New rules that came into force in 2020 in the Schengen area for tourists. How to calculate the term of stay in the Schengen. What does a visa for 90 days mean.
  - A very convenient way to freely travel almost throughout Europe. Having received permission to enter one European country, you can travel almost all over Europe, stopping at the border except for the photographic capture of this fact. No lines, customs inspection and passport control.

Quiet European street, in "Old Europe"

But one should not think that there is no control at all. In fact, in the Schengen free zone, there are quite strict rules for entry on a Schengen visa, place and duration of stay. Ignoring which may close the possibility of obtaining permission to enter the country in the future.

Official rules for applying and processing.

Despite the fact that initially and until now the European Union declared freedom of movement of people without borders, there are certain Schengen rules regarding foreigners. Which are also valid in 2020.

There are only three of them:

• First entry rule;
• Rule of the main country;
• Limitation of stay.

If you are planning a trip to Europe, you should carefully study them before applying for a visa. Because the violation of these, at first glance, uncontrolled rules by anyone, can lead to very sad consequences. Because the lack of supervision over their implementation is only apparent.

First entry rule

There is no Schengen country on the map. This is just a village in Luxembourg, where almost thirty years ago an agreement was signed on the abolition of the visa regime between five European countries. And today, two and a half dozen countries are included in the Schengen zone. And you need to get a visa in one of them.

If you plan to visit only one country, then everything is quite simple. You need to collect all the documents and go to the appropriate embassy, \u200b\u200bconsulate, visa center or travel agency. Even if you later want to go on an excursion to a neighboring country, no one will have questions.

But Europe is not so big. Crossing it by car or train can be easily done in a fairly short time. And the lack of boundaries makes this event simple and easy. And it seems to some that you can apply for any visa at the embassy, \u200b\u200bwhich is conveniently located. But this is not so.

  The first entry into Schengen should be in the country that issued the visa.   This is the first entry rule. But a literal understanding of this rule gives rise to confusion and myths that it should not be violated in any case. Therefore, you should start your trip exactly to the state where you applied for a visa.

It should not be thought that if issued, then it will not be possible to get to any other country earlier. No one will close the border in front of a tourist if he flew to Paris and gets on by bus or car. This rule works a little differently.

For holders of a single visa, it means that they must spend most of their travels in the country whose visa they received.

Travel through other countries, not exceeding 1-5 days, will be considered as transit. This is true, for example, for bus tours or for traveling by car.

But for those who plan to take advantage of an approximately equally long stay in several countries, the order of their visit already matters. However, even in these situations, violation of this rule does not have serious consequences.

Simply, if the country of first entry does not coincide with the visa that you received, when applying for the next one, you can get a recommendation to contact another embassy. When the reason for the refusal is only in violation of the rules of the first entry, then you should not have problems with the repeated multivisa.

Sample multivisa.

There is one more situation when this rule should be taken into account when choosing a country for obtaining a visa. It is mainly related to car trips. In this situation, it may turn out that in a country through which you have to pass on the way there and back, in total more time will be accumulated than in any other.

For example, on a trip to the countries of Scandinavia, you will have to spend the night at 2 nights on the way there, then spend a couple of days in Norway and Sweden and, returning through Finland, again stay there for the night. It turns out that the longest will have to be in the territory of this particular country, in addition, it is the first on the list. Therefore, you will need to apply for a visa at the Finnish consulate.

Host Country Rule

Another, at first glance, an optional rule. It applies only to short-term visas, while it does not matter whether it is a single entry or multivisa. issued to someone who is going to live, study or work in a particular country already implies choosing it as the main one.

The rule of the main country also applies to fairly rare cases of obtaining a double transit visa. It is issued if a transfer is planned in one of the Schengen countries for a further trip outside the region and subsequent return. The principle of applying the rule is the same. Where there are more overnight stays during transit, there is the main country. For an equal length of stay - the rule of the country of first entry is applicable.

Duration of stay in the Schengen area

More recently, more precisely, from October 18, 2013, amendments to the rules for entering the Schengen countries came into force, which are also valid in 2020. The new rules relate to periods of stay in Europe. Those who have a single-entry tourist visa are not affected by these innovations. But the owners of multi-visions will fully experience all the disadvantages and advantages of these requirements.

As before the entry into force of the new regulation, the duration of stay on a Schengen visa in any of the states remained equal to three months.

But now they will have to be used in a new way, based on updated rules. Because now the wording has changed a bit.

If earlier, for using 90 days of permissible stay in the country, there were six calendar months, after which it was possible to stay as much if the next visa was issued, now everything is much stricter. And combining the two periods in order to spend six months in Europe with one trip will no longer work.

This video discusses the new visa requirements for the Schengen area.

