(2025) Europe’s New Schengen Visa Rules: ETIAS10 min read

In this article, we’re going to tell you about the Schengen visa and the new rules that are starting in 2025. We’ll go over what the Schengen visa is, what it means for you, how you can get one, and how things are about to change. 

Europe! Where your friends go to learn how to say croissant weird. If you’re embarking on a trip to the Old World, you need to know your visa situation.

We’ve spent the majority of the past few years traveling all over Europe. We’ve spent time in Romania, France, the UK, Albania, Spain, Italy, and Bulgaria, mostly in that order. Wherever you go in Europe it’s important to be aware of the Schengen area and its time limits.

If you’re asking yourself, what the heck is a Schengen and why should you care? We’ll explain. 

What the Heck is the Schengen Area?

The Schengen Area is a zone made up of these 29 European countries that came together to abolish their internal borders.

The countries in the Schengen area are:

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

The Schengen area allows for the free and unrestricted movement of people within the Schengen zone. It also allows for common rules for controlling external borders and police cooperation. 

The Schengen area is the world’s largest visa-free zone!

Bulgaria and Romania were the latest countries to join the Schengen zone in 2024. More countries are set to enter the Schengen area in the future, including Cyprus and Montenegro.

Interestingly, some countries that are not part of the EU are in the Schengen zone, including Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland.

Another fun fact: The Schengen zone was named for the city of Schengen in Luxembourg where the treaty was signed.

So now that you understand what the Schengen area is, let’s talk about the Schengen visa and who needs it. 

The Schengen Visa

There are two ways you can get a Schengen visa and it all depends on what passport you hold.

If you are from one of these 62 countries, then as of January 2025, there is no paperwork and no need to apply for a Schengen visa. Your entry stamp you get when you enter any of the countries in the Schengen area serves as your Schengen visa and allows you to stay and travel around in any of the 29 Schengen area countries without having to apply for a new visa for each country.

That means you can land in Spain, take a train into France, bus over to Belgium, bike over to Germany, take a river cruise to Austria, and accidentally wander into Lichtenstein, all without having to show your passport or go through immigration. That’s pretty cool!

BUT It’s important to note that all of this is going to change near the middle of 2025, which we’ll get into below.

If you are not from one of the visa-exempt countries, you will need to apply and be approved for a Schengen visa. That typically involves booking an appointment with the nearest Schengen Area country embassy or consulate, gathering your supporting documents like proof of accommodation, your travel itinerary, and maybe even some financial documentation, and then a formal interview going over your travel plans and reasons for travel.

That process is quite extensive! Applying for a Schengen visa this way takes a lot more effort.

The downside with a Schengen visa, whether you have to apply for one or not, is that you only have 90 days in a 180-day period to be in any of those 29 Schengen countries.

90 out of 180 Rule

Generally speaking, Schengen visa holders can stay in the Schengen area for 90 days in a 180 day period. 

That sounds pretty straightforward…but it’s not!

The 180-day period is any 180-day period. So if you spend 45 days in Spain (Schengen), then a week in Bulgaria (not Schengen), then head to Germany (Schengen), you do not get a new 90 days to spend in the Schengen zone. You will only have 45 days left because of the 180-day travel window.

It’s also important to note that 90 days does not mean 90 days in a row. If you want to spend a few weeks in Belgium (Schengen), then head to the UK (not Schengen), then go to France (Schengen), that’s totally fine, as long as your time in Belgium and France combined does not exceed 90 days within a 180-day period. 

If this all sounds very confusing, don’t worry, there are a multitude of apps that can help you keep track of your time in the Schengen Zone. (We use this one.)

You put in your travel dates and the app does all the math. The apps can tell you how many days you can stay in the Schengen zone, or how long you’ll have to wait before you can go back in. 

How to stay in Europe longer than 90 days

So, you can only stay in the Schengen area for 90 days out of 180 days. Full stop. But what if I want to spend more than 90 days in Europe, you may ask? Great question! 

As we mentioned before, we’ve been traveling around Europe for the past few years and we spent 20 straight months in Europe, minus a short trip to the US for a family emergency.

It’s actually quite easy to spend more than 90 days in Europe because, luckily, not every European country is part of the Schengen zone. 

