Published on:
14 January 2021
If you are thinking of travelling to Europe, you may be eligible to apply for a Schengen visa. France, Germany, and Italy are just three of the top destinations you can visit on a Schengen visa, which provides universal access the 26-country bloc known as the Schengen area (click here for a full list of Schengen countries). However, a Schengen visa doesn’t just give you access to Schengen Member States—certain non-Schengen countries also allow entry to people with Schengen visas! Read on to discover the non-Schengen countries who let Schengen visa holders in without a visa.
When considering a Schengen visa, it is also important to distinguish non-Schengen countries in Europe from Schengen countries not in the European Union. With this in mind, this blog will also explore Schengen visa validity as it applies to non-Schengen EU states.
List of non-Schengen countries that can be entered with a Schengen visa
- The countries below generally do not require certain Schengen visa holders to obtain another visa in order to enter. However, not all of the below countries allow the entry of all Schengen visa holders; some restrict entry to Schengen visa holders from certain countries. Key: if a country name is black, this means it allows visa-free, E-visa, or visa-on arrival entry to Schengen visa holders from every country. If it is red, this means it allows visa-free, E-visa, or visa-on arrival entry to citizens from some countries, but not all.
- The privilege of entering these countries on a Schengen visa is, for the most part, restricted to Type-C (Short Stay) Schengen visa holders. In most cases, holders of Type A (Airport Transit) Schengen visas are denied entry into the below countries.
- Different countries have different policies regarding the length of stay granted to Schengen the visa holders they allow to enter. While many of the countries allow Schengen visa holders to stay up to 90 days, some require shorter stays.
- Additionally, some countries allow Schengen visa holders the privilege of applying for an E visas or receiving a visa on arrival (rather than automatic entry).
- The following countries allow a degree of visa free access to Schengen visa holders:
- Albania
- Duration: 90 days
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Visa on arrival
- Duration: 30 days
- Belize
- Duration: 30 days
- Bahamas
- Allows visa-free entry to Schengen visa-holding citizens from: India
- Duration: 30 days
- Belarus
- Allows visa-free entry to Schengen visa-holding citizens from: Gambia, Haiti, India, Lebanon, Namibia, Samoa and Vietnam
- Duration: 30 days
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Duration: 30 days
- Croatia
- Duration: 30 days
- Colombia
- Allows visa-free entry to Schengen visa-holding citizens from: China, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam
- Duration: 90 days
- Cyprus
- Duration: 90 days
- El Salvador
- Allows visa-free entry to Schengen visa-holding citizens from all countries EXCEPT: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Cameroon, China, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Vietnam and Yemen
- Duration: 90 days
- Georgia
- Duration: 90 days
- Haiti
- Duration: 90 days
- Honduras
- Allows visa-free entry to Schengen visa-holding citizens from all countries EXCEPT: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Timor-Leste, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen
- Duration: 30 days
- Jamaica
- Allows visa-free entry to Schengen visa-holding citizens from: Dominican Republic, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Moldova
- Duration: 30 days
- Mexico
- Duration: 30 days
- Moldova
- Allows visa-free entry to Schengen visa-holding citizens from all countries EXCEPT:Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Eritrea, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Palestine, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Vietnam and Yemen
- Duration: 90 days
- Montenegro
- Duration: 30 days
- Nicaragua
- Possibility of visa on arrival
- Allows visa-on arrival entry to Schengen visa-holding citizens from: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Iraq, Laos, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Timor-Leste, and Yemen or ordinary passport holders issued by Cameroon, Haiti, India, Kenya, Pakistan and Vietnam
- Duration: 30 days
- Oman
- Possibility of E-visa
- Allows visa-free entry to Schengen visa-holding citizens from: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Maldives, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam
- Duration: 30 days
- Peru
- Allows visa-free entry to Schengen visa-holding citizens from: China and India
- Duration: 30 days
- Philippines
- Allows visa free entry to Schengen visa-holding citizens from: China and India
- Duration: 7-14 days
- Qatar
- E-Visa—>visa on arrival
- Duration: 30 days
- Romania
- Duration: 90 days
- Saudi Arabia
- Visa on arrival
- Duration: 90 days
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Duration: 25 days
- Serbia
- Duration: 90 days
- Singapore
- Allows visa free entry to Schengen visa-holding citizens from: China and India
- Duration: 96 hours
- Turkey
- Allows visa free entry to Schengen visa-holding citizens from: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Iraq, Kenya Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen and Zimbabwe
- Duration: 30 days
- Albania
Non-Schengen EU countries list
- It may be surprising to learn that there are indeed EU states outside the Schengen area. However, the non-Schengen EU countries list is rather short. Of the 22 EU states, only the following are not members of the Schengen area:
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Romania
- Ireland
- Of the above five states, all but Ireland, are set to enter the Schengen area sometime in the future, as a condition of their EU membership.
- Because these five states are not part of the Schengen area, they are not accessible with a Schengen visa.
- Please do not conflate the EU with the Schengen area—having a Schengen visa gives you access to the entire Schengen area—not to the entire EU. Only the EU states that are also members of the Schengen area are accessible via a Schengen visa.
Non-EU European Schengen States
- There are a number of European countries that are NOT part of the EU but ARE part of the Schengen area,
- Non-EU Schengen states include:
- Iceland
- Liechtenstein
- Norway
- Switzerland
- In addition to the above non-EU countries, the European microstates, while not technically part of either the EU or the Schengen area, are in effect part of the Schengen area when it comes to travel. European microstates include:
- Andorra
- Monaco
- San Moreno
- Vatican City
- Because each of these microstates either border Schengen states (such as Monaco) or are entirely landlocked within a Schengen state (such as San Marino), you can effectively travel to all of them with a Schengen visa.
- There are no international airports within the microstates, meaning you cannot enter any of them from outside the Schengen area without first going through a Schengen state.
- However, while these states are considered de facto part of the Schengen area in terms of entry, a person who enters what is technically a non-Schengen state is officially leaving the Schengen area, meaning that their entry to one of the microstates could be counted as an exit from the Schengen area. If you have a multiple entry Schengen visa, you don’t have to worry about this issue, you have unlimited entry to the Schengen area. However, if you have either a single or double entry Schengen visa, you are limited in the number of times you can exit and re-enter the Schengen area.
- If there are no border guards between the Schengen state and the microstate you are entering/exiting, your passport will not be checked, and you will therefore technically not have left the Schengen area when you enter the microstate. This is the case with San Marino and the Vatican, both of which have open borders with Italy. The lack of passport control between these microstates and Italy means you can enter and exit both states without being recognized as having entered or exited the Schengen area.
- Andorra is different, however. Because it has a passport control along both its French and Spanish border, an entry to the microstate is considered an exit from the Schengen area. Because of this, while Schengen visa validity applies to Andorra, travelers on Schengen visas must possess either a double or multiple entry Schengen visa in order to re-enter the Schengen area.
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