The visa half year for each tourist will be counted individually, from the moment of the first border crossing. But not forward, but backward. During this time, you can stay in the EU countries for a total of 90 days, that is, three months. If you use them all at once, having spent, for example, summer vacation, then over the next three months, entry into Europe will be closed.

But the main thing is that, according to the new rules, calculating the stay of days in Schengen is becoming quite difficult. In order to facilitate it, special calculators have appeared on embassy websites, using which you can determine how many days abroad you can count on in the near future.

It’s worth saying right away that canceling a visa and opening a new one will not help to deceive the system. All visas, both valid and already extinguished, are taken into account.

Any 180 days in total should not contain more than 90 spent in the Schengen zone. And control at the border is thorough.

But counting the days left to stay in Europe, applies not only to the tourist himself. If he is not allowed into the country due to a violation of existing visa rules, the air carrier and travel agency will be forced to return a negligent client to their homeland at their own expense. So when selling tickets and checking at the airport of departure, all this is also taken into account.

The new rules for staying on a Schengen visa are quite strict. Their introduction was aimed at cutting off those who enjoyed the ease of obtaining a tourist visa for other, not tourist, purposes. And also to minimize possible violations of the visa regime by not too conscientious tourists.

However, this rule still does not apply to European countries that are not members of the Schengen zone. These are the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and Croatia. Obtaining visas and staying in these states is determined by their own legislation.

Schengen visa (visa to Finland, visa to Spain, visa to Holland) - in fact, a residence permit that gives the holder of a passport the right to stay in the country that issued the visa (for example:finnish visa, Spanish visaor   dutch visa) during the period corresponding to the purpose of the trip.

The Schengen Agreement, with the abolition of border and customs controls, fully extends to 26 European member states. It should be remembered thatschengen visaissued by one of the countries participating in the Schengen Agreement is not considered a visa of the European Union.

Currently, the agreement covers 4 non-EU countries: Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. At the same time, 2 member states of the European Union, Ireland and the United Kingdom, have limited participation while maintaining border and customs controls. Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Romania have not yet joined the Schengen Agreement.

Since 2011 schengen visas Issue Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Hungary, Switzerland, as well as Norway and Iceland. 4 dwarf states, surrounded on all sides by the Schengen zone, such as San Marino, Andorra, the Vatican and Monaco, may not check the passports of people staying on their territory.

According to the terms of the Agreement on the Common Visa-Free Space, schengen visa   (eg: finnish Schengen visa, spanish schengen visaor   dutch schengen visa) is issued by the diplomatic mission of a participating country or a single visa center, to those citizens with whose states mutual agreements were not concluded on the procedure for staying in their territories.

Once in one of the countries participating in the Schengen zone, movement through the territory of other countries is allowed, since there are no borders or customs points between them. At first, you don’t even notice that you are in another country.

For example, to determine that you have left Spain and are in France is possible only by signs over shops and road signs. However, internal passport control is not completely ruled out. That is, at any moment a policeman or immigration officer can come up and demand documents.

Schengen visas, such as visa to Finland, visa to Spain, visa to Holland, classified according to criteria such as length of stay and number of entries into the country. Depending on the duration of the trip, transit, short-term and long-term are distinguished. Transit include types of visas that give the right to either transit or stay in the country for a period of not more than 5 days.

Short line schengen visas   give the right to move in the Schengen zone for no more than 90 days. The long-term category includes visas that allow you to stay in the country for more than 3 months.

By the number of entries Schengen visas are single, double and multi-entry visas. Multivisa Schengen   allows you to arrive in the Schengen area an unlimited number of times during the validity period of the visa.
  Consider each type in more detail.

1. Type A transit visa
  Another name is “airport visa”. This visa provides access to the transit zone of the international airport and waiting on its territory. During boarding or transfer, such persons must remain in the international transit zone of the airport without the right to enter the country.

Citizens of most CIS countries are allowed not to obtain airport visas. For example, a citizen of Ukraine follows from New York to Kiev with a transfer in Vienna. According to the ticket, the waiting time in Vienna is 10 hours. He does not need a visa, but at the same time he will not be able to leave the territory of the terminal.

2. Type B transit visa
  This visa   It is issued to persons crossing the territory of one or more Schengen member countries before continuing on a trip to a third country. A visa can be issued for one, two or, depending on exceptional circumstances, several transit.

The duration of each transit does not exceed five days. For example, a group of Russian cyclists travels to Ireland through the territory of Latvia, Poland, Germany, Holland, Belgium and France. In addition to an Irish visa, each of them must have a Schengen visa type B.

3. Type C
  Better known as a “tourvisa”. This type is issued for one, two or more trips. Its validity varies from several weeks to 5 years, however, it allows a stay of no more than three months. There are 4 subtypes of this visa:

C1 - for persons who are going to stay in the Schengen area for no more than 30 days. Usually issued to holidaymakers, vacationers and tourists.

