Schengen Agreement

From Hitchwiki
Revision as of 10:03, 9 November 2007 by MrTweek (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The Schengen Agreement, as far as travelers are concerned, basically dissolves borders within all member countries. Once you have entered the Schengen area, you may travel freely within all member countries for 90 days without having to cross passport control points. If you are a citizen of one of these countries, you can travel within all member countries without any limits and without a passport. Therefore, the Schengen agreement extension will reveal to be an hassle for Non-EU passport holder, as the nearest border to cross and back (for a new 90 days) will be less reachable.

For Canadian, US, Australian, Neo-Zelandese passport holders, the remaining options will be to cross to the United Kingdom or go down to the Balkans and Ukraine once you're nearing your 90 days limits within Schengen.

Notice that sometimes at Schengen borders, especially while going with the 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.

Member States

26 European states have signed the agreement, including all European Union countries spare Ireland and the United Kingdom and a few non-EU countries. 15 of these countries have implemented the agreement so far, including:

From 21st of December 2007, the next countries will open their border:


Switzerland, Bulgaria and Romania are aiming to implement the agreement at the end of 2008.