Schengen Area

The Schengen Travel Area:

Since 1995 the Schengen Area has allowed mostly free access to 423 Million Europeans.

1.7 Million Schengen Area Citizens commute daily from their Home Country to another Schengen Area Country.

It also has a Unified Visa System for Visitors from Non-Schengen Area Countries (90 day Visits every 180 days with No Visa Needed for: Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, El Salvador, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kosovo, Macau, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vicent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela.

Countries in the Schengen Area include those in the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden

Countries in the Schengen Area include those not in the European Union: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

These European Union Member Countries are not part of the Schengen Area: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania.

Ireland has opted-out of the Schengen Area to keep the Common Travel Area with the United Kingdom (which also wasn’t part of the Schengen Area when it was part of the European Union from 1973-2020.)

Cyprus is not allowed to be part of the Schengen Area because of the unresolved issue with the Turkish-Occupied Northern Cyprus (since 1974.)

Bulgaria and Romania are not allowed to be part of the Schengen Area because of fears from Schengen Area Member Countries of Illegal Migrants entering from those Countries. Bulgaria and Romania will partly join the Schengen Area in March 2024, but only for travel by Sea or Air – not by Land – until January 1, 2025,

These European Union Territories are not part of the Schengen Area: Greenland (Denmark), the Faroe Islands (Denmark), French Guinea (France), Guadeloupe (France), Martinque (France), Mayotte (France), Reunion (France), French Polynesia (France), Saint Barthelemy (France), Saint Martin (France), Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France), Wallis and Futuna (France), Aruba (the Netherlands), Curacao (the Netherlands), Sint Maarten (the Netherlands), Bonaire (the Netherlands), Sint Eustatius (the Netherlands), Saba (the Netherlands) and Svalbard (Norway.)

These European Countries are not part of the European Union or the Schengen Area, but have Open Borders with the EU: Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican.

 

These are the External Borders of the Schengen Area:

Finland (and its Border with Russia.)

Estonia (and its Border with Russia.)

Latvia (and its Borders with Russia and Belarus.)

Lithuania (and its Borders with Russia and Belarus.)

Poland (and its Border with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.)

Slovakia (and its Border with Ukraine.)

Hungary (and its Borders with Serbia, Ukraine and the EU Country of Romania.)

France (and its Borders with Monaco and Andorra.)

Spain (and its Borders with Andorra, Gibraltar and Morocco.)

Italy (and its Borders with San Marino and the Vatican.)

Croatia (and its Borders with Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.)

Greece (and its Borders with Turkey, North Macedonia, Albania and the EU Country of Bulgaria.)

Despite the Schengen Area claiming to be an Open Border these Schengen Area Member Countries have placed Border Patrols and Border Checkpoints with another Schengen Area Member Country:

Austria (on its Border with Slovakia.)

Denmark (on its Border with Germany.)

France (on its Border with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.)

Germany (on its Border with Austria, The Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, The Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Belgium, France and Switzerland.)

Sweden (on its Border with Finland and Norway.)

Despite the Schengen Area Claiming to be an Open Border these Schengen Area Member Countries have placed Border Walls/Fences with another Schengen Area Member Country:

Austria (on its Border with Italy.)

Austria (on its Border with Slovenia.)

Denmark (on its Border with Germany.)

Hungary (on its Border with Croatia.)

Slovenia (on its Border with Hungary.)

Note: I just got back from Europe and went through Schengen Entry Immigration in Spain, had my Passport checked when I flew from Spain to Germany and went through Exit Schengen Immigration in Iceland.