As from February 2, 2020,
Nigerians will have to pay an increased fee of €80 when applying for a visa to
Schengen countries.
Schengen refers to the European
Union (EU) passport-free zone that covers 26 European countries.
According to an official from the
information monitoring and media division of Lithuania, the increase follows
the implementation of the updated Schengen visa code adopted by the EU Council
in June.
The new fee is €20 more than the
€60 currently being charged for the visa application.
Nigerian children applying for
visa will also now pay €40 instead of €35.
Nigerians will also be subject to
several changes in terms of visa application procedures, rules and benefits.
All representative missions of
the Schengen countries located abroad are obliged to apply the new rules.
“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, and 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,” the Lithuanian official said.
The new rules also permit
Nigerians to submit an application up to six months in advance of their trip,
instead of three as it is now.
It also foresees a harmonised
approach to the issuing of multiple-entry visas with lengthier validity to
regular travelers with a positive visa history.
According to Schengen visa
website, member states that are not represented in Nigeria in terms of visa
admission, are now obliged to cooperate with external service providers in
order to facilitate visa application for travelers.
The external service providers,
it says, are allowed to charge a service fee, which cannot be higher than the
visa fee. This means Nigerians applying at an external visa service provider
may have to pay up to €160 per visa application, if the external service
providers set the maximum service fee permitted, which is €80.
The updated visa code also
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,” information on the website
reads.
“A visa fee of €120 or €160 will
apply to non-cooperative third-countries, in cases when the EU Commission
considers that action is needed in order to improve the level of cooperation of
the third country concerned and the Union’s overall relations with that third
country,” Ukëhajdaraj explains, adding that this provision shall not apply to
children under 12 years old.”
“The mechanism may also shorten
visa validity, and introduce prolonged visa processing periods.”
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