Depending upon the applicant's citizenship and/or residency or few other rules, Schengen visa may either be or not required by all Schengen countries or some Schengen countries.

Note: Schengen visa applications made by a citizen of one of the countries listed above that has '*' next to it are subject to prior consultation with the central authorities of the Schengen countries in accordance with article 17.2 of the Schengen convention.

Citizens of above mentioned countries are not required to have an airport transit visa if they hold an residence permit issued by Andorra, Canada, Ireland, Japan, Canada, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA that guarantees an unqualified right of return.

*1 For all the Schengen States, the flight crew, who are nationals of a Contracting Party to the Chicago Convention, are exempt from the airport transit visa requirement.

*2 For the Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), Spain and France: the holders of diplomatic and service passports are exempt from the airport transit visa requirement.

*3 For Italy: are only subject to the airport transit visa requirement, the nationals who are not in possession of a valid visa or residence permit for a Member State of the EU or a State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area of 2 May 1992, Canada, Switzerland or the United States of America.

*4 For Germany: the holders of diplomatic and service passports are exempt from the airport transit visa requirement.

Comprehensive list of countries and requirements.

Legend for the document:
BNL - Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg
DK - Denmark
D - Germany
E - Spain
GR - Greece
F - France
I - Italy
A - Austria
P - Portugal
FIN - Finland
S - Sweden
ISL - Iceland
N - Norway

for a short stay up to 90 days or to transit the Schengen area.

Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China
Hong Kong: the visa exemption applies only to holders of a «Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport».
Macao: the visa exemption applies only to holders of a «Região Administrativa Especial de Macau» passport.

There are no harmonized set of rules for visa requirements for diplomatic, official and service passports holders.

A particular Schengen country may or may not require a visa based on the country of origin and the type of passport held. It is best to check with the Schengen embassy/consulate of main destination or of first entry before traveling.

Detailed schedule of visa exemptions

If you have a residence permit in one of the Schengen countries, you don't require an entry visa. Refer to the Common consular instructions for the complete list of various documents entitling holders to enter the Schengen area without any visa.

If you have certain residence permits issued by Switzerland or Liechtenstein, you don't require a visa to transit through Schengen territory for a maximum of 5 days. The duration of transit also depends upon the validity of the applicable residence permits.

If a person is married to a citizen of a Schengen country, and if he/she is able to provide his/her identity, conjugal ties and there is no evidence to establish that he/she represents a risk to the requirements of public policy, public security or public health, such a person may not be sent back at the border and attempts to enter Schengen territory without possessing a valid identity card or passport or, if necessary, a visa.