How to Read Schengen Visa Sticker

When Schengen visa is approved, a visa sticker will be stuck to one of the pages of your passport. It takes an entire page of the passport.

The information in the visa sticker is provided in English, German, and French.

When you receive your passport containing the Schengen visa, you should review it carefully to make sure everything is correct.

Schengen Visa Sticker

Countries Permitted

The following phrase indicates what countries the visa holder is permitted to enter into.
VALID FOR
VALABLE PUR
GULTIG FUR

  • If the value is one of the following, the visa is valid for all the Schengen countries.
  • SCHENGEN STATEN
    SCHENGEN STATES
    ETATS SCHENGEN
  • However, if one or more of the following letters (acronyms for countries) are mentioned, you can only visit the countries specified.

    • A – Austria
    • B – Belgium
    • CH – Switzerland
    • CZE – Czech Republic
    • D – Germany
    • DK – Denmark
    • E – Spain
    • EST – Estonia
    • F – France
    • FIN – Finland
    • GR – Greece
    • H – Hungary
    • I – Italy
    • IS – Iceland
    • L – Luxembourg
    • LT – Lithuania
    • LVA – Latvia
    • M – Malta
    • N – Norway
    • NL – Netherlands
    • P – Portugal
    • PL – Poland
    • S – Sweden
    • SK – Slovakia
    • SVN – Slovenia
  • If the label says something like ETATS SCHENGEN (-country acronym), you can visit all Schengen countries except the country listed.

  • E.g., ETATS SCHENGEN (-CH), you can visit all Schengen countries except Switzerland.
  • If the label indicates the name of the country, you can only visit the named country.

Visa Validity

FROM – UNTIL
DU – AU
VOM – BIS

These dates specify the first day you can enter the Schengen area and the last day you can stay in the Schengen area, respectively.  Both the dates are included.

To provide you the flexibility to plan your entry into the Schengen area, the visa validity duration is typically longer than the number of days you are allowed to stay.

Visa Type

TYPE OF VISA
TYPE DE VISA
VISA TYP

It is a single letter and has the following meanings:

  • A – Airport transit visa.
  • B – Transit visa.
  • C – Short-stay visa.  Regular Schengen visa that allows the holder to stay up to 90 days in the Schengen area.
  • D – Long-term visa.  Intended for stay longer than 90 days.

Number of Entries

NUMBER OF ENTRIES
NOMBRE D’ENTREES
ANZAHL DER EINREISEN

This indicates the number of times the visa holder is allowed to enter the Schengen area, and the values can be one of the following:

  • MULT – The visa holder is permitted to enter the Schengen area as many times as he/she wishes, as long as the duration of stay does not exceed the permitted duration.
  • 1 – The visa holder is permitted to enter the Schengen area only once.
  • 2 – The visa holder is permitted to enter the Schengen area twice.

Duration of Stay

DURATION OF STAY – DAYS
DUREE DE SEJOUR – JOURS
DAUER DES AUFENTHALTS – TAGE

Number of days the visa holder is permitted to stay in the Schengen area within the visa validity period.

When you enter the Schengen area as per the entry stamp, that is day 1 and when you exit the Schengen area, that is the last day.  Count both the days while counting the duration of stay.

Even if you have stayed for a smaller number of days than listed in this field, you must not stay past the “UNTIL” date.

Make sure not to overstay. Otherwise, you will have trouble entering the Schengen visa in future, as well as getting a new Schengen visa.

Visa Issuance

ISSUED IN
DILIVRE A
SUGESTELT IN

The name of the Schengen embassy or consulate that issued the Schengen visa.

ON
LE
AM

The date when the Schengen visa was issued.

Passport Number

NUMBER OF PASSPORT
NUMERO DE PASSEPORT
NUMMER DES PASSES

Passport number of the visa holder.  That would be the same passport number in the passport this visa was issued.

Visa Holder Name

SURNAME, NAME
NOM, PRENOM
NAME, VORNAME

Last name and first name of the visa holder.

Remarks

REMARKS
REMARQUES
BEMERKUNGEN

Any remarks the visa officer would like to put, such as travel purpose.

Issuance by Representation

If the Schengen country responsible for issuing the Schengen visa does not have any embassy/consulate in a third country where you need to apply, the visa may be issued by representation by the embassy/consulate of the country that represents the interests of the country responsible in a particular third country.

When a visa has been issued by representation, the letter “R” must be entered under the heading “Remarks”, followed by the country code of the country on whose behalf the visa is issued. E.g., if the German embassy in Washington DC issued a visa on behalf of Iceland, the remarks should say “R IS”.                

Representation applies only for the issuance of visas. Travelers that can’t get a visa for inability to provide sufficient proof that they fulfill relevant conditions may also apply at the embassy/consulate of the main destination in your neighboring country, if such a case arises.          

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