Results of public monitoring of the EU countries’ visa policy and practice in Ukraine

Center of Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy of Ukraine and All-Ukrainian Consortium of Public Organizations “Europe without Borders” present the results of a large-scale study of policy and practice of issuance of visas to Ukrainian citizens by consular bodies of the EU countries after the expansion of the Schengen Area (December 21, 2007) and after the Agreement on Simplification of Visa Regime between Ukraine and the EU became effective (January 1, 2008). The study was implemented with the assistance of the International Renaissance Foundation.

The study was carried out in two stages (July and November of 2008) by polling respondents at the exits from consulates (or visa centers). The sample comprises 840 respondents and covers applicants of consular bodies of 11 countries of the Schengen Area, which are located in Kyiv (10 consulates and visa centers) and other regions of Ukraine (11 consulates), with 40 applicants for each consulate. The sample covers only those applicants who independently went the entire path of getting a visa, from submission of documents to receipt of result.

The countries covered are the following (the number of consular bodies covered by the monitoring are in brackets): Germany (1), France (1), Italy (1), Spain (1), Belgium (1), Greece (2) – ‘old’ Schengen countries; Poland (5), Hungary (3), Czech Republic (3), Slovakia (2), Lithuania (1) – ‘new’ Schengen countries.

The study revealed the following tendencies:

Positive:

·                    Decrease in the general (as total for Schengen Area) number of refusals – up to 8% (July) and 6.6% (November), while in previous years this parameter constituted 12-14% on the average.

The undisputed ‘leader’ in terms of number of refusals to provide a visa is Spain – 22% in July and 15% in November. The ‘leaders’ also include France (10% and 15% respectively) and Czech Republic (11.9% and 8.3%). Among the countries whose consulates refuse more rarely than others there is Germany (2.5% in July and 5% in November) and Slovakia (7.4% and 1.3% respectively)

·                    Emergence of new technologies for processing visa applications enabled consular bodies of some countries-members of the EU (primarily ‘old’ countries) to decrease the total time of visa procedure and overcome the problem of having lines to some extent.  The time for review of a visa application in ‘old’ Schengen countries amounts up to 1 week in more than 50% of the cases. The time of applicants’ waiting in lines near consulates of ‘old’ Schengen countries does not exceed 1 hour in most cases.

·                    ‘Old’ Schengen countries issue 23.5% (July) – 31.8% (November) of multi-entry visas and 27% (July) – 25.7% (November) of free visas, which is 2-3 times more than in previous years.

Among them, most multi-entry visas are issued by consulates of Italy (36% in July and 67% in November) and Germany (23% and 60% respectively). Among ‘new’ Schengen countries, most multi-entry visas are issued by consulates of Hungary (55% and 68% respectively – the absolute leader) and Poland (45% and 43% respectively). Fewest multi-entry visas are issued by consulates of Greece (7% and 10% respectively).

·                    Most respondents quite positively evaluated the general atmosphere of communication with consulate employees.

·                    Results of the second stage of the study indicate the increase in positive responses and applicants’ evaluations of consulates of ‘new’ Schengen countries and leveling of their many indicators with parameters of the ‘old’ Schengen countries, i.e., there is a gradual overcoming of the most sensitive negative consequences of the expansion of the Schengen Area.

Negative:

·                    Complication of procedures and conditions for receipt of visas in ‘new’ Schengen countries. In July, applicants noted worsening under almost all researched parameters: “growth of lines”, “duration of procedure”, “cost of services”, “requirements for documents”, “clarity of requirements and criteria for issuing a visa” and “risk of getting a refusal”. Yet, according to the November poll, a certain progress and leveling of the situation was observed and that is partially caused by improvement in the work of consulates, but also by a seasonal factor.

·                    In most cases, the situation with getting visas to ‘new’ Schengen countries is worse than to ‘old’ countries. That concerns, in particular, the time spent in lines (cases when applicants spent 2, 3, 4 and even more hours are not that rare) and duration of a procedure of waiting for a decision (about a quarter of the applicants waited for a decision for more than 10 days, which is a violation of the Agreement). Such a situation experiences seasonal fluctuations – lines grow significantly in spring and summer and they decrease in winter.

·                    23% (July) and 40% (November) of applicants to ‘old’ Schengen countries attest about the necessity to pay additional costs to intermediaries (visa centers) and, consequently, the general expenses for visa procedure exceed 60 Euro instead of a limit sum of 35 Euro, which is fixed in the Agreement on Simplification of Visa Regime. The share of persons, who provide additional payments to intermediaries, is increasing.

·                    Before the entry to the Schengen Area, consulates of countries in Central and Eastern Europe (‘new’ Schengen Area) issued visas to Ukrainian citizens solely on free basis. Currently, in most cases (about 70% on both stages of the study) applicants to those countries had to pay a consulate fee in the amount of 35 Euro and only about 30% of the applicants got visas for free.

·                    In case of denial of a visa respondents were not explained the reasons for refusal in 2/3 of cases in July and 1/3 of cases in November.

·                    Validity of multi-entry visas does not exceed 1-3 months in most cases. Only 3-15% of the issued multi-entry visas are valid for more than 6 months, which significantly decreases their practical value.

·                    The poll did not register a decrease in the amount of documents, required by the consulates from applicants, which casts doubt upon the quality of fulfillment of the Article 4 of the Agreement that regulates a comprehensive list of documents for confirmation of a purpose of one’s visit, for certain categories of citizens.

Among other things, the study revealed that the absolute majority of Ukrainians who travel to countries of Western Europe (about two thirds) are residents of Kyiv, while a significant number among travelers to countries of Central and Eastern Europe comprises residents of the regions, first and foremost, of the ones bordering on the EU.

The biggest group of Ukrainians who travel to the EU is youth – persons aged up to 30 years comprise about a third of the polled respondents.

Thus, the Agreement on Simplification of Visa Regime became the first step in the right direction; however, it could not offset all the negative consequences caused by significant changes in migration conditions in Eastern Europe during the last 8 years, first and foremost, by introduction of visas by the new members of the EU and their entry to the Schengen Area..

A Web-site of the Consortium was presented: www.novisa.org.ua , where information and analytics on issues of visa and migration relations is concentrated. The purpose of the Internet resources is to unite public efforts for the purpose of abolishing visas, providing freedom of movement and people-to-people contacts in Europe. 

More details:
Iryna Sushko, iryna_sushko@ukr.net, tel. (044) 238 68 43

			Daryna Nakonechna, European Program Project Coordinator tel: +380 (44) 461 9500 | fax: +380 (44) 486 0166 email: nakonechna@irf.kiev.ua office: Kyiv, Bekhterevsky Lane, 13-a, room 5