Schengen Countries List 2026: All 29 Members and Where to Apply in the UK

How many Schengen countries are there in 2026?

There are 29 Schengen countries in 2026. Twenty-five are EU member states and four are not: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, which take part through agreements with the EU. Bulgaria and Romania became full members on 1 January 2025, the most recent change to the list.

For a UK resident who needs a visa, the practical point is simple: one uniform Schengen visa (type C) lets you travel across all 29 countries for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, and you apply to only one of them. British citizens do not need a visa for short stays, but the same 90/180 limit applies to them.

Which countries are in Schengen? The full A to Z list

The 29 members are listed below with the year each joined and whether it is in the EU. Each name links to our UK guide for that country.

“Joined” is the year border checks were first lifted in practice. The Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985, and controls between the first seven countries were removed in March 1995.

Where do you apply in the UK for each Schengen country?

You apply through the chosen country’s own UK provider or embassy, not a central Schengen office. Each Schengen country runs its own UK visa operation. Most use a commercial provider (VFS Global, TLScontact, BLS International or GVCW) to receive applications and take fingerprints, while the embassy or consulate makes the decision. Three countries take applications directly: Luxembourg, Poland and Romania. VFS Global handles 20 of the 29 (counting Liechtenstein, which goes through Switzerland), so the provider alone tells you little; what matters is the country you apply to and which of its centres covers you.

Checked against official provider and embassy pages on 7 October 2026. Providers change: Switzerland moved from TLScontact to VFS Global on 1 July 2025, and the VFS Birmingham-area centre moved to Smethwick on 27 July 2026.

Points worth knowing from the table

• Not every centre takes every country. Norway, Sweden and Slovakia have no Manchester centre, and the Czech Republic, Poland and Luxembourg accept applications in London only. Romania uses its Consulates General in London and Manchester.
• Some countries assign you by where you live. Spain, Portugal, Germany and Romania decide which UK consulate you use from your address, and Italy sends residents of Scotland and Northern Ireland to its Edinburgh centre, although the London consulate decides every Italian file. France lets you use any of its three centres.
• Direct applications work differently. Luxembourg books appointments by email, Poland books through e-Konsulat at its London consular section, and Romania’s e-Viza portal is the form, the document upload and the booking in one.
• France, Germany and Italy have their own booking rules. France allocates short-stay TLScontact appointments from a queue at all three UK centres (London and Manchester since 1 August 2026, Edinburgh since 11 September 2026), with 12 hours to pay and confirm. Germany has done the same in London and Manchester since 1 June 2026, with 24 hours to pay. Italy’s appointments are managed only by VFS Global, which may direct you to its Italy Global app.
• Regional centres can take longer. Where a country has no deciding consulate in the city, a file submitted in Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff or Smethwick is couriered to London for the decision. VFS Global allows about 2 extra days; Greece’s provider, GVCW, says about 5. Spain, Portugal, Germany and Romania have consulates outside London that decide visas, so it depends on which office covers your address.

Booking an appointment is free with every provider, and it is always made in the applicant’s own name on the official system. Optional extras such as a premium lounge are sold by the centre itself. Schengen Visa Support does not book, hold or supply appointments; we help you book through the official system yourself. Our appointment guide explains how each provider works, and our city guides cover London, Manchester and Edinburgh.

What changed for Bulgaria and Romania in 2025?

Bulgaria and Romania joined Schengen in two stages. Checks at internal air and sea borders were lifted on 31 March 2024, and land border checks followed on 1 January 2025, making both full members.

For UK residents this has two practical effects:

• A uniform Schengen visa now covers Bulgaria and Romania, and time spent there counts towards the 90/180 limit. Before 2024 they were outside the calculation.
• You apply to Bulgaria or Romania under the same main destination rule as any other member. Bulgaria uses VFS Global in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. Romania takes applications at its Consulates General in London and Manchester, with the form, document upload and appointment all handled on its e-Viza portal.

Which EU countries are not in Schengen?

Cyprus and Ireland are the two EU member states outside the Schengen area.

Cyprus is still not a member in October 2026. It received a positive technical assessment in 2026, but no final decision had been taken by the EU Council as of September 2026. Cyprus issues its own national visas. It has accepted valid Schengen visas for short stays under an EU arrangement, but check the current rules with the Cypriot authorities and make sure your visa has enough entries, because you leave and re-enter the Schengen area.

Ireland has chosen to stay outside Schengen and keeps its Common Travel Area with the UK. A Schengen visa does not allow entry to Ireland, and an Irish visa does not allow entry to Schengen countries.

Note: Nights spent in Cyprus or Ireland do not count towards your Schengen 90/180 days, and they do not count when working out your main destination. They can, however, mean you need a double-entry or multiple-entry Schengen visa.

Which places are often confused with Schengen?

Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City and Andorra sit inside or next to the Schengen area without being members, and some overseas territories of member states are outside it.

Non-EU Balkan states such as Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are not in Schengen either. Each has its own entry rules, and some admit holders of a valid multiple-entry Schengen visa; check before you travel.

How do EES and ETIAS apply across the 29 countries?

The EU Entry/Exit System (EES) has been fully operational at the external borders of all 29 Schengen countries since 10 April 2026. It records your face and fingerprints at your first crossing and logs every entry and exit, so the 90/180 count is now calculated automatically. It applies to visa holders and British citizens alike.

ETIAS, the travel authorisation for visa-exempt travellers such as British citizens, does not yet have a launch date. When it starts it will cover 30 countries: the 29 Schengen members plus Cyprus. It does not apply to anyone who needs a Schengen visa. See our EES and ETIAS guide.

Which country on the list should you apply to?

You make one application, to your main destination: the country where you spend the most days or where the main purpose of your trip lies. If there is no main destination, apply to the country you enter first. Our guide to which country to apply to has worked examples, and our guide to the easiest Schengen visa from the UK explains why picking a country for convenience backfires. To keep track of days across countries, see our 90/180-day rule guide. For a full walk-through of the process, read how to apply for a Schengen visa from the UK.

Tip: The provider and city you use are fixed by the country you apply to, not by convenience. Work out the main destination first, then look at that country’s UK centres and jurisdiction rules.

If you want your main destination confirmed and your documents checked before you book your free appointment, see what our admin support includes.