TRAVEL & STUDY
Travel & Study
New EU rules on short-stay visas apply worldwide from 2 February 2020. They make it easier for legitimate travellers to apply for a visa to come to Europe, facilitating tourism, trade and business, while providing more resources for countering irregular migration risks and threats to internal security.
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Eiffel Tower.
Copyright: Eugene Dorosh
Which non-EU countries do the new rules apply to?
The changes apply to travellers from all countries which need visas to travel to the EU. Currently, citizens from 105 non-EU countries or entities are required to have a visa, including Fiji and Nauru (full list available online). Nothing changes for countries benefitting from visa-free travel to the EU because the new rules do not apply to their citizens.
Pacific island countries with visa-free access to the Schengen area are Cook Islands (as New Zealand citizens), Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Niue (as New Zealand citizens), Palau, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Which destination countries are covered by the update?
The rules cover short-stay visas for the 22 EU countries that are part of the Schengen area (Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden), as well as for four associated countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. A uniform short-stay visa issued by one of these countries covers travel throughout the 26 Schengen countries for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.
Why change the EU visa rules now?
The European Parliament and the Council agreed to the changes in June 2019.
The tourism and travel industry plays a key role in the European economy. The EU Member States are among the world's leading tourist destinations – the number of visa applications processed has increased considerably over the last 9 years and continues to expand. Since 2009, the number of applications for EU visas has risen by 57% – from 10.2 million to over 16 million in 2018. At the same time, visa application procedures have not changed since 2010 and there was a need to make them less cumbersome while maintaining the same level of security and control.
Visa fees have not been adapted since 2006 and a €60 fee no longer covers the costs of processing applications, in particular, due to inflation.
Finally, by creating a link between visa procedures and cooperation on readmission, the revision gives the EU new tools for a dialogue with partner countries about migration. This possibility is part of the EU's ongoing efforts in favour of a comprehensive and effective migration policy.
Benefits
What are the main benefits for travellers?
With the new rules, travellers now benefit from a simpler and more user-friendly visa application procedure:
- Visa applications can be submitted from up to 6 months before the intended travel (9 months for seafarers), instead of 3 months previously, allowing travellers to better plan their trips.
- Multiple-entry visas with long validity (from 1 to 5 years) are now easier to obtain, saving frequent travellers time and money, as they will have to apply for a new visa less often.
- In most cases, an application can be submitted directly in the traveller's country of residence and, where possible, filled in and signed electronically (only hard copies were accepted until now), which will also save travellers time, money and hassle.
New Rules
What are the new rules for issuing multiple-entry visas?
Frequent travellers with a positive visa history are to be granted a multiple-entry visas with a gradually increasing validity period from 1 year to a maximum of 5 years.
Travellers' fulfilment of entry conditions will be thoroughly and repeatedly verified in all cases, and only persons with a positive visa track record will be issued multiple-entry visas with long validity.
Multiple-entry visas allow the holder to travel repeatedly to the EU during the period of validity of the visa.
How long will it take for the visa application to be processed?
The maximum time for visa applications to be processed remains unchanged at 15 days. The processing time may be longer only in individual cases, for instance where further scrutiny of the application is needed, and take up to maximum of 45 days.
With which consulate should applicants lodge their visa application?
The rules remain the same. Applicants must lodge their application at the consulate of the country they intend to visit. Applicants planning to visit several Schengen states must apply at the consulate of the country where they will spend the longest period. Applicants planning on visiting several Schengen states for equal lengths of stay must apply at the consulate of the country whose external borders they will cross first when entering the Schengen area. In case the Schengen state of destination has no consulate in the country where the applicant resides, the applicant should check whether it is represented by another consulate.
How to submit the application
Do visa applicants have to submit their application in person at a consulate?
In most cases, visa applications can be submitted in the applicant's country of residence (either at a consulate or at the premises of an external service provider) and, where possible, the application form can be filled in and signed electronically. Under the new rules, applicants have to appear in person only when fingerprints are to be collected (i.e. every 59 months).
