The 90 Day Schengen Visa

 

One of the biggest dreams of almost all travelers around the world is to visit Europe.

And with all reasons! It’s a beautiful continent, full of history, culture and also with many countries to visit in a not so big area let’s say.

 

If you are lucky enough to be born in one of the 26 countries that are included in the Schengen Area, or you have a passport issued by one of these countries, you can travel within this territory without any need to apply for a visa.

But if you are like me and your country of residence is not on this list, you should know some details before traveling to Europe.

The 26 countries that are part of this agreement are:

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Liechtenstein.

 

It is interesting to note that not all these countries belong to the European Union, such as Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Also, some like Andorra and San Marino are not part of the agreement, but there are no controls between their borders with Spain, France or Italy.

Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania, Croatia, Ireland, and United Kingdom are not part of this agreement.

*** Remember these countries for the moment you are planning your trip, it might be useful if you plan to spend several months traveling around Europe. ***

All the municipalities of the autonomous territories outside the European space are not part of Schengen, such as Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba (BES islands), Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten of the Netherlands, or Svalbard of Norway.

Nor the Danish territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland and the French overseas departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte and Reunion and San Martin which form part of the European Union but not the Schengen area.

The only exception is the Azores, Canary Islands, and Madeira, which are part of this treaty.

What is the Schengen Visa?

In general, those who are not residents of any country in the European Union need a visa to travel in this area.

As a fact I tell you that 109 countries need to apply for a short stay visa and of Latin American countries only Bolivia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Cuba have to ask for it before traveling.

If you live in one of these countries, before traveling you must apply for a Schengen visa at the consulate of the Schengen country that you want to visit or where you will spend the most time.

For some countries (such as Chile, Argentina, Peru, Brazil and the United States), it’s not necessary to apply for a visa before arriving in the territory if it is a short stay and the permit is granted upon arrival in Europe.

 

What is the famous 90 Day rule of the Schengen visa?

We all know that the most difficult and expensive to travel to Europe is the air ticket and many times we want to make the most of it and travel for 6 months in Europe for example.

You can use the list of countries that are not in the agreement and combine your stay days to match this period of time and thus stay more time on the European continent.

If you belong to one of the countries with which there is an agreement to abolish the short stay visa

You will be able to stay 90 days within a period of 180 days

This applies when you arrive in any of the countries that belong to the Schengen area.

The time period of 180 days is determined with the date of the first entry, keep in mind the days of arrival and departure count.

 

 

 

If you are traveling with a Schengen visa, it’s not necessary to stay all the time within the Schengen area or in the same country

Provided you don’t exceed 90 days within a period of 180 days.

Here you will find an application where you can calculate the days of your stay.

Keep an eye on calculating the days of your stay in the Schengen area because if you overstay with a Schengen Visa you can ruin an upcoming trip to Europe.

If you stay more than 3 days you may be banned for up to two years.

Requirements for travel in the Schengen area

If you need a Schengen visa before traveling, you must inform the details requested by each country and present all this information at the embassy in your country of residence.

For stays of more than 90 days all visas are processed in your country of residence independent of the country of origin, although there are some exceptions.

 

If you can have the transit permit upon arrival for a short stay in Europe, these requirements are considered:

• Your passport must be valid for at least six months, and also 3 months after the expected date of departure or expiration of the visa requested.
• Have a valid visa (if necessary) or a valid residence permit.
• Justify the reason for the trip, generally will be tourism and can be justified by showing your travel itinerary, tickets, hotels, etc.

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• If your motive is to visit a family member or friend can request a letter of invitation indicating details such as the address where you are staying and this varies by country.
• Having the means of subsistence enough, in general, it is estimated that you must have about 700 € per month of the trip and could ask you to show that you have them.
• I advise you to ask your bank for an impression in detail of the quota of your credit cards in case you are asked for this information.
• The traveler is not considered a threat to the public order, national security, public health or international relations of one of the Schengen States.
• A travel medical insurance for the Schengen countries valid for the whole stay plus 15 days courtesy.
• The health insurance must cover expenses up to a minimum of 30,000 euros.
• If you have to apply for the visa before the trip, the health insurance can be issued when the application has been approved.

Traveling to Europe as a Chilean

All Chileans need a visa for stays longer than 3 months (90 days) in Germany.

If you travel for less than 90 days you can enter without a visa and travel through the Schengen Area.

To the non-Schengen countries, you might check for more details  (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania, Croatia, Ireland and England)

 

 

For example, passengers on LATAM flights between Madrid-Barajas and Frankfurt have to leave the border controls of entry in Madrid and Schengen on arrival in Frankfurt, because this route originates in Chile.

 

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