If you live in an EU country or Schengen country, you do not need a visa. But if you do not live in an EU or Schengen country or do not have the nationality of one of these countries, you might need a visa.
If you want to stay in the Schengen countries for less than 90 days, you may need a Schengen short-stay visa. Whether you need a visa to visit Schengen country depends on your nationality.
If you do not live from or in the Schengen area, you will probably need a short-stay Schengen visa. This allows you to stay in the Schengen area for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day period. The 90 days stay depends on the validity of the visa given to you by the diplomate of the consulate of one of the Schengen visa countries.
If you need a Schengen visa, you must apply for the visa at the nearest consulate in your country. We cannot apply for a Schengen visa for you.
If you are not a national of an EU country and do not have a residence permit from an EU country, you may need to apply for one Schengen short-stay visa. This allows you to stay in the Schengen area for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day period.
Check with the country’s embassy – ‘the Embassy’ of that country you visit first in the EU. You need to find out where the nearest embassy is from the place you are living in your own country – whether you need a visa for the Schengen countries.
Please know that you must apply for the Schengen visa at the country’s embassy where you are travelling to.
On a Cruise voyage, you must also use the country’s embassy of the country where you will stay the longest! For example: on a cruise voyage, you will visit Portugal (2 days), Spain (2 days), France (2 days), Belgium (2 days) and the Netherlands (3 days). You will stay 2 days in each country, and 3 days in The Netherlands. This means that you will need to apply for a Schengen visa at the embassy of The Netherlands.
Example of what is not allowed: you apply for a Schengen visa for the Netherlands while flying to Germany. This is not allowed! If you fly to Germany, you must apply for the Schengen visa at the consulate/embassy of Germany. If you do not do this, you will not be allowed to board the plane. Of course, once you are in Germany, you can travel to the Netherlands (but not by plane!) or any other Schengen country without any problem, including Andorra, Liechtenstein, San Marino.
Please do not make the mistake to disguise the country of arrival with a transit. In case The Netherlands is the end destination, with transit in Germany, you still need to apply for a Schengen visa at the consulate/embassy of the Netherlands. Only because you have a transit in Germany, you still need to apply at the embassy of The Netherlands if your end destination is the Netherlands. Otherwise, customs will not let you board the plane for the final destination and most likely send you back home.
Office address:
Anna Paulownastraat 63
2518 BC The Hague
The Netherlands
Business hours:
Monday – Friday 9:00 – 17:00
Contact us:
Tel +31(0)6-393 39 184
Tel +31(0)70 215 49 95
[email protected]
