Source : Map
03/04/2023 17:00
The Council of the European Union (EU) recently adopted a negotiating mandate aimed at the digitization and unification of the procedure for granting the Schengen visa.
Member states’ ambassadors have agreed on the negotiating mandate to digitize the visa process, the EU Council said in a statement, noting that the proposal “introduces the possibility to apply for a visa online and replaces the current visa sticker with a digital visa”.
This initiative aims “to make the visa application procedure more efficient and to improve the security of the Schengen area”, the statement said, adding that the proposed new rules will create a unified platform dedicated to visa applications.
In accordance with this proposal, all Schengen visa applications “will be submitted through this platform, a single website, which will transmit them to the relevant national systems”, notes the Council, adding that visa applicants will be able to submit , on this platform, all relevant data, upload electronic copies of their travel documents and supporting documents and pay their visa fees.
Applicants, who will also be informed via this platform of decisions relating to their visa, will only have to appear in person at the consulate if they are applying for a visa for the first time, if their biometric data are no longer valid or if they have acquired a new travel document.
“A digital Schengen visa will make it easier for travelers in good standing to apply for a visa and will at the same time contribute to making the Schengen area more secure”, estimated on this occasion the Swedish Minister for Migration, Maria Malmer Stenergard, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.
Under the proposed new rules, visas will be issued in digital format, in the form of a cryptographically signed 2D barcode. According to Ms Stenergard, this will “eliminate the risk of tampering and theft of the visa sticker”.
Last April, the European Commission presented a legislative proposal aimed at digitizing the visa procedure.
On the basis of the negotiating mandate agreed by the Council of the EU, the Presidency of the Council will start negotiations with the European Parliament in order to reach an agreement on the final text.