25 European countries have decided to open up their internal borders and allow foreign business and tourist visitors to travel to all those countries on just one visa.

The member countries of the Schengen zone are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Citizen of other European Union countries which are not party to the Schengen agreement may travel to the countries of the Schengen zone without limitations. Those are: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania, and the United Kingdom.

Citizens of certain countries do not need a visa for business or tourist visits for up to 90 days in a 180 day period. Those are: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong (SAR), Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein, Macao (SAR), Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, USA, Uruguay, Vatican City, and Venezuela.

All others need a Schengen visa to travel to the Schengen zone. There are three type of commonly issued visa.

Airport transit visa (type A) may be required by certain nationalities to transit through a Schengen airport even if they stay in the international area of an airport. The requirement for a Airport transit visa is not standardized. Each Schengen member country may determine which citizens need a visit to transit through their airports.

Transit visa (type B) are valid for five days and issued to residents of non-Schengen countries to travel through the Schengen zone to reach their home countries or vice-versa. Example: a citizen of Bosnia & Herzegovina who works in the United Kingdom on a work and residence permit and wants to drive home by car.

Tourist, visitors, and business visa (type C) are the most common used visa. They are valid for up to 90 days in a 6 months period and may either grant single, double or multiple entries to the Schengen zone. Tourist and visitors visa are mostly issued as single entry visa based on the itinerary provided. Double éntry visa are used to those applicants who want to visit a non-Schengen country on part of their trips for example staying in France and going to London over the weekend, or staying in Slowenia and then want to go to Croatia before entering Hungary. Multiple entry visa are mostly issued for business or for well known tourists who already got several single or double entry visa.

Visa must be applied for at the Embassy or Consulate of the country the visitor plans to spend the most time. The application must be made at the Embassy of the first country to enter the Schengen zone if the duration of stay should be equally distributed.

For the application certain requirements must be met. The passport of an applicant must be valid at least three month beyond the proposed stay in the Schengen zone. The applicant must have a travel sick insurance which covers at least €30.000 and includes hospital treatment and emergency repatriation flights in case of severe illness. The applicant must proof the ties to his country and convince the consular officer that he/she is leaving the Schengen zone when the authorized number of days to stay has reached. The applicant must provide an itinerary, a confirmed round-trip flight ticket reservation, a confirmed hotel reservation, and must provide the proof of sufficient funds to cover the stay.

Application requirements may be slightly different depending upon the location of the Embassy. Tourists of countries known for visa violations and illegal overstay may have it harder to get a visa than a business-man of a country with solid financial means like the Emirates for example.

Besides the commonly issued Schengen visa there is a national visa (type D) which is issued by an individual nation for longer stay in that country for other purposes than business or visit. This is issued for students, temporary workers, au pairs, fiancée or spouses and may aalso be combined with the type C visa, a so called hybrid visa.