Division 2.1.2 Length of procedures for processing visa applications

Article 7 of the Agreement provides that:

‘1.

Diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Member States shall take a decision on the request to issue a visa within 10 calendar days of the date of the receipt of the application and documents required for issuing the visa.

2.

The period of time for taking a decision on a visa application may be extended up to 30 calendar days in individual cases, notably when further scrutiny of the application is needed.

3.

The period of time for taking a decision on a visa application may be reduced to 2 working days or less in urgent cases.’.

A decision on the visa application will be taken, in principle, within 10 calendar days of the date of the lodging of an admissible visa application.

That period may be extended up to 30 calendar days in individual cases, notably when further scrutiny of the application is needed or, in case of representation, where the authorities of the represented Member State are consulted.

All those deadlines start running only when the visa application file is complete, i.e. as from the date of receipt of the visa application and supporting documents.

As a principle, for diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Member States that have an appointment system, the waiting time to get an appointment is not included in the processing time. The general rules set out in Article 9 of the Visa Code are applicable to this issue as well as to other practical arrangements for lodging a visa application.

As provided for in Article 7(4) of the Agreement, where an appointment is required for the lodging of an application, it ‘shall, as a rule, take place within a period of two weeks from the date the appointment was requested.’.

‘In justified cases of urgency’ (where the visa application could not have been lodged earlier for reasons that could not have been foreseen by the applicant), ‘the consulate may allow applicants to lodge their applications either without appointment, or an appointment shall be given immediately.’.

When setting the appointment, the possible urgency claimed by the visa applicant should be taken into account. The decision on reducing the time for taking a decision on a visa application as provided for in Article 7(3) of the Agreement is taken by the consular officer.