Shkurta Januzi

Applying for a Schengen Visa in 2024 is not an easy task, as it has never been. The application process involves gathering numerous documents, attending an interview, and paying a fee.

1.4 billon people from over 60 different world countries, who currently are eligible travel to the 30 Schengen Area countries without having to obtain a short-stay visa, will have to apply for an online travel authorisation before any trip to the Member States, before the end of the first half of 2025.

The European Union's agency in charge of monitoring the bloc's external borders, Frontex, has warned travellers from visa-free countries to be careful of dubious websites offering information and services related to the upcoming European Travel Information & Authorisation System (ETIAS).

Getting a Schengen Visa for travelling to any of the 29 Schengen Area Member States is the most difficult part of a trip to Europe, but even once the traveller gets the visa, not everything is over.

Key Takeaways • Travellers who plan to visit more than one country need to apply for a Schengen visa at the country they will be staying the longest.

The authorities in Malta have only now started to work on the preparations for the implementation of the European Union's Entry/Exit System (EES), which is foreseen to start functioning across the block on October 6, 2024, and according to Maltese politician Peter Agius, it may already be too late.

The European Union's Commission will permit Malta to put into place an alternative system at its borders instead of the automatic Entry/Exit System (EES), though only temporarily.

The amount students from third countries wishing to start studying in Germany are required to have in their bank accounts has been increased once again by the German Authorities.

The EU Commission has still not given up on Malta implementing the upcoming Entry/Exit System (EES) on the fall of 2024, alongside with the other Schengen Area Member States.

Rudolf Abraham Shkurta Januzi You may already be plotting next year's summer holiday.