The Schengen visa allows the traveller to stay up to 90 days within a period of 6 months. The visa can be used for business or tourist purposes. You need to apply for a Schengen visa (accompanied with travel insurance) if you are a citizen of a country who needs a visa. But who needs a Schengen visa?

Who needs a Schengen visa

Under the Schengen regulations, inhabitants of countries shown below need a valid Schengen visa to visit any country in the Schengen area.
Please take into account that your passport must be valid for at least 6 months after you return from the Schengen zone. The citizens of following countries must have an application for Schengen visa:

Afghanistan Algeria Angola
Antigua and Barbuda Armenia Azerbaijan
Bahrain Bangladesh Belarus
Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia
Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi
Cambodia Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic
Chad China Colombia Comoros
Congo Cuba Djibouti Dominica
Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea Ethiopia Fiji Gabon
Gambia Georgia Ghana Grenada
Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti
India Indonesia Iran Iraq
Ivory Coast Jamaica Jordan Kazakhstan
Kenya Kiribati Korea Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Lesotho
Liberia Libya Madagscar
Malawi Maldives Mali Marshall Islands
Mauritania Micronesia Moldova Mongolia
Morocco Mozambique Myanmar
Namibia Nauru Nepal Niger
Nigeria Northern Marianas Oman Pakistan
Palau Papau New Guinea Peru Philippines
Qatar Russia Rwanda Saint Helena and dependencies
Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa São Tomé and Principe
Saudi Arabia Senegal Sierra Leone
Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa Sri Lanka
Sudan Suriname Swaziland Syria
Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand
Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu
Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan
Vanuatu Vietnam Yemen Zambia
Zimbabwe

How many times can a visa be used?

Simple, as many times as desired within de Schengen zone, as long as it doesn’t exceed the timeframe. Your passport must be valid for 6 more months after the expiration date of your visa.

Who does not need a Schengen visa?

Following countries are exemptet from holding a visa when travelling or crossing the external borders:

Albania
Andorra
Antigua and barbuda
Argentina
Australia
Bahamas
Barbados
Bosnia and herzegovina
Brazil
Brunei darussalam
Canada
Chile
Costa rica
Dominica
El salvador
Former yugoslav republic of macedonia
Grenada
Guatemala
Holy see (state of the vatican)
Honduras
Israel
Annex 1
Japan
Malaysia
Mauritius
Mexico
Moldova, republic of
Monaco
Montenegro
New zealand
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Samoa
San marino
Seychelles
Serbia
Singapore
South korea
St kitts and nevis
St lucia
St vincent and the grenadines
Timor-leste
Trinidad and tobago
United arab emirates
United states of america
Uruguay
Vanuatu
Venezuela

View also this Schengen VISA information.