Hey, everyone, it's Grant Thomas from Visa's Association,
bringing you another question that we commonly get asked as this one is,
"How long is the validity of the Schengen Visa?"
Now, this is a really quite important
thing to understand, because it might not be
very obvious for people who haven't gone through the process before.
And so I've got to walk through this in a couple of different key items.
But at the end of the video, I'm going to walk through the exact
validity that an embassy defines your Schengen Visa at as well as when you
receive your visa just to double check how it looks like.
So it really depends on your visa type,
as well as the entry and exit criteria that they have put around your visa.
So let's get into it. So the first thing that we need
to understand is that there are quite a few different types of Schengen visas,
their transit visas, work visas, business, tourism, et cetera.
And what this means is it actually impacts
how long the Schengen visa validity is applicable for.
What do I mean by this?
Well, if you're going for a transit visa, what it defines is a period of time
that you're able to stay within the Schengen region to transit through.
So if you've got a long delay between flights, it will define it through that.
Now, the embassy or consulate might define the exact entry and exit dates
on your Schengen visa because of that type of visa.
So it is very important to understand that the answer to this question really
depends upon the visa that has been approved for you or that you are applying
to, because there are many websites out there that just give you a generic.
This is how long it's valid for, etc.
It is not the case.
It is very dependent upon your specific
visa type and how long it's going to apply for.
So one of the most common visas that is
applied for is the multiple entry visa, which is on a tourism basis.
And what this means is someone can enter the Schengen Region multiple times.
So, you can go from France through Germany
and then you can go across the U.K. or Russia or somewhere like that.
That's outside of the Schengen region
and then come back into the Schengen region and then to come back in and out.
And so that is most commonly sort of where this question relates to.
So if you have any other sort of questions around it.
I'll link up to probably one of the most relevant videos in the top here.
Just to help you understand
the different types of Schengen visas that there are.
Just so you can understand which one
of those sort of situations I've just walked through applies to yourself.
Just note that when you get a visa,
the embassy and consulate will put a valid date on your visa itself.
So using a different example, if you've gone for a single entry
into the Schengen region, they might have put in the start and end
date based on the travel itinerary that you have provided.
So if you've said you're going into Italy
on the 1st of July and you're leaving Italy on the 31st of July,
they might put a couple of days either side of that.
They won't just say from the 1st of July
for 180 days, you can come into the Schengen region.
They might not.
But there are situations and times where I have seen that happen.
So, again, it is completely up
to the consulate, which is why it's important for you
to understand all of this when you're applying for your Schengen Visa.
And again, most common is multiple entry.
So the duration of the stay for your visa is the maximum amount of days.
So if you have a multiple entry,
usually what they will would do is say it is a 90 day period,
up to a 180 day duration,
so if you're travelling for 180 days, which is 6 months of the year,
you can be in the Schengen region for up to 90 days.
Now, if you crossed through the Schengen
region to, say, your travelling or driving through France,
for example, and you're only in France for a day
and you come in in the morning and leave at night, that counts as one day.
Or if you fly in at 11:30pm at night.
That counts as a day.
Or if you're leaving at 12:15am, that counts as a day.
So just know that every single time you come in it counts as a day.
So on a multiple entry visa you might have
90 days that you can come in at whatever duration you want, as long as it's within
that validity period that they have provided you on your visa.
You can come in as you please.
So it's very important to understand what Day 1 and the Last Day means.
Now, if they give you a 90 day out of 100 day
multi entry visa and you only travel for 40 of those days
or 10 or 3 of those days in the Schengen region, nothing happens.
It will just expire and it's completely fine.
So don't feel that you need to use all of those 90 days out of 180.
Just know that it just expires and you don't need to do it.
What this really helps with is if you've got changes to your travel plan.
So we recommend for most people to go
and apply for multiple entry Schengen visa just because of the flexibility that it
does provide as opposed to like a single entry which might be highly restricted.
Because if you go into a country
in the Schengen region, you have no chance to go into any other
countries, even if you didn't know you were gonna go there in the first place.
And same applies for the double entry as
well, because you can obviously only go into two different places.
So the multiple entry is the best bet because it is quite fluid.
They don't restrict you as much, but it is a little bit harder of the visas
to get because you do need to prove that there is a reason why you need multiple entries.
You can't just have an itinerary that says
I'm going to fly into Rome and out of Rome and I'll be floating around for 45 days.
But please give me multiple entry because there's no reason for it.
And again, that will lead to you getting a refused visa application.
So just because we say that multiple is
typically the best because of the flexibility,
just know that you have to have a reason in order for them to give it to you.
If that makes sense.
So hopefully this really has helped you
understand sort of the duration of your Schengen Visa as well as the validity
of it, as well as how long you can stay in it.
So feel free to put any questions down
below if this hasn't answered the exact questions that you have.
Because we're always creating these videos to try and assist you in your Schengen Visa
application process, but also click down below with the "LIKE" button.
Because the more likes that we can get,
the more information that can get out to people.
In your exact situation,
who is looking for a Schengen Visa because not everybody is able to access
these videos just because they don't get as much visibility without people clicking
that like button and feel free to "SUBSCRIBE" as well.
Schengen Visa's change their requirements consistently and regularly.
So by clicking the subscribe button, all of our updates to any changes
throughout the entire process will be sent out to yourselves.
So you can jump on in and actually see the interaction from there.
Now, if this doesn't answer all of your
questions, I've actually linked to a couple of other videos that relate
directly to this topic that you might find highly valuable for yourself.
So feel free to click on them and I'll catch you in the next episode.
And I really appreciate you joining us.