Travel to European Countries in the Schengen Area

According to the Schengen Borders Agreement, people are allowed to travel freely within the 26 European countries that make up this area provided that they meet the requirements to enter in the first place. Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France and Germany are just a few of the countries that make up this area within Europe.

Schengen Travel Requirements

Traveling to any of the 26 countries in the Schengen area in Europe? There are always important things to keep in mind. For starters, whether your trip is for tourism, business or even if you’re just passing through the Schengen area to reach a separate destination, your passport needs to be valid for at least three full months past your date of departure and for at least six months in total for everything to go as planned.

If you fail to meet this qualification, you could potentially be deny boarding by your airline. This could be either at your point of origin as your trip begins or while you’re transferring planes. You will also likely be denied entry into the Schengen area altogether.

Schengen Visa Requirements

There are three main types of Schengen visas. You should know which one you will need to prevent any delay. The Uniform Schengen Visa, or USV, allows for a person to reside in the desired country for up to 90 days every six months. The Limited territorial validity visa, or LTV, allows for a person to travel only in the Schengen country.

People who may be studying in a Schengen country will get the National visas. Or, traveling there for the purposes of business or who may be permanently moving to the country in question. This particular type of visa is design to be single entry only. It is given under the assumption that the person in question will eventually return to their country of origin.

Expedited Passport Services

If your trip to the Schengen area is coming up and you find that you don’t meet the current travel requirements for one or more reasons, don’t worry – you still have options available to you. Expedited passport services exist specifically for this reason. Instead of waiting the eight to ten weeks that it normally takes for new passport applications and renewal applications, these services can have your valid passport in hand within 24 to 48 hours in most circumstances.

They will take all of your documents and submit them through the appropriate channels. This will significantly cutting down on the normal processing time. Particularly, during the peak travel season of the year.