The Schengen territory has since 25 March 2001 consisted of 15 countries:
Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway.
Cyprus, United Kingdom, Ireland, Bulgaria and Romania do not belong to the Schengen territory.
The Schengen enlargement will have an impact both on the issuance of visas and border control. Special attention should be paid to the annexes of the Common Consular Instructions and The Practical Handbook for Border Personnel, which may be subjected to amendments due to the Schengen enlargement. In addition, third country nationals holding residence permits in Norway, will be able to travel to the new Schengen states without a visa.
As a Czech citizen or a foreign national holding a permanent residence permit or a long term residence permit in the Czech Republic can travel through the Schengen-area without a visa.
Exemption: A Schengen visa (A, B, C), will be valid for all 25 Schengen states from
21 December 2007, provided that the visa is not given with limited territorial validity (VTLV).
Border Control
For Norway, the enlargement will not lead to any substancial changes regarding approved border crossing points with the exception of airports, since Norway does not have borders with any of the new Schengen states.
When crossing the external Schengen border in Norway (Storskog, airports and sea borders), the border guard must carefully examine the validity of visas issued by the new Schengen states, and as usual conduct thorough checks of third country nationals according to the Schengen Borders Code, Article 7, cf. Article 5 (RS 2007-002).
Residence permits in the new Schengen states entitles in principle the holder to cross the external border as well as transit and short term stay up to 90 days in Norway, cf. the Common Consular Instruction, Annex 4 and the Practical Handbook for Border Guards, Annex 22 and Annex 23.
Links:
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