Visas for stays of up to 90 days

The core element of EU visa policy is the uniform Schengen visa, which entitles holders to enter and stay in the Schengen area for as long as the visa is valid. This visa enables stays for tourism and business purposes and to visit friends or family.

EU visa policy includes a list of non-EU countries whose nationals do or do not require a visa to enter and stay in EU member states. EU visa policy also regulates the use of a uniform, highly secure format for visas which is intended to prevent forgery and misuse, and it sets standard criteria for visa applications and for the process of deciding on and issuing visas.

Visas for stays longer than 90 days

Stays of longer than 90 days are governed by the law of the country where the visitor plans to stay. Such stays must be for a specific purpose, such as

• to rejoin a spouse,
• to study at a university, or
• to take up specific employment (for example as a researcher or highly qualified worker).

Valid, recognised travel documents are always required for visas and for border checks when entering an EU member state.

Visa facilitation agreements and visa liberalisation

Visa facilitation agreements with non-EU countries are another key element of EU visa policy. These agreements are negotiated with these countries in tandem with readmission agreements.

The EU also conducts dialogues on visa liberalisation with selected non-EU countries with the aim of waiving the visa requirement for their nationals in the medium term.

Visa suspension mechanism

In 2017, the EU adopted a mechanism to increase the monitoring of visa-free travel by nationals of non-EU countries in order to respond more effectively in case of difficulties and to reinstate the visa requirement if necessary. This mechanism took effect on 28 March 2017 and applies to all non-EU countries whose nationals do not require a visa to enter and stay in the EU. It involves monitoring in order to ensure that these countries continue to meet the criteria for visa-free travel. If they do not, the visa requirement can be reinstated temporarily and for certain groups of people if their visa-free travel causes the migration or security situation to become worse.

Visas and security

As part of the visa application process in Germany, visa applications from nationals of certain countries are checked by the German security authorities before a visa is issued by the German diplomatic missions or consular posts abroad. This security policy instrument is known as the consultation procedure (Konsultationsverfahren).

A police officer looking at a computer screen (Larger version opens in new window) Source: Federal Police

In the consultation procedure, the Federal Office of Administration (BVA) sends the visa applicant’s data to the security authorities listed in section 73 (1) and (3) of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz). These authorities then check whether any security concerns exist. The BVA compiles the responses from the security authorities and provides them to the German diplomatic mission or consular post abroad which decides whether to approve or deny the visa application. These security checks are conducted for specific groups of people, for example visa applicants from specific countries. In all other cases, the data of visa applicants are subject to a security check in accordance with section 72a of the Residence Act.

This automated security check ensures that security policy interests are upheld in the case of visa applicants who are not subject to the consultation procedure (section 72a of the Residence Act). A special unit of the BVA was created to conduct the automated checks of visa applicant data against the Counter-Terrorism Database. In this way, the security authorities are able to alert the visa issuing authorities if people with links to terrorism apply for a visa to enter Germany.

The Visa Alert Database

For many years, visa issuing authorities were only able to consult their own records of visa fraud or misuse. They only received the relevant information, in particular from other German diplomatic missions or consular posts, by chance or by request in specific cases, so they were not always able to recognise potentially risky visa applications in advance.

The Visa Alert Database at the BVA in Cologne was created to overcome that problem and has been in use since 1 June 2013. The legal basis for the database is the Act Establishing a Visa Alert Database and Amending the Residence Act (Gesetz zur Errichtung einer Visa-Warndatei und zur Änderung des Aufenthaltsgesetzes).

The Visa Alert Database is primarily focused on migration policy aspects and is intended above all to assist the visa issuing authorities when deciding on visa applications and therefore to combat illegal entry.

The database contains information on visa applicants, the sponsoring party and persons guaranteeing that the foreigner’s subsistence will be ensured who have given false information in the visa application process or who have failed to meet their obligations. The database also contains information on visa applicants’ reference persons who have been convicted of certain crimes related to visas or other foreign matters, or who have come to the authorities’ notice due to other unlawful conduct, in particular for providing false information in the visa application process. The Visa Alert Database also helps to make Germany safer