Come February, South Africans will be subjected to several changes in the Schengen visa application process, rules and benefits. Henceforth, when applying for a Schengen Visa from South Africa, applicants will pay a fee of €80 instead of €60 while children would pay €40 instead of €35.
South Africans are to submit an application for up to six months in advance of their trip, instead of three as it is now. This will bring about an easier approach to the issuing of multiple-entry visas and lengthier validity to regular travellers with a positive visa history.
According to SchengenVisa Info, member states that are not represented in South Africa in terms of visa admission, are now obliged to cooperate with external service providers, in order to ease the visa application for travellers.
The external service providers are allowed to charge a service fee, which cannot be higher than the visa fee. This means South Africans applying at an external visa service provider may have to pay up to €160 per visa application.
French Embassy Head of the Press, Yana Brugier, said the French Embassy in Pretoria confirmed the price increase. “This decision has been taken by the European Union for all the Schengen countries.”
The Schengen visa is one of the most famous visas in the world, and one of the best to have. Granting to its holder the possibility of travelling to 26 European countries, 22 of them part of the European Union.
This has resulted in a steady increase in the number of Schengen visa applicants every year. Currently, travellers from 104 countries and entities need to obtain a visa to enter the EU for stays up to three months within the Schengen Zone.
In addition, the updated Visa Code introduces a mechanism that assesses whether the visa fees should change, every three years. According to Gent Ukëhajdaraj from SchengenVisaInfo.com, due to this mechanism, the fees may increase even to €160, if the EU authorities see it necessary. The mechanism may also shorten visa validity, and introduce prolonged visa processing periods.
However, statistics by SchengenVisaInfo.com show that in 2018, Schengen embassies and consulates in South Africa processed 221 790 visa applications, of which 5 403 were rejected.
“Since Regulation (EU) 2019/1155 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 amending Regulation (EC) No 810/2009, establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code) is binding in its entirety. It is directly applicable in all EU Member States in accordance with the Treaties. All Schengen countries, including Lithuania, will apply it from 2 February 2020,” an official from the Information Monitoring and Media Division of Lithuania explained to SchengenVisaInfo.com.
Due to the implementation of the Updated Schengen Visa Code, adopted by the EU Council in June 2019, all representative missions of the Schengen Countries located abroad are obliged to apply the new rules, including the ones in South Africa.
By Faith Ikade.
