Schengen VISAS

All travellers need to be in possession of a valid passport for at least 6 months from the date of departure and at least 1 blank page (back to back) together with travel insurance in order to apply for any Schengen visa.

A Schengen visa is meant for short stays in or transit through the Schengen area of duration of no more than 90 days. A visa issued by one Schengen state is valid for travelling in any Schengen state, but you must apply for the visa from the country of your main destination or you longest point of stay, should the duration be of an equal stay than your first point of entry will apply.

Below is a list of Schengen countries where as a South African you will have to either apply in Durban, Johannesburg or Cape Town in person.

Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland have all acceded to the Schengen Agreement and are thus Schengen states.

The Schengen area thus includes all EU member states except Ireland and Cyprus; at present the EU members Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia only apply some of the Schengen provisions. Until these three countries apply what is known as the Schengen acquis in full, as is their aim, passport controls will remain in place at internal borders. In addition to the EU countries already mentioned, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are also Schengen states.

Holders of  a valid Schengen visa may spend up to 90 days in a 180 day cycle period in the Schengen area, provided their visa is valid at the time of entry and departure. The same applies to holders of most national residence permits and national category D visas issued by individual Schengen states for long‑term visits of more than three months. A separate visa may well be needed for travel to other EU states which are not Schengen states.

You can apply for a Schengen visa 90 days before your initial travel date; they take an average of 15 working days to process.

The main categories are as a tourist, to visit family and friends or as a business visitor to the Schengen areas, please make sure that you state your main reason to visit.