Currently, the only resident Member State diplomatic missions in the Pacific islands are the French Embassies in Fiji (Suva) and Vanuatu (Port Vila), and the Spanish Embassy Office in Fiji (Suva). These missions do not currently offer consular services such as receiving and processing visa applications.
Can the application be submitted via an external service provider?
Most Member States use external service providers to collect visa applications and supporting documents. The large network of “visa application centres” means that applicants do not usually have to travel too far to lodge their applications. Member States remain fully responsible for processing and deciding on visa applications.
As of 2019, citizens of Fiji and Nauru who wish to travel to Denmark, Germany, Slovenia and to France or any French territory have access to visa application services from Suva. Schengen visa applications to Norway can also be submitted through this service. Service provider VFS Global, on behalf of these countries, is operating Visa Application Centres in Suva at the following addresses:
For Danish, German, Slovenian and Norwegian visas: Suva Business Centre, 217 Victoria Parade, Suva.
For French visas: Level 2, Mid-City Mall, Cumming St, Suva.
Requirements
What are the requirements for applying for a short stay visa?
The rules have not changed. In order to apply for a short stay visa to the EU, applicants must present:
- A filled-in and signed visa application form.
- A passport issued in the last 10 years and valid for at least 3 months after the end of the stay.
- An identity photograph.
- Proof of possession of adequate and valid travel medical insurance.
- Supporting documents relating to the purpose of the stay, evidence of means of support during the stay and accommodation.
Applicants must also pay the visa fee and, where applicable, have their fingerprints collected.
Do visa applicants need travel-medical insurance when travelling to the EU?
Yes, visa applicants must present valid travel-medical insurance when applying for a visa, as it was already the case under the previous rules.
Fee
What is the amount of the visa fee? What will the increased visa fee be used for?
The visa fee increases from €60 to €80. This increase is the first one since 2006 and it brings the fee broadly in line with the level where it would be today if it had been aligned to the general EU-wide inflation rate since 2006*.
The €60 fee no longer adequately covered the administrative costs (such as staffing, premises and equipment) for offering adequate service to the constantly growing numbers of applications. The increase in the visa fee will ensure there are sufficient financial resources to maintain a wide consular coverage worldwide and reinforce consular staff, speed up the application process and provide better quality service for travellers, upgrade IT equipment and software, and improve the capacity to detect potential security and irregular migration risks.
Importantly, for regular travellers, the fee increase will be partly offset by the new rules on long-validity visas: these travellers may actually save money under the new provisions since they have to apply for visas less often.
How does the revised visa fee compare to the fees charged by other countries?
By international standards, the €80 visa fee remains low. As a comparison, applying for a tourist visa to the United States costs €143 and €126 for China. Travellers to Australia have to pay €90 for their visa, while those going to New Zealand will be charged €146. A visa to Canada costs €68, to India €95, and to the UK €112 (January 2020).
Are there any visa fee waivers and reductions?
Yes, the visa fee is still waived for children below 6 years old, as was already the case under the previous rules. The visa fee for minors between the age of 6 and 12 years remains half of the general fee and thus increases by €5 (to €40). In addition, it is now possible for the individual Member States to waive the visa fee for minors between the age of 6 and 18 years.
Readmission and UK Specifics
How will the cooperation on readmission be linked to EU visa policy?
Over the past years, the EU has been stepping up activities to support Member States in returning people who have no right to stay in Europe. Even though readmission of own nationals is an obligation under international law, Member States have experienced difficulties in returning irregular migrants.
The revised visa rules introduce a new mechanism linking visa policy and cooperation on readmission. This will bring an important element into the EU's discussions with partner countries.
Under the new rules, the Commission will conduct a regular assessment of how non-EU countries cooperate on readmission, taking into account indicators such as:
- The number of return decisions issued to citizens of a given non-EU country.
- The number of actual returns is a percentage of the number of return decisions issued.
- The number of readmission requests accepted by the non-EU country is a percentage of the number of requests submitted to it.
