Schengen Visa (1/2)

Today I got asked by a friend of mine about how an international student in the US can go and visit a country in Europe during a school break. Since I am from Europe, making a trip back home have never been an issue for me, I did some research and here is what i figured out.

Most European countries are in a general treaty signed years ago in Schengen, Luxembourg. This treaty basically open the borders between these countries. So, if you enter one of the Schengen countries, you can travel freely in all of the Schengen countries. Unfortunately, most citizens of a country not in the Schengen area or not US, Canada, Mexico, etc, will need a SCHENGEN VISA in order to enter the Schengen area. The list of the Schengen countries is:

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

If you want to travel to one of above countries you may need a Schengen visa. Citizens of the following countries will need to obtain visa in order to enter the Schengen area:

AFGHANISTAN ALBANIA ALGERIA ANGOLA ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN BAHRAIN BANGLADESH BELARUS BELIZE BENIN BHUTAN BOLIVIA BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA BOTSWANA BURKINA FASO BURMA/MYANMAR BURUNDI CAMBODIA CAMEROON CAPE VERDE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC CHAD CHINA COLOMBIA COMOROS CONGO COTE D'IVOIRE CUBA DEM. REP. OF CONGO DJIBOUTI DOMINICA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ECUADOR EGYPT EQUATORIAL GUINEA ERITREA ETHIOPIA FIJI GABON GAMBIA GEORGIA GHANA

GRENADA GUINEA GUINEA-BISSAU GUYANA HAITI INDIA INDONESIA IRAN IRAQ JAMAICA JORDAN KAZAKHSTAN KENYA KIRIBATI KUWAIT KYRGYZSTAN LAOS LEBANON LESOTHO LIBERIA LIBYA MADAGASCAR MALAWI MALDIVES MALI MARSHALL ISLANDS MAURITANIA MICRONESIA MOLDOVA MONGOLIA MOROCCO MOZAMBIQUE NAMIBIA NAURU NEPAL NIGER NIGERIA NORTH KOREA NORTHERN MARIANA'S OMAN PAKISTAN PALAU

PAPUA NEW GUINEA PERU PHILIPPINES QATAR RUSSIA RWANDA SAMOA SAO TOME ANDPRINCIPE SAUDI ARABIA SENEGAL SIERRA LEONE SOLOMON ISLANDS SOMALIA SOUTH AFRICA SRI LANKA ST LUCIA ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES SUDAN SURINAME SWAZILAND SYRIA TAIWAN TAJIKISTAN TANZANIA THAILAND TIMOR-LESTE TOGO TONGA TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TUNISIA TURKEY TURKMENISTAN TUVALU UGANDA UKRAINE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UZBEKISTAN VANUATU VIETNAM YEMEN ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE

Good luck to all travelers, and check later for the second part about Schengen Visas.