International Student Office

Schengen Visas

The Schengen Visa Scheme allows those wishing to travel to certain countries within the European Economic Area (EEA) to apply for and travel on only one visa. At present, twenty-five countries in the EEA have signed up to the Schengen scheme:

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

Do I need a Schengen Visa?

If you wish to enter a Schengen country, you will need to check whether you require a visa. Full details of all foreign embassies in the UK can be found here.

What type of Schengen Visa is right for me?

There are three types of visa:

• The airport transit visa allows the traveller to transit through the international transit zone of an airport of a Schengen member state, but not to exit this zone before they fly to their next destination.
• The transit visa enables a traveller to pass through the territory of one or more Schengen member states on their way to another country outside of the Schengen area.
• The short stay or travel visa allows a visit of up to three months in any six-month period. This is the visa that most students wanting to travel within the Schengen area as tourists or conference attendees will require.

The International Student Office has specialist knowledge of the UK immigration system and is able to answer questions about visas for the UK. We don’t have specialist knowledge of the immigration processes for other countries and can’t offer a checking service for Schengen Visa applications.

If you have questions about applying for a Schengen Visa, please refer to the website of the embassy of the country to which you are making your application. You should always apply to the embassy of the country which you will enter first OR the country where you will be spending the majority of your time.

We also recommend that you read the UKCISA information sheet "Frequently asked questions about Schengen Visas"