{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2008-767/article-15",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2008-767/article-15.json",
  "legislation": "eur/2008/767",
  "legislation_title": "Regulation (EC) No 767/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 concerning the Visa Information System (VIS) and the exchange of data between Member States on short-stay visas (VIS Regulation)",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2008-767",
  "path": "article/15",
  "kind": "article",
  "number": "15",
  "heading": "Use of the VIS for examining applications",
  "text": "1. The competent visa authority shall consult the VIS for the purposes of the examination of applications and the decisions relating to those applications, including the decision whether to annul, revoke, or extend the visa in accordance with the relevant provisions.\n2. For the purposes referred to in paragraph 1, the competent visa authority shall be given access to search with one or several of the following data:\n(a) the application number;\n(b) surname (family name), first name or names (given names); date of birth; nationality or nationalities; sex;\n(c) the type and number of the travel document; three letter code of the issuing country of the travel document; and the date of expiry of the validity of the travel document;\n(d) the surname, first name and address of the natural person or the name and address of the company/other organisation, referred to in point (4)(f) of Article 9;\n(e) fingerprints;\n(f) the number of the visa sticker and date of issue of any previous visa.\n3. If the search with one or several of the data listed in paragraph 2 indicates that data on the applicant are recorded in the VIS, the competent visa authority shall be given access to the application file(s) and the linked application file(s) pursuant to Article 8(3) and (4), solely for the purposes referred to in paragraph 1.\n4. For the purposes of consulting the EES in order to examine and decide on visa applications in accordance with Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2226, the competent visa authority shall be given access to search the EES directly from the VIS with one or several of the data referred to in that Article.\n5. Where the search with the data referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article indicates that data on the third-country national are not recorded in the VIS or where there are doubts as to the identity of the third-country national, the competent visa authority shall have access to data for identification in accordance with Article 20.",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Substituted by Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code)."
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Substituted by Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2017 establishing an Entry/Exit System (EES) to register entry and exit data and refusal of entry data of third-country nationals crossing the external borders of the Member States and determining the conditions for access to the EES for law enforcement purposes, and amending the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement and Regulations (EC) No 767/2008 and (EU) No 1077/2011."
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "Inserted by Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2017 establishing an Entry/Exit System (EES) to register entry and exit data and refusal of entry data of third-country nationals crossing the external borders of the Member States and determining the conditions for access to the EES for law enforcement purposes, and amending the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement and Regulations (EC) No 767/2008 and (EU) No 1077/2011."
    },
    {
      "type": "X",
      "label": "X1",
      "text": "Substituted by Corrigendum to Regulation (EC) No 767/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 concerning the Visa Information System (VIS) and the exchange of data between Member States on short-stay visas (VIS Regulation) (Official Journal of the European Union L 218 of 13 August 2008)."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2008/767/article/15",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-11-01T14:52:07.121208+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}