Kot določa člen 92 Schengenske konvencije iz leta 1990, je razlog za to, da mora Schengenski informacijski sistem omogočiti organom, imenovanim s strani držav članic, s pomočjo avtomatskega iskanja dostop do razpisov ukrepov o osebah in lastnini za namene mejne kontrole ter drugih policijskih in carinskih kontrol, ki se izvajajo v državi v skladu z nacionalno zakonodajo ter za namene izdajanja vizumov, dovoljenj za bivanje in administracijo predpisov o tujcih v okviru uporabe določb schengenskega pravnega reda v zvezi z gibanjem oseb.
The reason for this is that, as set out in Article 92 of the 1990 Schengen Convention, the Schengen Information System is to enable the authorities designated by the Member States, by means of an automated search procedure, to have access to alerts on persons and property for the purposes of border checks and other police and customs checks carried out within the country in accordance with national law, as well as for the purposes of issuing visas, residence permits and the administration of legislation on aliens in the context of the application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis relating to the movement of persons.