The Amsterdam Treaty, which came into
force on 1 May 1999, marked a great step forward in integrating EU visa
policy into the legal framework of the Union. The Treaty brought all
aspects of EU visa policy into the Union's legal framework, integrating
them into the new Title IV of the EU Treaty (visas, asylum, immigration
and other policies related to free movement of persons).
However, the United Kingdom and Ireland
- on the basis of a protocol annexed to the Treaty of Amsterdam - maintain
autonomous visa, immigration and asylum policies; this means that they do
not, in principle, participate to the measures adopted in these fields,
unless they explicitly declare their willingness to do so.
At the same time, another protocol
annexed to the Treaty of Amsterdam integrated the Schengen
acquis (the Schengen agreements and the
implementing decisions) into the European Union treaties. On the basis of
this protocol the harmonisation measures introduced by the original
Schengen signatory Member States in the field of visas are now part of the
EU legislative framework (i.e. the EU acquis).
In particular, the EU Member States
applying the Schengen acquis, as well as
Norway and Iceland, issue 'uniform short-stay visas' valid for travelling
in the whole Schengen area. The harmonised conditions and criteria to
issue uniform visas are laid down in Articles 9-17 of the Schengen
Convention and specified in detail in the 'Common consular instructions' (OJ
C 313, 16.12.2002, p.1).
Is there a uniform format
for EU visas?
All visas for travel and transit within
the EU are required to have a uniform format according to the
specifications laid down by the Council Regulation
(EC) No 1683/95
on 29 May 1995.
The uniform format for visas must
conform to the technical specifications set out in the annex to Regulation
(EC) No 1683/95, and also to the supplementary secret technical
specifications intended to prevent visa counterfeiting and falsification.
On 18 February 2002, the Council
adopted Regulation (EC) n° 334/2002 which further improves security
standards of the uniform format for visas, namely by introducing the
possibility of integrating a photograph in the visa sticker.
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The residence permit as
an alternative to the visa?
On the basis of the
Schengen acquis, now integrated into the EU
framework, a valid residence permit issued by a Schengen State together
with a valid travel document can substitute for a visa. Thus, a
third-country national presenting his/her passport and residence permit
issued by a Schengen State can be allowed to enter another Schengen State
for a short stay without needing a visa. This equivalence does not apply
to residence permits issued by the United Kingdom and Ireland, since they
do not apply the Schengen acquis (although they requested to apply some of
the provisions on police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters).
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source: European Commission.
