Division 4.1 Introduction

The exchange of information on third country nationals on whom an alert has been issued under Article 96 allows Member States to decide in the case of entry or visa application. If the subject is already on the territory of the Member State, it allows them to take the appropriate action for issuing residence-permits or expulsion:

The Member State, which reports the hit, may require background information on the alert and can ask the issuing Member State to provide the following information:

• Type of, and reason for, decision

• Authority issuing the decision

• Date of decision

• Date of service

• Date of enforcement

• Date of expiry of decision or length of validity

The notification procedures laid down under Article 5(2) and the consultation procedures laid down under Article 25 fall within the jurisdiction of the authorities responsible for issuing residence permits or visas. The Sirene bureaux shall not be involved in these procedures except to transmit supplementary information directly relating to the alerts (e.g. notification of a hit, clarification of identity) or to erase alerts.

However, the Sirene bureaux may be involved in transmitting supplementary information necessary for expulsion of, or for refusing entry to, a third country national, or in transmitting information generated by these actions.

The Sirene bureaux are also used as central authorities for transmitting and receiving additional information in the consultation procedure provided for in Article 25(1) and (2), and shall exchange N forms (Article 25(1)) and O forms (Article 25(2)) and at the request of the authorities responsible for issuing residence permits or visas with a view to retaining or deleting the alert.

If a Member State which grants a residence permit finds that the holder of the permit is the subject of an Article 96 alert, issued by another Member State, it shall inform their Sirene bureau (by fax, M form, etc), This Sirene bureaux shall then instigate the consultation procedure laid down in Article 25 (2) using the form provided for this purpose.

If a third Member State, i.e. neither that which granted the residence permit nor that which issued the alert, considers that there are grounds for consultation, it shall notify both the Member States which granted the permit and the Member State which issued the alert.