you don't need a schengen visa if you are american traveling to europe for max. time of 90 days. once you enter into europe the inter-boarder are free at your disposal to any other european countries without being check at the border. schengen visa was only important and useful in the early 90s, now european countries are 'unionize'.

really?

de dutch are making me get one for trips to berlin and belgium.
it's only a two-week deal.

are they outta date or being overly cautious?

americans have a 3-month visa in the EU zone by default... no need for a schengen unless perhaps you have dual citizenship with some non-North American / non-EU country ... then they may try to play it safe with a schengen

thanks.
how come the people who get paid to tell you these things don't seem to know anything.

the thing about traveling between borders without a passport is technically true but in reality not. on a bus trip from NL through Germany, we were pulled and passports checked by German fuzz. there's no reason you'd need anything other than a passport just to travel within all 20-something EU countries as long as you're only in the EU for three months.

as no physical visa is issued for this, the 3 month thing isn't really a 3 month 'visa'. I believe EU citizens have exactly the same priviledge (3 months) to come here (US).

even studying shouldn't be any different. I lived in Spain for 2 months to study and was there on just my passport. no further permission is needed.

yes. i think it is not required for americans travelling for less than 90 days. However, if you need one, you need to apply to the country you are staying for the longest in...(i.e wherever your program is based.) If it requires all over travel, and you can basically choose any country as the main desitination,apply through the German consulate...( i have found them the most efficient..) its not such a difficult process, two pages of paperwork, and some copies of your travel documents...

I believe all EU countries just require Americans to obtain a residence permit for stays of +3 months. The residence permit makes your stay in europe legal for the period of the residence permit and your traveling priviledges are extended without any additional 'visas'.

BTW in NL it is now required of Dutch citizens to carry photo ID such as passport at all times ... and for tourists this pretty much means you need to keep your passport or driver's license on you in public. There's a 50 euro fine if they catch you without such ID.

That's kind of scary about the ID thing in the NL. I'm suprised someone else beat the US to it actually. I thought we had the paranoia market cornered.

I read an article in the new york times that talked about pending implementation of a body x-ray machine that may soon be used at security checkpoints in airports in the US. Yikes.

any clue why NL is in ID frenzy?
problems?

just a quick note. checking for passport on inner eu borders is defenitely an arbitrary thing. Heard also that sometimes they might check between NL and Geramny (I live in germany) but mostly because of private drug traffic since NL is a little more liberal than maybe germany is.

Hi Geno,

A Schengen Visa does not allow to study in one of the 15 Schengen countries. As a US citizen you are not subject to Schengen visa requirements and may travel travel visa free in the Schengen area for a maximum of 90 days per semester. If you want to study in one of those countries, you need to apply for a study permit (type D Visa) according to the national law of the country where you wish to study.

Best regards.

Martin
MediaVisa.net (www.mediavisa.net/home.html)

Thanks so much Martin. Your website is the most comprehensive thing I've run across. I will most certianly bookmark it for future travels.

Thanks Geno. Martin

just a clarification, schengen countries is not the same as eu countries, for example uk is not part of the schengen treaty, so you would need a different visa for those...
also fyi, does anyone knows what schengen relly is???
it's actually a tiny little village in luxembourg (they signed the treaty here) and you should definitely visit it one day and also see the rest of the country, i'd be pleased to show you around...;-)

Hi,

UK and Ireland are EU countries but are not part of Schengen (national visa required). Iceland and Norway are not EU countries but are part of Schengen under a cooperation agreement (schengen visa required).

Regards.

Martin
MediaVisa.net (www.mediavisa.net)

I tried to get one last summer it was hell. If you dont have a american passport, your gonna go through tons of shit. verry discrimitory towards travelers from third world countries.

The 15 Schengen countries are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. All these countries except Norway and Iceland are European Union members.

european citenzens can enter UK, Ireland without a passpot, but with a simply picture ID.