# Council Decision (EU) 2017/1947 of 23 October 2017 establishing the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the Joint Committee set up under the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Armenia on the facilitation of the issuance of visas, with regard to the adoption of common guidelines for the implementation of that Agreement, Division 2.1.1: Fees for processing visa applications

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

Article 6(1) of the Agreement provides that:
‘1. The fee for processing visa applications shall amount to EUR 35.’.
In accordance with Article 6(1) of the Agreement, the fee for processing a visa application is EUR 35. That fee applies to all Armenian visa applicants (including tourists) and concerns short-stay visas, irrespective of the number of entries.
Article 6(2) of the Agreement provides that (NB: any implementing arrangements follow the category):
‘2. Without prejudice to paragraph 3 of this Article, fees for processing the visa application are waived for the following categories of persons:
(a) pensioners;’.
In order to benefit from the fee waiver for this category, visa applicants must present a proof of their pensioner status, i.e. pension book or certificate on receiving pension. The fee waiver is not justified in cases where the purpose of the journey is paid activity.
‘(b)
children under the age of 12;’.
In order to benefit from the fee waiver for this category, visa applicants must present evidence proving their age.
‘(c)
members of national and regional governments and of Constitutional and Supreme courts, in case they are not exempted from the visa requirement by this Agreement;’.
Members of regional governments will be understood as members of territorial administration, i.e. Governors of the regions (marzpet) and their deputies, as well as the Mayor of Yerevan and his/her deputy. In order to benefit from the fee waiver for this category, visa applicants must present evidence from the Armenian authorities proving their position.
‘(d)
persons with disabilities and the persons accompanying them, if necessary;’.
In order to benefit from the fee waiver, evidence should be provided that both visa applicants fall under this category. In case of disability, visa applicants have to present an extract from the medical certificate attesting the disability. In cases where the disability of the visa applicants is obvious (blind persons, people missing limbs) the visual recognition at the consular post is acceptable.
In justified cases the visa application may be submitted by a representative or the guardian of the disabled person.
(e) ‘close relatives — spouse, children (including adopted), parents (including custodians), grandparents or grandchildren — of citizens of Armenia legally residing in the territory of the Member States, or citizens of the Union residing in the territory of the Member State of which they are nationals;
(f) members of official delegations, including permanent members of official delegations, who, following an official invitation addressed to Armenia, 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;
(g) pupils, students, post-graduate students and accompanying teachers who undertake trips for the purposes of study or educational training, including exchange programmes as well as other school-related activities;
(h) journalists and technical crew accompanying them in a professional capacity;’.
In order to benefit from the fee waiver for this category, visa applicants must present proof of being members of professional journalistic or media organisations.
‘(i)
participants in international sport events and persons accompanying them in a professional capacity;’.
Supporters will not be considered as accompanying persons.
‘(j)
representatives of civil society organisations and persons invited by Armenian community non-profit organisations registered in the Member States when undertaking trips for the purposes of educational training, seminars, conferences, including in the framework of exchange programmes or Pan-Armenian and community support programmes;’.
In order to benefit from the fee waiver for this category, visa applicants must present proof of being members of civil society organisations or non-profit organisations.
(k) ‘persons participating in scientific, academic, cultural or artistic activities, including university and other exchange programmes;
(l) 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 seriously ill close relative.’.
The fee is waived for the above-mentioned categories of persons. In addition, the fee is also waived, in accordance with Article 16(4) of the Visa Code, for the following categories of persons:
researchers from third countries travelling within the European Union for the purpose of carrying out scientific research as defined in Recommendation 2005/761/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;
representatives of non-profit organisations aged 25 years or less participating in seminars, conferences, sports, cultural or educational events organised by non-profit organisations.
Article 16(6) of the Visa Code provides that:
‘6. In individual cases, the amount of the visa 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 and other areas of vital public interest or for humanitarian reasons.’.
Article 16(7) of the Visa Code provides that the visa fee is to be charged in euro, in the national currency of the third country or in the currency usually used in the third country where the application is lodged, and is not refundable except in the case of an inadmissible application or if the consulate is not competent.
In order to avoid discrepancies which could lead to visa shopping, diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Member States in Armenia should ensure similar visa fees for all Armenian visa applicants when charged in foreign currencies.
Armenian visa applicants will be given a receipt for the visa fee paid in accordance with Article 16(8) of the Visa Code.
Article 6(3) of the Agreement provides that:
‘3. 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.’.
With regard to the modalities of the cooperation with external services providers, Article 43 of the Visa Code provides detailed information concerning their tasks.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2017/1947/annex/division/II/division/2.1/division/2.1.1 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2017-1947/annex/division-II/division-2.1/division-2.1.1
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.