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Schengen Agreement

15 bytes added, 17:33, 1 January 2012
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'''Annex II''' nationals need a visa to enter the Schengen Area, unless they qualify for a visa exemption. All Annex II nationals can enter the Schengen Area '''''as a whole''''' visa-exempt for up to 90 days in a 180 day period. New Zealand citizens can stay visa-exempt for up to 90 days in '''''each''''' of [[Austria]], [[Belgium]], [[Czech Republic]], [[Denmark]], [[Finland]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Greece]], [[Iceland]], [[Italy]], [[Luxembourg]], [[The Netherlands]], [[Norway]], [[Portugal]], [[Spain]], [[Sweden]] and [[Switzerland]] without reference to time spent in other Schengen countries, but if they wish to travel to other Schengen countries, the normal 90 day every 180 days visa exemption period applies. More information on the special visa exemption for New Zealanders is available at the [http://www.delaus.ec.europa.eu/newzealand/eu_guide/faqsvisas.htm EU], [http://www.safetravel.govt.nz/destinations/europetips.shtml NZ Government Safetravel], [http://www.safetravel.govt.nz/destinations/europetips.shtml French Embassy], [http://www.maec.es/subwebs/Embajadas/Wellington/es/MenuPpal/faqs/Paginas/faqs.aspx Spanish Embassy] and [http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/reps/ocea/vnzl/ref_visinf/visnzl.html Swiss Embassy] websites. If an Annex II national doesn't qualify for a visa exemption, he/she will have to apply for a visa (see the Annex I section above for the procedure).
Therefore, the Schengen Agreement will reveal itself to be a hassle for non-[[European Union|EU]] passport holders who are Annex II nationals (except for New Zealanders), because whilst previously travellers such as Americans, Australians and Canadians could spend up to 3 months visa-free in each European country, now the 3 month visa exemption applies to the Schengen Area (most of Europe) as a whole. Hence, for foreign travellers such as Canadian, US and Australian passport holders, the remaining options will be to cross to the [[United Kingdom]]/[[Ireland]] or go down to [[Romania]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Cyprus]], the [[Balkans]], [[Ukraine]], [[Turkey]], [[Gibraltar]] or [[Morocco]] once nearing the end of their 90 days limit within Schengen and staying away for 90 days before re-entering a Schengen country. The UK border is probably the worst of these options in terms of chances of being sent away or denied entry.
Note that sometimes within Schengen borders, especially while going along by train, policemen do come on board and ask to see your documents. Usually it's trouble-free, but they tend to harass Balkans and Turks more often than others. Also note that the Schengen Agreement only concerns immigration checks; therefore, when travelling between a Schengen country that is part of the EU and another Schengen country that isn't (such as between [[France]] and [[Switzerland]]), whilst you won't be stopped for immigration checks, selective customs checks still occur.
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