Nationals of third countries who need a visa to enter the Schengen Area might soon have to pay more for the document as the EU is planning to make a 12 percent price increase.
The EU Commission presented a draft initiative on the revision of the Schengen visa price just recently.
In the draft, the Commission proposed that the Schengen visa application fee increases from the current €80 to €90 for adults and from €40 to €45 for children, VisaGuide.World reports.
The Commission revises the visa fees every three years, and this proposal comes amid the inflation in the EU and the need for an increase in the salaries of civil servants.
The authority has also proposed a visa fee increase for countries that are not cooperating in the readmission of their citizens remaining in the EU without proper documentation.
According to the draft, the Commission intends to increase the Schengen visa fee for nations demonstrating insufficient cooperation on readmission from €120 to €135 and from €160 to €180.
External Schengen visa providers will also be permitted to apply higher fees in case the EU decides to move on with the increase.
External service providers, which are responsible for collecting Schengen visa applications on behalf of certain Schengen Member States, may charge a fee up to half of the standard visa fee. In this case, they will be able to charge for their services €45 instead of the current €40.
On the other hand, the visa fees for countries that have facilitation agreements will remain the same. In this case, despite the EU’s decision to increase the visa fee or not, nationals of Armenia and Azerbaijan will continue to be required to pay only a €35 fee.
The revision of the visa fees does not affect the fees laid out in visa facilitation agreements unless the agreement’s provisions make explicit reference to the visa fees set out in the Visa Code.Commission of the EU
A meeting on the matter was already held by Schengen Member States in December of last year.
The Commission is also accepting feedback on the initiative. Everyone will be able to share their opinion on the Schengen visa fee increase until March 1, 2024.
Following the end of the feedback period, the EU will come out with an official decision, and then, once approved, the new regulation will become effective within a period of 20 days.
Source: VisaGuide.World