Schengen Area

The group of European countries with shared external borders and no internal border checks. Once a traveller enters one Schengen country, they can generally move between the others without further passport checks, though rules on maximum stay length still apply. This makes it an important concept for planning multi-country European business trips within permitted time limits.

The Schengen Area currently includes 29 European countries: 25 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Bulgaria and Romania became full members in 2025, while Ireland and Cyprus are EU members that remain outside the area. Non-EU visitors can stay for up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole area, and a Schengen visa issued by one member country is generally valid for travel to all of them. Long-stay visas and residence permits issued by a Schengen country are governed by national rules.

The 90/180-day rule is calculated across all Schengen countries combined, not per country, which is often misunderstood by frequent business travellers. With the Entry/Exit System now recording entries and exits biometrically, overstays are detected automatically and can lead to fines or entry bans. For companies with employees who travel to Europe regularly, tracking days spent in the Schengen Area — and planning trips accordingly — is an important part of compliance. Business travellers should also check whether their activities in Europe require a work permit.

Tumodo makes multi-country European trips easier to organise. Flights, hotels, car transfers and rail tickets across Europe can be combined in one trip, with a single approval and a travel plan that can be shared with the employee. All trips are recorded in the company's reports, helping travel managers see how often and for how long employees travel to Europe, and visa assistance is available through Tumodo's support team.