The Schengen visa is granted in the form of a sticker affixed on a passport, travel document or another valid document which entitles the holder to cross the border. Possession of a Schengen visa does not confer automatic right of entry. Entry will only be granted if the other conditions laid down by the Schengen Convention are met, i.e. the justification of the purpose and conditions of the trip, the funds travellers must have at their disposal and the possession of travel insurance.
The short-stay visa is the most common Schengen visa. It entitles travellers, subject to the visa requirement, to enter the territories of the 15 Schengen States to pay a continuous visit or several visits, the duration of which does not exceed three months (90 days) in any half-year from the date of first entry in the Schengen area. The short-stay visa is issued for one or several entries.
- the single-entry visa allows one uninterrupted stay whose duration does not exceed the number of days indicated on the visa, 90 days being the maximum of days which may be granted. In the example below, the duration of the stay authorised by the visa is 30 days. A period of grace of 15 days of validity of the visa is normally added to the number of days of authorised stay, should the visa holder wish to postpone his or her departure.
- the multiple-entry visa allows several stays on the territory of one or several Schengen States, provided that the total length of the visits does not exceed 90 days in any half-year from the date of first entry. The stay may be continuous or spread over several periods within the validity of the visa. The multiple entry visa may be valid for one year, and in some cases, for more than a year, with a maximum of five years, for travellers providing sufficient guarantees. It is known as a travel visa.
The transit visa allows travellers who are going from one non-Schengen State to another non-Schengen State to pass through the territories of the Schengen States. This visa may be issued for one, two or exceptionally several transits, provided that the duration of each transit does not exceed five days.
An airport transit visa is required from certain travellers to go through the international transit area of airports, without actually entering the national territory of the country concerned, during a stop-over or transfer between two stages of an international flight. The requirement to have such a visa is an exception to the general right to transit without a visa through the international transit area.
