1. What is a visa

Visa is the endorsement and seal of a sovereign organ of a country on the passport or other travel documents held by its or foreign citizens to indicate that they are allowed to enter or pass through the country's territory. It can also be said that it is an endorsement certificate issued to them. To sum up, a visa is a document issued by a country's entry and exit management agency (such as the Immigration Bureau or its embassies and consulates abroad) to approve the entry of foreign citizens.

2. What is the Schengen visa

Schengen Visa: A visa issued under the Schengen Agreement. This agreement, named after its signing in Schengen, Luxembourg, stipulates the single visa policy of member countries. According to this agreement, visas issued by any Schengen Member State are also considered valid in all other Member States without the need to apply for another visa. The countries that implement this agreement are commonly known as "Schengen countries".

The member countries of the Schengen Convention are also known as "Schengen countries" or "Schengen Convention countries", and the member countries as a whole are also known as "Schengen zone". The purpose of the Schengen Convention is to cancel border checkpoints between each other and coordinate border control outside the Schengen area. That is, the border control between six of the seven member countries will be lifted, and the holders of valid ID cards or visas of any member country can freely move within the territory of all member countries. According to the agreement, tourists can legally visit all other Schengen countries if they hold a valid visa from one of them.

By 2011, the number of Schengen member countries had increased to 26: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.