Visa policy of the Schengen Area
The European Union has unified visa policy as part of the Schengen acquis. A number of EU member states do not participate in this policy, notably including Ireland and the United Kingdom, consequentially maintaining independent immigration policies with respect to non-EU states.
Visa requirements for Schengen member countries
There are two lists:
- negative visa list of countries (annex I of the Council regulation) from whose citizens a visa is required to enter the territory of the EU member states
- positive visa list of countries (annex II) from whose citizens no visa is required to enter the territory of the EU member states for a period of maximum 90 days.
Annex I countries
- All countries and territories not mentioned below.
Annex II countries
Additionally:
- According to the provisions of COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1932/2006 of 21 December 2006, amending Regulation (EC) No 539/2001, the exemption from the visa requirement for these countries will apply from the date of entry into force of an agreement on visa exemption to be concluded with the European Community:
- Additional annex I citizens:
- British Overseas Territories citizens (BOTC) who do not have the right of abode in the UK
- British Overseas citizens (residual category British citizens)
- current British subjects who do not have the right of abode in the UK (residual category British citizens)
- British protected persons (residual category British citizens)
- Additional annex II citizens:
- British National (Overseas) (residual category British citizens)
- Territories of annex I/II states that fall into different category
Northern Mariana Islands - annex I in contrast to the United States that is annex II.
Hong Kong - annex II in contrast to the PR China that is annex I
Macau - annex II in contrast to the PR China that is annex I
- Countries and territories missing from both annex I and II lists
Western Sahara - most probably it is practically annex I like all African states (including Morocco, which administrates most of the territory) and all entities, not recognised as independent states by the EU.
Puerto Rico of the United States - other Caribbean territories are annex I
U.S. Virgin Islands - other Caribbean territories are annex I
Guam of the United States - other Pacific territories are annex I
American Samoa of the United States - other Pacific territories are annex I
Reciprocity is sought for all countries of the visa-free list. That means that the EU expects that these countries offer visa-free access to all EU citizens. When the situation is the opposite the affected member state is expected to notify the European Commission, so that the EC takes an appropriate action - negotiate with the annex II state or remove it from the annex II list. The most notable example here is the United States that does not offer visa-free travel to 14 of the EU members.
Visa requirements for the United Kingdom
There are two lists:
- negative visa list of countries (annex I of the Council regulation) from whose citizens a visa is required to enter the territory of the EU member states
Citizens of the following countries can enter the United Kingdom (which is not a member of the Schengen Agreement) without a visa.
Additionally:
 | This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. |
- List of nationals who do need a visa is available at [1]. All other countries need adding to the above list.
- The following territories' status is unknown
- Western Sahara - most probably it is practically as "require visa" like most African states (including Morocco, which administrates most of the territory) but it is not included in the "require visa" list - unlike other entities, not recognised as independent states like Taiwan and the Palestinian Authority, that are explicitly listed there.
- not mentioned in the "require visa" list. However, although not being a country, these territories have separate agreements independent of China and are visa-free for visitors, while special regulations apply for other categories.
Visa requirements for Ireland
A Common Travel Area exists between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, no passport controls are done on the land border between the two countries. While a UK visa will not allow a traveller entry to the Republic of Ireland, nor will a Republic of Ireland visa allow entry to the UK, in practice use of the land border will avoid this problem.
Citizens of the following countries can enter Ireland (which is not a member of the Schengen Agreement) without a visa.
- All countries and territories that are members of the European Economic Area, which includes the 27 European Union members together with Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.[1]
Additionally:
Visa-free travelling for EU citizens
EU citizens do not require visas to travel to the EFTA and EU countries, additionally the ones listed below.
Austrian citizens
Albania, Andorra, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Lesotho, Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Marshall Isles, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldavia, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Solomon islands, Samoa, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Swaziland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela
Belgian citizens
Andorra, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Serbia, United States of America
British citizens
See British passport.
Bulgarian citizens
See Bulgarian passport.
Cyprus citizens
See Cyprus passport.
Czech citizens
See Czech passport
Danish citizens
Brazil
Estonian citizens
Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, British Virgin Isles, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Macau, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Swaziland, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vatican city.
Finnish citizens
Albania, Andorra, Canada, Chile, Georgia, Turkey, Andorra, United States of America
French citizens
See French passport.
German citizens
See German passport.
Greek citizens
Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Mexico, Philippines, Peru, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Thailand, United Arab Emirates
Hungarian citizens
Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Macedonia, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uruguay, Vatican City, Venezuela
Irish citizens
Andorra, Canada, Chile, United States of America, Vatican City
Italian citizens
See Italian passport.
Latvian citizens
Lithuanian citizens
Andorra, Albania, Argentina, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Macau, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Republic of Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Malaysia, Morocco, Mauritius; United Mexican States, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Salvador, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Swaziland, Switzerland, Ukraine, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uruguay, Vatican City.
Luxembourg citizens
Maltese citizens
See Maltese passport.
Citizens of the Netherlands
Andorra, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, United States of America, Vatican City
Polish citizens
See Polish passport
Portuguese citizens
Romanian citizens
Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Macedonia, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Trinidad-Tobago, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uruguay, Vatican City, Venezuela
Slovak citizens
Slovenian citizens
Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Cook Islands, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, French Guyana, French Polynesia, Gibraltar, Georgia, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Macao, Macedonia, Maldives, Malaysia, Morocco, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Reunion, Saint Pierre et Miquelon, Samoa, San Marino, Seychelles, Serbia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, Swaziland, Terres Australes et Antarctiques Francaises, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Ukraine, United States of America, Uruguay, Vatican city, Venezuela, Wallis & Futuna.
Spanish citizens
Andorra, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, United States of America, Vatican City
Swedish citizens
See also
References
- Council regulation 539/2001 [2]
- Council regulation 1932/2006 [3]
- Council regulation 539/2001 consolidated version, 19.1.2007 [4]
- List of nationals who do need a visa to visit the UK [5].
- List of countries whose passport holders do not require visas to enter Ireland [6].
- List of visa requirements provided by KLM [7].