C2 - with this visa a tourist can stay in the Schengen countries for up to 90 days. Its validity period is six months, that is, within 6 months a person can return to the Schengen zone.

C3 - similar to C2, but the action applies to one year.

C4 - the number of days a tourist can stay in the Schengen space is also 90, but they can be “stretched” for a period of 1 to 5 years. That is, having received such a visa, you can visit the Schengen countries for 5 years, but the total number of days of stay should not exceed 90. Police officers, examining a passport with such a visa, meticulously calculate the days spent in the "Schengen".

The last 2 types of C visas are suitable for truckers and car drivers who often visit Europe. Same apply for a Finnish visa   type C4 can property owners in Finland, visa to Finland   a two-year 90-day biennial will be issued for such citizens.

4. Type D
  National visa. A visa of this type allows multiple entry into the territory of the country that issued the visa and a single entry. It is issued for a period of more than 90 days, for the following purposes: study, business, work, family reunion, arrangement for permanent residence.

At the same time, a national visa allows its holder to stay in other Schengen countries for a period of not more than 3 months. As a rule, holders of such visas are equated with citizens who have a residence permit in this state.

It is called national because extradition rules are governed by local law. In some cases, such as family reunion, a visa is issued free of charge.

Although in the case of type D there are some nuances, schengen visa rules   unified by all participating countries, and not much different from each other. The citizen of which country you are also plays a big role.

In recent years, Common Visa Issuing Centers have begun to open in the CIS countries (currently the Finnish visa center and the Spanish visa center have been opened in St. Petersburg). Such centers should be contacted if your country does not have a diplomatic mission of the country you are planning to visit. For example, in Moldova there is no representation of Luxembourg. Instead of going to the nearest consulate in Moscow, you can contact the Single Visa Center in Chisinau.

Usually, the procedure for obtaining schengen visas   consists of the following items:
  1. Collect a package of documents. Depending on the type of visa, the list of documents may vary. Usually, they require you to provide a completed application form, a valid passport, a certificate from the place of work, income, criminal record, a few photos, a receipt for paying the consular fee. Upon obtaining a type D visa, a work contract, marriage certificate, confirmation from an educational institution, etc. may still be required.
  2. Sign up for an interview. Can be done online.
  3. Come for an interview. Hand over a package of documents. There may not be an interview, as such, and you will not talk to the consul. The clerk will check your documents and tell you when to return.
  4. Wait for the decision of the consul. The consul may issue a visa on the same day, categorically refuse, and sometimes ask to come again and submit additional documents.
  Also in order to make it easier for you apply for a Finnish visa   or get a Spanish visa   You can contact our company. Our company offers a Finnish visa without registration (without registration) in St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg). If you do not have permanent registration (registration) in St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg), we will be happy to help you get a Finnish multivisa without registration (without registration) in St. Petersburg.

The most frequently asked questions of tourists when applying for a Schengen visa. The main difficulties in interpreting the Schengen rules: country of first entry, transit, etc.

Is it possible to go on a Schengen visa obtained at the consulate of Finland, for example, to Germany

To answer this and many other questions you need to know 3 Schengen rules

First:   On the visa it says “valid for Schengen” (The visa is valid for visiting any Schengen countries - Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Germany, Denmark, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland , Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, France, Czech Republic, Sweden, Estonia, that is, with this visa you have the right to go to any of these countries.)

The second:   The visa is issued at the consulate of the country that you have chosen as the “main place of residence”. If you have the main goal - to go shopping in Finland - you need to contact the consulate of Finland for a visa. If your main goal is to buy a car in Germany, even if you intend to travel to Germany by ferry from Finland and Finland will be the first Schengen country on your way, you must contact the German consulate for a visa.

Third:   If the two previous provisions are known to everyone, they usually do not pay attention to the third: After obtaining a visa, it IS NOT POSSIBLE TO CHANGE THE MAIN PURPOSE OF RESIDENCE. That is: you were going to go to Finland for two weeks to ski, booked a cottage, received a visa at the Finnish consulate, a Schengen visa. And then friends from Germany called you: “Urgent come! Found you a car. " Your plans are changing. Do you have a Schengen visa? The Germans will not deliver you a second Schengen visa for the same terms. What to do? According to Schengen rules, you must go to the Finnish consulate, annul the current Finnish Schengen visa, and then go to German and apply for the exact same Schengen visa at the German consulate.

Many tourists have acquaintances or their own experience when people on a Finnish visa went by train, bus, plane directly to Germany and they were allowed to pass. Some - even without sad consequences, such as refusing a visa the next time you submit documents to the consulate, but we write about the "rules" and not about exceptions, even if they are quite common.

