Glossary

The SIRENE Address Book (SAB) contains the contact details of the SIRENE Bureaux and relevant information for communication and cooperation between them.

Schengen Associated Countries

Identity data are considered the same if the values in corresponding data fields between different EU information systems are the same. E.g. last name: 'Smith' corresponding with last name: 'Smith'.

In contrast: 

An example of different identity data would be: last name: 'Smith' corresponding with last name: 'Johnsson'.

An example of similar identity data would be: last name: 'Smith' corresponding with last name: 'Smieth'.

The treaty that led toward Europe’s most important borderless zone, the Schengen Agreement, was signed on June 14, 1985. It was named after the village of Schengen in Luxembourg, where France, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg, and the Netherlands initially signed the agreement. Its main purpose was to build a Europe without borders known as “Schengen Area”. This information can be consulted in the following link: www.schengenvisainfo.com/schengen-acquis/

The main purpose of the Schengen Area is to enable people to freely move throughout the 26 Member States. This includes traveling without going through internal border checks, no queuing at airports, sea or land borders. In addition, third-country nationals in need of a visa to any of the participating countries can travel throughout the 26 of them with a single Schengen visa. This information can be consulted in the following link: www.schengenvisainfo.com/schengen-acquis/

There are 4 Associated Countries or SAC: Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

Schengen Borders Code means the Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders, as per Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders.

The Schengen ID is the unique identification number of each alert in SIS generated by the issuing Member State.

A Schengen Visa is an authorization to enter the Schengen territory through the Member State that granted the visa. It permits its holder to stay in the Schengen territory for a maximum of 90 days within six months. There are several Schengen visa types depending on applicant’s purpose of traveling to the territory, the period of intended stay and the number of visits one is applying for. However, none of the Schengen visa types permits the holder to work in Europe. Long-term study is also not possible on a Schengen visa.

A further check which may be carried out in a special location away from the location at which all persons are checked (first line).