What is a Schengen visa?
The Schengen C visa is the mostly used visa for tourists and business travellers from non EU origin. It enables its holder to enter, freely travel within, and leave the Schengen zone from any of the Schengen member countries. There are no border controls within the Schengen Zone.
Non EU employees who come to work in the Netherlands for a period longer than 90 days require a different immigration procedure, yet sometimes also need an entry visa.
The Schengen area refers to the EU passport-free zone that covers most of the European countries. It’s the largest free travel area in the world.
Does your company often work with non EU business travellers? A new EU regulation for Schengen visa is applicable as from from February 2, 2020.
The main changes for Schengen visa applications
Here are the main changes compared to the old regulation:
| New | Old | Comment |
| You can submit application maximally 6 months before intended arrival date in Schengen area | Application could be done maximally 3 months before the arrival date | Minimum period between application and arrival date has to be 15 days |
| Governmental costs are € 80,00, for children between 6 up to and including 12 years € 40,00. Children under six no governmental fee. | Governmental fee for adults used to be € 60,00. | |
| The costs for an acknowledged external service provider have a maximum of € 80,00. | The costs for an acknowledged external service provider used to be maximally € 30,00. | |
| You can submit applications for a Schengen visa electronically. | Finger prints still have to be taken in person. | |
| Embassies may oblige you to use an acknowledged service provider. | Embassies used to have to judge the applications themselves. | |
| Applicants with a proven track record will sooner receive multiple entry visas (MEV’s). | Validity period depends on the number of issued and used visa in the past. | |
| Application decision period is maximally 15 days, in some cases this may be extended to 45 days. | Application period was maximally 60 days. |
Do you have any questions related to the immigration of employees to the Netherlands? Please let me know, I will gladly help out!