Another fairly common misconception is that you can go on a Finnish visa once a day to Finland, and then calmly fly for a week to Spain. Indeed, if you have a multiple-entry business Finnish visa and you have already traveled to Finland on business once, the next time you can fly to other countries of the Schengen Agreement. But provided that the main purpose (main place of stay) you have remained the same as you stated when submitting the questionnaire to the Finnish consulate.
  When your visa expires and you carry your passport to one of the consulates of the Schengen countries, you may be asked to check the border stamps where you traveled with your previous visa, and if it turns out that, for example, German stamps and trips to Germany you had more than to Finland, and you received a visa at the Finnish consulate - they can also put a “refusal”.

The concept of "main place of stay" is very arbitrary. How to determine by the number of days or the number of trips (for example, you spent two weeks on this visa in Spain and went to Finland 10 times a day)? It is obvious to everyone that in this case, Finland is the main goal, despite the fact that you spent more days on this visa in Spain. But the final decision in each specific case rests with one of the consulate employees who is considering your application and passport. And what this employee will decide in your particular case, no one knows. To consult with you or invite you for an interview for explanations on previous trips, most likely they will not. They will simply give a visa or put a stamp on the visa denial in the passport.

Is it possible to put a single-entry Schengen visa for several days in the Finnish consulate and fly on a FINNAIR plane from Russia to Italy?

No. You fly, for example, along the route St. Petersburg - Helsinki - Rome. At the Helsinki Airport, Finnish border guards will check your visa, ask for the purpose of the visit and ask for a ticket. The ticket will have the entire route to Rome. Your visa will be canceled and sent home. Although there were exceptions when it was possible to "explain", but we write about the rules.

According to our information, there are no border controls at ports and airports within the Schengen countries. When you enter Finland by bus, Finnish border guards check your visa. Then you can come to the airport, buy a Helsinki-Milan ticket and fly away safely. You will not meet the border guards either in Helsinki or in Milan. It will be an internal flight, just like flying from Helsinki to Turku. You will not have border stamps from Helsinki and Milan. This does not mean that there is no police at the airport. There is. But the police are not border guards, and although citizens of the Russian Federation are usually visible from afar, it is unlikely that after checking your documents, the police will decide to cross out your visa, unlike border guards who have this practice.

Can a German Schengen visa go to Germany in transit through Finland?

Can. You can open a German visa and buy a ticket for the Finland-Germany-Finland ferry to go to Germany via Finland. At the same time, you will not violate any Schengen rules and you will be let in at the border. But to open a visa, leave your used tickets next time, in case the consulate is interested in where you went on your previous visa. Questions may arise, since you will only meet with border guards at the border between Russia and Finland and only Finnish border stamps will appear in your passport. But there will be no German stamps.

Finally:In the "visa" questions there can be no definite answers and guarantees.
  Here we express our point of view and tell what we ourselves would do in certain situations based on the formal logic and experience of tourist trips, using the published documents of the Schengen agreements.

I have a Spanish Schengen visa. I’m in Spain now and will soon go to the UK, and then I plan to go to Finland,

Does my multiple entry visa from the UK to Finland allow me, and not to Finland through Spain?

I was told that to enter Finland I need to go from Spain directly to Finland. I’m just worried about Finnish customs, they can say that I have to be in Schengen territory in order to enter Finland with my Schengen visa.

RoflcoptrException

I'm not so sure, but aren't Spain, the UK, and Finland part of Schengen?

Ankur Banerjee ♦

The UK is not part of the Schengen Agreement.

RoflcoptrException

Well, I see, then the German Wikipedia page about Schengen is useless;) de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengener_Abkommen. There, the picture indicates that Great Britain is part of Schengen.

The answers

Ankur Banerjee

Yes, if you have a valid multiple Schengen visa, you can enter and leave Schengen territory as many times as you want. Which in this case means that you are allowed to fly from the UK to Finland. Of course, you need a separate UK visa if you need one.

Jasin

I also have a visa to the UK, I entered Spain with my Spanish Schengen visa, so everything is fine, but I'm still worried about things when I'm in the UK. Are you sure that it is normal to travel from the UK to Finland?

Ankur Banerjee ♦

Yes. A Schengen visa is valid for all countries that are part of the agreement; you do not have to leave the country that issued it.

Johann K Strasberg

Your Schengen visa is valid for all Schengen countries. If you have a multiple entry visa, you are allowed to enter the Schengen area and leave it at your own discretion for a cumulative period of a maximum of 90 days in a 180-day period.

and since you also have a visa to the UK, you will have absolutely no problems with the Spain-UK-Finland route.

check our site for more information (linked to the site)

Marc Mayo ♦