Division 2.1.1 Visa handling fee

Article 6(1) of the Agreement stipulates that:

‘The fee for processing visa applications of Ukrainian citizens shall amount to EUR 35. The aforementioned amount may be reviewed in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 14(4).’.

In accordance with Article 6(1), the fee for processing a visa application is 35 EUR. That fee will apply to all Ukrainian visa applicants (including tourists) and concerns short-stay visas, irrespective of the number of entries. It also applies to visa applications lodged at the external borders.

Article 6(2) of the Agreement stipulates that:

‘If Ukraine would reintroduce the visa requirement for EU citizens, the visa fee to be charged by Ukraine shall not be higher than EUR 35 or the amount agreed if the fee is reviewed in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 14(4).’.

Article 6(3) of the Agreement stipulates that:

‘The Member States shall charge a fee of EUR 70 for processing visas in cases where, based on the distance between the applicant's place of residence and the place where the application has been submitted, the applicant has requested that a decision on the application be taken within three days of its submission, and the consulate has accepted to take a decision within three days.’.

A EUR 70 fee will be charged for processing visa applications in cases where the visa application and the supporting documents have been submitted by the visa applicant whose place of residence is known to be in the oblast in which the Member State to which the applicant wishes to travel has no consular representation (if in that oblast there is no consulate, nor visa centre, nor consulates of the Member States that have concluded representation agreements with the Member State to which the applicant wishes to travel), and when the diplomatic mission or consular post has agreed to take a decision on the visa application within three days. Evidence regarding the place of residence of visa applicant is provided in the visa application form.

In principle, Article 6(3) of the Agreement aims at facilitating applying for a visa by the applicants living at a large distance from the consulate. Should a long trip be needed in order to apply for the visa, the aim is to issue it quickly, so that the applicant can receive the visa without having the need of undertaking the same lengthy travel for a second time.

For the above mentioned reasons, in cases where the ‘standard’ processing time for a visa application by a given diplomatic mission or consular post takes three days or less, the standard EUR 35 visa fee will be charged.

For diplomatic missions and consular posts that have an appointment system, the period of time to get an appointment is not counted as part of the processing time (see also II.2.1.2).

Article 6(4) of the Agreement stipulates that:

‘4.

Without prejudice to paragraph 5 fees for processing the visa application are waived for the following categories of persons:

(a)

for close relatives — spouses, children (including adopted) parents (including custodians), grandparents and grandchildren — of citizens of Ukraine legally residing in the territory of the Member States or citizens of the European Union residing in the territory of the Member State of which they are nationals;’

1. (b)

   for members of official delegations who, following an official invitation addressed to Ukraine, shall participate in meetings, consultations, negotiations or exchange programmes, as well as in events held in the territory of one of the Member States by intergovernmental organisations;

2. (c)

   members of national and regional Governments and Parliaments, Constitutional Courts and Supreme Courts, in case they are not exempted from the visa requirement by the present Agreement;

3. (d)

   pupils, students, post-graduate students and accompanying teachers who undertake trips for the purpose of study or educational training;

4. (e)

   disabled persons and the person accompanying them, if necessary;’ (N.B. In order to benefit from the fee waiver, evidence should be provided that each of visa applicants falls under this category.)

5. (f)

   persons who have presented documents proving the necessity of their travel on humanitarian grounds, including to receive urgent medical treatment and the person accompanying such person, or to attend a funeral of a close relative, or to visit a close relative seriously ill;

6. (g)

   participants in international sports events and persons accompanying them;’ (N.B. Only accompanying persons travelling in a professional capacity are covered; supporters will thus not be considered as accompanying persons.)

7. (h)

   persons participating in scientific, cultural and artistic activities including university and other exchange programmes;

8. (i)

   participants in official exchange programmes organised by twin cities and other municipal entities;

9. (j)

   journalists and the technical crew accompanying them in a professional capacity;’ (N.B. journalists covered by Article 4(1)(e) of the Agreement are covered by this point.)

10. (k)

    pensioners;’ (N.B. In order to benefit of the waiving of the fee from this category, visa applicants have to present evidence proving their pensioner status.)

11. (l)

    drivers conducting international cargo and passenger transportation services to the territories of the Member States in vehicles registered in Ukraine;

12. (m)

    members of train, refrigerator and locomotive crews in international trains, travelling to the territories of the Member States;

13. (n)

    children under the age of 18 and dependant children under the age of 21;’ (N.B. In order to benefit from the fee waiver for this category, visa applicants have to present evidence proving their age; and –if under the age of 21– in addition proving their dependency.)

1. (o)

   ‘representatives of the religious communities;

2. (p)

   for members of the professions participating in international exhibitions, conferences, symposia, seminars or other similar events held in the territory of the Member States;

3. (q)

   participants aged 25 years or less in seminars, conferences, sports, cultural or educational events, organised by non-profit organisations;

4. (r)

   representatives of civil society organisations undertaking trips for the purposes of educational training, seminars, conferences, including in the framework of exchange programmes;

5. (s)

   for participants in official European Union cross-border cooperation programmes, such as under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI).

The first subparagraph shall apply also where the purpose of the journey is transit.’.

The second subparagraph of Article 6(4) of the Agreement applies only if the purpose of travel to the third country is equivalent to one of the purposes listed under points (a) to (s) of Article 6(4) of the Agreement e.g. if the transit is needed to attend a seminar, to visit family members, to participate in an exchange programme of civil society organisations, etc. in the third country.

The fee is fully waived for the abovementioned categories of persons. Moreover, according to Article 16(6) of the Visa Code ‘in individual cases, the amount of the fee to be charged may be waived or reduced when to do so serves to promote cultural or sporting interests as well as interests in the field of foreign policy, development policy, other areas of vital public interest or for humanitarian reasons.’.

However, that rule cannot be applied to waive the EUR 70 visa fee for processing visas in individual cases where the visa application and the supporting documents have been submitted by the visa applicant whose place of residence is known to be based far away from the diplomatic mission or consular post of the Member State and who belongs to one of the visa fee exempted categories listed in Article 6(4) of the Agreement.

It should also be recalled that categories of persons exempted from the visa fee could still be subject to a service fee in case a Member State cooperates with an external service provider.

Article 6(5) of the Agreement stipulates that:

‘5.

If a Member State cooperates with an external service provider in view of issuing a visa the external service provider may charge a service fee. This fee shall be proportionate to the costs incurred by the external service provider while performing its tasks and shall not exceed EUR 30. The Member States shall maintain the possibility for all applicants to lodge their applications directly at their consulates. If applicants are required to obtain an appointment for the lodging of an application the appointment shall, as a rule, take place within a period of two weeks from the date when the appointment was requested.’.

Maintaining the possibility for all categories of visa applicants to lodge their applications directly at the consulate instead of through an external service provider implies that there should be a genuine choice between those two possibilities. Even if direct access does not have to be organised under identical or similar conditions to those for access to the service provider, the conditions should not make direct access impossible in practice. Even if it is acceptable to have a different waiting time for obtaining an appointment in the case of direct access, the waiting time should not be so long that it would render direct access impossible in practice.