of days you are allowed within the area of validity stated on your visa. If the duration indicates 20 days, then you can only spend no more than 20 days within the Schengen area. If you spend more than 20 days within the area, then you will be fined by the immigration officer who will check your visa prior to your departure from the Schengen area.
Many travellers get confused with the validity dates and the duration of the visa. Some travellers think that the start and end of validity indicates the length of stay they are allowed in the Schengen area. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The validity of your visa is the time frame given to you by the Schengen member embassy to use the active Schengen visa. Once you enter the Schengen area, you must follow the indicated number of days you are allowed to stay.
Validity of a Schengen Visa and the Number of Entries Allowed:
Another frequently asked question by many travellers regarding the validity of the Schengen visa is in relation to the number of entries allowed within the Schengen area. If you look at your Schengen visa stamp once again, you will find a section that says ‘Number of Entries.’ This section indicates how many times you are allowed to enter the Schengen territory within the prescribed validity of your visa and the duration of your stay.
If under the ‘number of entries’ section it says ‘1’ then you are only allowed to enter the Schengen territory once. For example, your visa is valid from January 1, 2017 to June 30, 2017 while your allowed duration of stay is 20 days and your number of entries is 1, then you can only visit the Schengen territory once within the validity period and not beyond 20 days upon entry.
If your number of allowable entries is 2, your validity period is from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017, and your allowed duration of stay is 20 days, then you can only enter the Schengen territory twice within the prescribed validity period and not beyond 20 days per visit upon entry. In addition, your two visits to the Schengen area must be scheduled 180 days apart. For example, you entered the Schengen area via Rome, Italy on January 20, 2017 and left the Schengen area on February 3, 2017 which is a total of 15 days, then your second allowed visit must be 180 days after February 3. This means your next visit can only be scheduled after August 9 but 20 days before the end of the visa’s validity period which is December 10, 2017.
The same rule applies to a person granted with a multiple entry visa. Travels to the Schengen territory must be 180 days apart. Exemptions are only given by the embassy’s consul and such exemptions should appear under the ‘Remarks’ section of the Schengen visa stamp.
Validity of a Schengen visa – Time to Travel:
Hopefully the article has cleared out any confusions regarding your visa’s validity period, duration, and number of entries. Now that you have been enlightened by the article, you can travel to the Schengen area with ease and without any worries.
Should you have any other questions regarding your Schengen visa or your application of a tourist visa, just contact us and one of our friendly agents will respond to your queries.
Happily travel to the Schengen area as you now understand the validity of a Schegen visa.