- The level of practical cooperation in the different stages of the return procedure, including as regards the assistance provided in the identification of persons irregularly staying in the EU and the timely issuance of travel documents.
Member States which encounter substantial and persistent readmission problems with a given non-EU country may also notify the Commission of such a situation. In such cases, the Commission must assess the notification within one month.
On this basis, the Commission, together with Member States, can establish a more restrictive and temporary implementation of certain provisions of the Visa Code for the processing of visa applications from nationals of the country in question, such as the processing time, the length of validity of visas, the level of the visa fee and the fee waivers.
If a third country cooperates sufficiently on readmission and taking account of the Union's overall relations with the third country concerned, the Commission may also propose a more generous implementation of certain provisions of the Visa Code (lower visa fee, quicker processing times and multiple-entry visas with longer validity to be agreed upon by the Member States in the Council).
Can nationals of non-EU countries which do not cooperate on readmission still apply for and obtain a visa to travel to the EU?
More restrictive implementation of certain procedural rules and the general rules on the issuing of multiple-entry visas will not call into question applicants' basic right to submit an application for a visa or to be granted a visa.
When the Commission, together with the Member States, decides that the mechanism should be triggered, the restrictive implementation of certain rules will be adapted to the particular situation in each non EU-country. This could have an impact on the processing time, the length of validity of the visa to be issued, the level of the visa fee to be charged and the fee waivers.
Will the new rules affect the UK after the end of the transition period?
No. In 2019, the Visa Regulation was amended to grant UK nationals visa-free travel to the EU after the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. This means that UK nationals will remain visa-free when travelling to the EU for short stays, so the revised visa rules will not apply to them.
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Erasmus+ is the European Union (EU) programme which supports projects, partnerships, events and mobility in the areas of education, training, youth and sport. The programme, which runs from 2014 to 2020, provides funding opportunities for coopreation in all these areas, both among European countries and between European countries and Partner Countries throughout the world.
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Erasmus+ replaces a number of older programmes, including an international exchange programme called Erasmus Mundus.
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Excellent Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degrees are offered by consortia of EU and -optionally - non-EU universities. This is the continuation of Action 1 of Erasmus Mundus, which has proved to be very successful and given a lot of visibility worldwide to universities involved. We provide high-level scholarships to excellent students and staff from anywhere in the world to participate in the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees. Students have to be mobile to at least two different European countries, leading to a joint degree or multiple degrees.
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Apply directly to the consortium, which carries out a competitive selection procedure for scholarship places, open to candidates from around the world. You need to contact the specific Erasmus Mundus course in which you are interested. Visit the Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degrees catalogue.
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The well- know Erasmus Programme is for the first time open to non EU universities and staff. Erasmus+ funds credit mobility i.e student mobility between 3 and 12 months (in both directions) to obtain credits in a host instituion, which are then recongised by the home instituion. This action also funds staff mobility of up to 2 months to and from the participating universities, which is essential as university staff are agents of change in their home instituion. Scholarships are awarded on the basis of inter-institutional agreements between univsersities from ''Programme Countries'' and ''Partner countries''. (''Programme Countries'' means 28 EU Member States + Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Turkey and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, i.e all countries that contribute finanically to the Programme and have a National Agencu to manage it. ''Partner countries-'' are all other countries throughout the world).
This action is open to participation from higher education institutions worldwide, though only institutions from Programme Countries can submit to their National Agency.
Note: Your university may have an Erasmus+ mobility agreement with a university in Europe under which you could study for part of your degree in Europe. The credits you acquire in Europe will count towards your degree back home.
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Staff coming from Partner Countries may get a daily contribution to their expenses of between EUR 1000 and EUR 160 (depending on the cost of living in the Programme Country). Staff from Programme Countries going to Parnter Countries will get EUR 160 per day.
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Erasmus+ is the European Union (EU) programme which supports projects, partnerships, events and mobility in the areas of education, training, youth and sport.
Copyright: European Commission