There are currently 16 countries in Europe that are not part of the Schengen zone. Those countries are:

• Albania
• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Cyprus
• Georgia
• Ireland
• Macedonia
• Moldova
• Montenegro
• Serbia
• Turkiye
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom

These countries are in Europe but are not part of the Schengen area and have their own immigration and visa policies. That means you can spend time in those countries while you wait for your Schengen clock to reset.

If you want to visit any of these countries to extend your time in Europe, make sure to read up on their visa requirements as they relate to the passport you hold.

For instance, if you’re American, you can spend an entire year in Albania! 

Romania, however, only allows Americans to stay for 90 days in a 180-day period. And 90 days in a 180-day period is not a suggestion, it is very much the rule. If you break that rule, you will get deported. And getting deported is not fun. Trust me on this one. 

From our own personal experience, at the end of 2021, we spent 90 days house sitting across France. We would have stayed longer, and finally learned how to say croissant correctly, but we did not want to overstay.

Penalties for overstaying your time in the Schengen zone are pretty serious. 

You WILL get deported, probably fined, and maybe even banned from reentering the Schengen zone for many years. And nobody wants that. Europe is where they keep all the good cheese and wine!

We love good cheese and wine. So before our 90 days was up we left France and spent the next months in the UK and Albania while we waited for our Schengen time to reset before we went to Spain.

Now for the really important information: the new Schengen visa changes that are starting in 2025.

2025 Schengen Visa Changes: Introducing ETIAS

So now that you understand the Schengen area and how the 90/180 days rule works, let’s get into what’s changing in 2025.

The European Travel Information and Authorization Systems or ETIAS is the new system for travelers who want to enter the Schengen Area.

Before the implementation of ETIAS, travelers from visa-exempt countries could just show up and receive a Schengen area visa at immigration, no questions asked.

That will no longer be the case. Now travelers will have to (GASP) fill out paperwork, and pay a small fee! 

In a nutshell, ETIAS is a security pre-screening for the Schengen area. 

The ETIAS authorization is not a visa. Rather, it is a background check that must be completed before traveling to the Schengen area. The background check is to see if a traveler may be a criminal, security, or health risk before they arrive.

For each ETIAS application you’ll be required to provide:
-personal biometric data (e.g. name, gender, data of birth, etc)
-passport or travel document information
-EU member state of entry
-background questions on an applicant’s health and criminal record  
-previous EU immigration history

The US and Canada have had similar systems for travelers in place for years, it’s just taken the EU a while to iron out the kinks and implement the ETIAS system.

ETIAS will only affect passport holders from the 62 countries who can currently enter the Schengen Area visa-exempt. If you are from any of those countries, starting in mid-2025, you will need to fill out an ETIAS application before traveling to the Schengen area.

The whole process can be done online and finished in minutes. It costs €7 per application, and the application is free for travelers under 18 and over 70.

Once you are approved, your ETIAS authorization is valid for three years or until the passport that you applied with expires, whichever comes first.

In order to apply for ETIAS, you’ll need a current valid passport that is machine readable and has the electronic passport sign, or chip.

Once ETIAS is implemented in mid-2025, there will be a six-month transitional period where travelers will not be denied entry even if they didn’t apply for an ETIAS authorization before traveling, but you may get a stern talking to by a disappointed immigration officer. 

After the six-month transitional period, there will be another six-month grace period where ETIAS checks will be in full effect, and the only people who might be exempt are travelers who are traveling to Europe for the first time. Basically, ETIAS will be mandatory as of 2026. 

If you are not from one of the Schengen Area visa-exempt countries, then you don’t need to worry about ETIAS because things aren’t really going to change for you moving forward. You will still need to apply and be approved for a Schengen visa as outlined earlier.

All in all, the biggest difference is for passport holders from visa-exempt countries. Instead of just being able to travel into the Schengen area whenever you want, starting in mid-2025 you’ll have to get an ETIAS authorization before entering the Schengen area.

ETIAS is just a small extra step you’re going to have to take if you want to go on vacation in Europe. Make sure you go to ETIAS.com to see all of the latest requirements and updates for entering the Schengen area depending on your passport country. 

If you plan to travel to Europe in 2025 or beyond, then we hope this info is helpful for you. 

Stay Up to Date

Check out all of the most up-to-date requirements for ETIAS.

Thank you so much for reading!

If you’re a digital nomad or are interested in becoming one then check out this article next about Digital Nomad Visas, and whether you actually need one.

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