Schengen visa glossary
The terms that appear on refusal letters, application forms and this site's tables, defined from the Visa Code.
Admissibility
The threshold check that an application was lodged in time with the mandatory items, biometrics and fee; inadmissible applications are returned with the fee refunded and are not examined.
Airport transit visa (ATV, type A)
A visa allowing passage through the international transit area of a Schengen airport without entering the Schengen area; required for nationals of certain countries.
Appeal (against a Schengen visa refusal)
The right, guaranteed by Article 32(3), to challenge a refusal before the authorities of the state that decided, under that state's national law and deadlines, which the refusal form must state.
Consular district (territorial competence)
The set of Indian states served by a particular Schengen consulate; you must apply at the consulate responsible for where you legally reside.
Entry/Exit System (EES)
The EU's automated border system recording entries, exits and refusals of entry of non-EU short-stay travellers, fully operational since 10 April 2026.
ETIAS
The EU travel authorisation for visa-exempt nationals; not applicable to Indian passport holders, who need a Schengen visa; not yet in operation as of August 2026.
External service provider (VFS Global, BLS International, TLScontact)
A private company that collects applications, fees and biometrics for a consulate under Article 43 of the Visa Code; it does not decide visas.
Local Schengen cooperation
The forum in which Schengen consulates in the same country harmonise document lists, fees in local currency and multi-entry practice; it explains why checklists in India look alike and why judgment still differs.
Main destination
The Schengen state where you will spend the most days, or that holds the purpose of the trip; it is the state that must decide your application when the trip covers several states.
Multiple-entry visa (MEV)
A uniform visa allowing an unlimited number of entries during its validity, subject to the 90-in-180-day rule; issued under the Article 24(2) cascade or on proven need.
Period of grace
The 15 calendar days added to the validity of a single-entry Schengen visa so that the trip can shift; it does not add days of stay.
Refusal rate (not-issued rate)
Visas not issued divided by visas applied for, in a given year at a given consulate; the European Commission's own metric, recomputed by us from the counts.
Representation arrangement
An agreement under which one Schengen state's consulate collects, and sometimes decides, visa applications on behalf of another state that has no consulate in that country.
Schengen associated countries
Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland: not EU members, but full participants in the Schengen area, so a uniform visa is valid there.
Schengen Borders Code (Regulation (EU) 2016/399)
The regulation governing external border checks and entry conditions; the source of the 90-in-180 rule as applied at the border and of the reference amounts for means of subsistence.
Schengen Information System (SIS)
The EU-wide alert database; an alert for the purpose of refusing entry is a mandatory ground for visa refusal.
Uniform visa (type C)
The standard short-stay Schengen visa, valid for the entire territory of the Schengen states, for stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period.
Visa Code (Regulation (EC) No 810/2009)
The EU regulation that sets the rules for short-stay Schengen visas: who decides, documents, fees, deadlines, refusal grounds and appeals.
Visa Information System (VIS)
The central EU database holding every Schengen visa application, decision, photograph and fingerprint set; consulted for every application and at every border check.
Visa with limited territorial validity (LTV)
A Schengen visa valid only for one or some Schengen states, issued exceptionally on humanitarian grounds, for national interest, or after another state objected.