{"id":13021,"date":"2025-07-31T10:44:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T05:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=13021"},"modified":"2025-07-31T16:21:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T10:51:05","slug":"what-is-a-schengen-visa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/what-is-a-schengen-visa\/","title":{"rendered":"Schengen Visa Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Schengen Visa Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indian travellers with a clean visa history now have access to a fast-tracked, long-term Schengen visa under a new \u201ccascade\u201d system rolled out by the European Commission.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About Schengen Visa<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Schengen visa is an <\/span><b>entry permit<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that <\/span><b>allows non-EU nationals <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to <\/span><b>temporarily visit or transit through<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the <\/span><b><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/schengen-zone\/\" target=\"_blank\">Schengen Area<\/a>,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which comprises 29 European countries.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Within this area<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, there are <\/span><b>no internal borders,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> allowing for unrestricted movement between the countries.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The visa is<\/span><b> valid for up to 90 days within a 180-day period<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which b<\/span><b>egins the day you enter a Schengen country.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You <\/span><b>can enter and leave the area multiple times,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> but the <\/span><b>total stay must not exceed 90 days within the 180-day period.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Schengen visas are issued for various <\/span><b>purposes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, such as <\/span><b>tourism, business, visiting family, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">medical <\/span><b>treatment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and<\/span><b> participation in cultural or sporting events.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The visas do <\/span><b>not give the right to work.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Which Countries Issue Schengen Visas?<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are currently <\/span><b>29 European countries<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the Schengen.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Members of this area include <\/span><b>25 of the 27 EU member states<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (<\/span><b>except for Cyprus and Ireland)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>all members of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland).<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Being part of this area means that countries:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Do not carry out checks at their internal borders,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> except in cases of specific threats;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carry out <\/span><b>harmonized controls at their external borders<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, based on clearly defined criteria.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Cascade Visa Scheme<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The cascade visa scheme <\/span><b>rewards \u201ctrusted travellers\u201d <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">with a documented travel record.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Indian citizens who have obtained two Schengen visas within the past three year<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">s are now <\/span><b>eligible for a two-year multi-entry visa.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This can la<\/span><b>ter be upgraded to a five-year visa<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, provided their passport is valid for the full term.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During its validity, the visa allows holders to travel freely across the Schengen area, mirroring the travel rights of visa-free nationals.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the visa does <\/span><b>not grant the right to work and still limits stays to 90 days within any 180-day period.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It applies a tiered structure for visa validity based on prior usage:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>1-year visa<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> if the <\/span><b>traveller used <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">t<\/span><b>hree Schengen visas in the previous two years.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>2-year visa<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> if they <\/span><b>used<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a<\/span><b> 1-year multiple-entry visa in the previous two years.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b style=\"font-size: inherit;\">5-year visa<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> if they <\/span><b style=\"font-size: inherit;\">used a 2-year multiple-entry visa in the previous three years.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businesstoday.in\/nri\/visa\/story\/indians-now-eligible-for-5-year-schengen-visa-under-the-new-cascade-scheme-details-here-486960-2025-07-30\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>BT<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Schengen visa is an official document mandatory for some non-Europeans to travel to all the 27 countries which are part of the Schengen area. Read more about Schengen Visa Scheme, Countries, Purpose, Latest News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":57529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1915],"class_list":{"0":"post-13021","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-schengen-visa","9":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}