Travellers from around the world express interest in visiting the Schengen Area as soon as the weather warms up.
Unfortunately, a sizable fraction of tourists who require a visa frequently lack knowledge on single-entry visas, making them uncertain of their ability to visit numerous Schengen countries.
Search volume for the duration of a single-entry visa has surged by 5,000%, as per Google Trends data. This is mostly because there is little knowledge about the regulations.
Just like its name suggests, a single-entry visa allows a one-time entry in the Schengen Area for a maximum period of 90 days within a 180-day period.
Nonetheless, holders of a single-entry Schengen visa are not limited to entry to only one country part of the Schengen Area, Besart Bajrami, Founder of SchengenVisaInfo explains.
With a single-entry Schengen visa, travellers can enter multiple Schengen countries as long as they do not exit the Schengen Area. -Besart Bajrami, Founder of SchengenVisaInfo
This means that, for example, if a traveller is issued a German single entry visa, they are eligible to enter Germany or any other Schengen country and then continue their journey to the other member states from there without needing any additional documents, as long as they do not exit the Schengen Area.
Single-Entry Visa Becomes Invalid Immediately After Exiting Schengen Area
The single-entry visa becomes invalid as soon as the holder exits the Schengen Area. Thus, those granted a single-entry visa should not make travel plans scattered throughout different times of the year.
In case someone enters and exits the Schengen Area on a single-entry visa and they want to travel again after some time, they need to apply for the document again.
While Schengen visa applicants are able to indicate the type of visa they want, embassies get to make the decision.
There are times when applicants ask for a multiple-entry visa, and they get issued a single-entry visa. However, there are also times when the opposite happens, and applicants get issued visas with longer validity.
EU Might Soon Increase Schengen Visa Fee
Schengen visa applicants are currently required to pay a €80 fee. However, the Commission of the EU has proposed that the fee be increased by 12 per cent.
In line with the proposal, in the future, Schengen visa applicants might be required to pay a fee of €90 when applying for the document.
Only nationals of countries that have visa facilitation agreements with the EU will not be affected by the increase.