From the first of January 2025, Bulgaria and Romania will officially become members of the Schengen area. Now it is possible to cross land borders without problems not only between Romania and Bulgaria, but also with other EU countries, in March border control was removed from air and sea borders.
Bulgaria and Romania expressed a desire to join the Schengen area back in 2011, but Austria opposed it. The main reason was Austria's concern about the large flow of illegal migrants who can pass through the borders and live freely in EU countries. Therefore, in order for Austria to vote positively, additional controls will remain on the Bulgarian and Romanian borders for the time being to combat illegal migration (for at least six months).
Now it is possible to go to Romania and Bulgaria with their internal national visas, a visa of Cyprus, since April and March of this year, the embassies of these countries began to accept applications for Schengen.
