The advantages of having a Schengen Visa

The Schengen Area countries operate as a single country in terms of migration, as they maintain a common visa policy. Following the Schengen Agreement, signed in 1985, the Schengen Area countries decided to abolish border controls between them and maintain common controls.unes on the external borders.

As a result of this agreement, obtaining a Schengen Visa offers any citizen, including Cuban citizens, the significant advantage of being able to travel to any of the Schengen Area countries for less than 90 days within a 180-day period.

The Schengen Area comprises 26 European countries that have agreed to eliminate all internal border controls. Consequently, it is not necessary to obtain a separate visa to visit each of these countries.

The short-stay European visa or Schengen visa is valid for all signatory countries of the Schengen Treaty. This agreement, to date and under normal circumstances, protects the free movement of people, including Cubans with Schengen visas between the countries belonging to the European Union listed below:

• German
• Austria
• Belgium
• Denmark
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Norway
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Portugal
• Czech Republic
• Slovak Republic
• Sweden
• Switzerland

Additionally, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City They have established border control agreements with countries in the European Union, and are therefore de facto part of the Schengen Area. A Schengen visa also allows you to visit these three nation-states.

Likewise, these three (3) territories are special members of the European Union and part of the Schengen Area, even though they are located outside the European continent: the Azores Islands, Madeira and the Canary Islands.

It is important to clarify that not all countries that make up the European Union are part of the Schengen Area. Within the European Union, several nations, such as Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Romania, do not belong to the Schengen areaFor this reason, these nations have their own regulations for issuing visas.

In this sense, if you have a Schengen Visa and wish to visit or move around one of these six (6) countries, you should know that you need to obtain a Visa and additional travel insurance to enter each of these countries.

The Schengen Area has established agreements that allow citizens of some countries to not require a visa to enter the Schengen Area.

These are the Latin American countries whose citizens do not require a Schengen visa to enter the Schengen area for stays of less than 90 days in a 180-day period:  Argentina – El Salvador – Panama – Brazil – Guatemala – Paraguay – Chile – Honduras – Peru – Colombia – Mexico – Uruguay – Costa Rica – Nicaragua – Venezuela.

These are the Caribbean countries that are visa-exempt for entry into the Schengen Area for stays of less than 90 days in any 180-day period: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Barbados, Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.