SPONSORED What's This?
The Schengen Visa Process is Going Online
What is today a manual process for millions of travelers globally will soon be a digital one – at least in the coming years.
The European Union is digitizing the Schengen visa application process by announcing the development of the EU Visa Application Platform, or EU VAP for short. This is a major change that will impact travelers of all backgrounds and nationalities.
However, many are wondering – will the implementation of EU VAP affect Schengen visa requirements? Currently, there’s a list of application requirements like Schengen visa insurance, proof of sufficient funds, and flight itineraries. Will this list change, or is EU VAP simply a modernization of the current system?
Thankfully, there are some answers.
The Current Schengen Visa Application Process
Today, applying for a Schengen visa is a very manual process – and it has been designed this way with in-person appointments, physical paperwork, and postage.
Visa application centers play a crucial role in the current process. Companies like VFS Global and BLS International partner with Schengen governments to facilitate the process, doing more administrative tasks like scheduling and executing appointments, collecting necessary documents, and submitting them to the relevant authorities. They also typically have tracking systems to follow an application’s progress.
In today’s landscape, most travelers applying for Schengen visas must do so through visa application centers (though in some rare cases, it’s the consulate or embassy).
When applying through a visa application center, applicants have to book an appointment and bring a slew of physical documents with them. The required documents include a valid passport, a travel itinerary (with arrival and departure dates from the zone), proof of accommodation, financial statements, and Schengen travel insurance among others.
Once the entire application file is complete, meaning it has all of the obligatory documents and the in-person appointment has been conducted, the visa application center is responsible for forwarding your physical application to the relevant consulate/embassy for a decision.
As a part of the process, Schengen visa applicants have to hand over their passports, along with several pages of sensitive personal information. While the visa application is processing, applicants are without their passports until the final decision is made and your passport is returned to you – with or without visa approval.
If a Schengen visa is approved, today it is “stamped” into the passport for border officials to see. In the passport, the visa page hosts relevant information about the traveler, such as a photograph, their name, which type of visa they have, and the validity period of it.
As you can see, it’s quite a manual process.
In an effort to mitigate the risk of fraud, streamline the application process, and continue prioritizing the integrity of the Schengen area, the EU has introduced the creation of EU VAP for Schengen visa applications.
The EU VAP will be a fully digital system, transforming how travelers apply for Schengen visas. Instead of working directly with a visa application center, applicants will go through an online process, uploading digital copies of their documents and paying all applicable fees through the online portal (whereas today, fees are paid in person at a visa application center/consulate).
This is a significant shift in the visa application process and will affect millions of travelers, hopefully improving the experience for them.
While EU VAP modernizes the approaches and brings the majority of it online, there will still be one in-person requirement – and that is the submission of biometrics. In order to accurately collect biometric data and mitigate the risk of fraud, all applicants will still need to visit a visa application center/consulate in person. Not in every case, however. Those who have submitted their biometrics (so, fingerprints) in the past 5 years may be exempt.
The EU VAP will guide applicants through the entire process, including paying all applicable fees online and booking of a biometric appointment.
The Schengen visa goes digital
With the new application system, visa hopefuls won’t be submitting their physical passports anymore – which begs the question: where will the visa go?
Today, the Schengen visa is physical. Tomorrow, it goes digital too.
Instead of opening your passport to a “visa page”, the approved Schengen visa will live digitally. Border officials will be able to see that you have a passport through a simple scan, as it will be digitally connected to your passport.
Will Schengen visa requirements change with the launch of EU VAP?
No. EU VAP will modernize the application process, but it will not modify the application requirements. As of now, travelers can expect the Schengen visa requirements to remain unchanged.
Why is EU VAP being introduced?
The European Union has listed several reasons behind this decision.
Through digitization, the EU promises to “modernize, simplify, and harmonize” the Schengen visa application process for travelers of all backgrounds. They have also noted that streamlining the process means “lessening costs for applicants and issuing authorities.”
This change will affect both Schengen visa applicants and EU member state applicants.
On top of simplifying and modernizing the process, there are some expected safety benefits.
The EU has mentioned risks associated with physical in-passport visas. According to their official website, physical visas present more risks than digital ones. The specific risks referred to were theft, fraud, and falsification.
With the introduction of a purely digital visa, these risks can be further mitigated.
When will EU VAP be available?
While EU VAP isn’t available today, the EU is working towards its expected launch. Currently, EU VAP is expected to launch in 2028 and be fully operational by 2030. This means that once fully operational, applicants of all nationalities around the world will be able to apply for their Schengen visas online, modernizing the experience and making it more accessible and streamlined.
This also means that Schengen visa applicants will no longer have to submit their physical passports (only digital copies). This is a huge change, as this part of the current process can be personally limiting, as individuals are left without their passports for days or weeks, depending on visa processing times.
Because the Schengen visa requirements will be unchanged, travelers can expect the Schengen area to be just as safe and secure as before. In fact, with this digitization, the EU aims for enhanced security, as it’s expected to decrease fraudulent activity.
Overall, this digital modernization is a huge step forward for the European Union, making the process of applying for a Schengen visa more streamlined, accessible, and efficient - a formula that will benefit applicants worldwide.
