Brussels, 11/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is proposing to provide the European Union with a common data base for issuing visas for third country nationals by the end of 2006. With digital imprint information and facial photographs for those requesting visas, as well as the verification of data at borders, this visa information service (VIS) will provide the EU with a similar programme to the USA's US-VISIT system. Member States have in principle already given their agreement to setting up VIS. The regulation will be adopted by the European Parliament and Council according to co-decision procedure.
VIS will pool all visa information issued by Member States, as well as refusals, withdrawals or abuse of the system. This will enable border verification between the person and the visa issued and allow Member States to grant a visa in full knowledge of the cause and history of the visa applicant. VIS will also be used in the repatriation of illegal immigrants to their countries of origin if they initially enter the EU with a visa.
Presenting its regulation for VIS on Friday, the European Commission explained that, "information exchange had been planned since the beginning of the Schengen area in 1995 but due to lack of tools, had not been implemented…until now each Member State was not aware of their own information". The Commission underlined that the existence of a data base "will not change the conditions for issuing visas but would be a useful technical tool for making a well-founded decision".
This system is aimed at fighting against illegal immigration and the temptation of the visa applicant refused a visa in one Member State to try their luck in another Member State. The European Commission denies the charge of setting up a "fortress Europe" and highlighted the fact that VIS would also facilitate improved movement of third country nationals because Member States would be less reticent about granting multiple entry visas, as they would have better knowledge of the visa applicant.
VIS should be up and running by the end of 2006 with alpha-digital data, and by the end of 2007 with biometric data. Digital data for visa applicants in one of the 3500 consulates of the Member States will be recorded by a scanner and a photo will be taken and recorded digitally. It was planned that these two types of data would be included in a micro-chip inserted in the visa containing a sticker in the visa holder's passport. This was what the European Commission had proposed in a different proposal two years ago and on which Member States had reached a political agreement in November 2003. The agreement on biometric visas is expected to be definitively passed once all technical specifications have been worked out.
The European Commission, however, acknowledged on Friday that technical preparations meant that they were now witnessing "the unfeasibility" of the system, due to problems linked to micro-chip interference once someone had several visas in succession. Some Member States have proposed a card containing a rechargeable micro-chip for each new visa but the European Commission considers that this is not viable as it would be too cumbersome. The European Commission is considering alternatives.
As the United Kingdom and Ireland are not part of the Schengen area, they will not take part in VIS and will not have access to the data base, the European Commission stressed. Due to the nature of the specific agreements involving Schengen, Denmark will have to declare whether it wants to be part of the system. The ten new Member States will participate in VIS once internal borders with these countries have been lifted. Iceland and Norway, associate members of the Schengen area, will take part in VIS, as will Switzerland if and when it ratifies its association to the Schengen area.
The European Commission considers that VIS will cost EUR 2 - 3 per visa. It is proposing that data is stocked for a maximum of five years. Around 12 million visas were requested in Member States in 2001. The European Commission believes that this figure will climb to 20 million requests by 2007, the date for complete implementation of the biometric data system. 25% of visa requests are rejected. 20% of visas are issued to people regularly coming to the European Union. The European Union has a common list of 134 countries where visas are needed to enter the European Union for nationals from these countries.