The European Union’s Commission has said that the time it takes to process Schengen visas will change a lot when the application process is made digital.
EU on Schengen Visa Processing duration improvement
Anitta Hipper, a spokesperson for the European Commission in charge of home affairs, told SchengenVisaInfo.com that digitizing the visa process will help cut down on working times, which means that applicants will not have to wait a long time to hear back.
She said that when applying for a Schengen visa is done entirely online, applicants will not have to send hard copies of their paperwork. This will make the process easier for everyone involved, as there will be less work to do with paper applications and visa stickers.
The European Parliament and the Council agreed on rules for digitizing the visa process. These rules are meant to make the visa process more modern, easier, and consistent for both people from third countries who need to apply for a visa and EU Member States that need to give visas.
Hipper told SchengenVisaInfo.com that digitizing the visa process will bring two important parts of it up to date.
First, Hipper stated that the EU Visa Application Platform will make the process uniform and easy for applicants, so they won’t have to pay extra to go to the consulate or any other visa application center.
Second, the visa will be given out digitally, and it will be linked digitally to the travel paperwork.
Hipper did say, though, that there are a number of things that are taken into account when Schengen visa applications are processed.
Since the outbreak, a lot of people have been applying for visas through Schengen Member States. The high demand has changed the way things work.
Delays have been felt most during the holiday season. Because of this, Hipper said that the Commission had already asked all Member States to improve their operating capacities and fix the problem by making more appointments available.
A few member states have said that they don’t change the method very often to make sure that everyone can easily apply. In order to make sure that all applications are handled quickly, they have also said that they will add more staff based on demand.
