Results of the third wave of public monitoring of the EU countries’ visa policy and practices in Ukraine are publicized

The Center for Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy of Ukraine and the All-Ukrainian Consortium of Public Organizations “Europe Without Barriers” present the results of the third wave of study of policy and practice of issuance of visas by the EU countries’ consular institutions to Ukrainian citizens after the expansion of the Schengen zone (December 21, 2007) and entry into legal force of the Agreement between Ukraine and the EU on simplification of visa issuance (January 1, 2008). The study has been implemented under the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.

The study was conducted by polling respondents at the exit from consulates (or visa centers).

Two samples of the respondents were covered.

Sample 1: Persons at the exit from consular institutions, who have completed the procedure of submission of visa documents for consideration (2,303 persons in 21 consular institutions).

Sample 2: Persons at the exit from consular institutions, who have received a decision regarding their visa application (2,102 persons in 21 consular institutions).

The study covered consular institutions of 11 countries of the Schengen zone that are located in Kyiv (10 consulates or visa centers) and other regions of Ukraine (11 consulates).

Sample 2 covers only those recipients of Schengen visas who underwent the entire procedure of getting their visa themselves – from submission of documents to receipt of a decision. The sample does not include those who were getting their visas through tourist agencies.

The countries covered are (in brackets – number of consular institutions, covered by the monitoring): Germany (1), France (1), Italy (1), Spain (1), Belgium (1), Greece (2), Poland (5), Hungary (3), Czech Republic (3), Slovakia (2), Lithuania (1).

The study revealed the following trends:

• Stabilization in the number of denials in issuance of visas (8%), with preservation of a significant difference between different consulates: from 1% (Lithuania ) to 17% (Czech Republic).
• Among the people, polled during the submission of their visa applications, consulates did not accept documents from 8% of the respondents. Thus, the real number of those, who had the intention to travel and did not implement it, is more than the 8% of official denials.
• An insignificant increase (from 28 to 32%) in the share of free visas.
• About a third of those, who paid for their visas, paid more than 35 Euro, established by the Agreement on simplification of visa issuance. The share of this category increased from 16 to 23% of all respondents.
• There is a decrease in the total number of multi-entry visas (from 37% to 29%); however, at the same time, there is an increase in the average validity of multi-entry visas.
• There is an increase from 13-14% to 20% share of visas that are valid for more than 5 months. Approximately every tenth visa has a validity term of one year. Consular institutions of Hungary show the best results in terms of issuance of long-term visas (more than half of the visas are valid for more than 5 months).
• Only 11 out of 2,102 respondents (0.5%) received visas of validity of more than one year (two-three years). 7 of those visas were issued by Consulates General of the Republic of Poland.
• There are no significant changes regarding documents (their number and content) that are required from the applicants.
• About 15% of the applicants waited for a decision of a consulate for more than 10 days, established by the Agreement on simplification of visa issuance.
• 75% of the respondents classify themselves as applicants of privileged categories, defined by the Agreement on simplification of visa issuance. In particular, 54% of the applicants could potentially claim free issuance of visas (the actual share of those is smaller because not all privileged applicants travel with a ‘designated’ goal, for example, for purposes of education or professional activity). Nevertheless, there is a resource for an increase in the share of free visas from the current level of 32% up to the level of 40-45%.
• According to the Agreement, the share of those who have a potential right to claim long-term visas is 55%, but a real share of such visas (more than 5 months) is about 20%. Since the indicated privilege does not cover those who travel to the EU for the first time or after a long interruption or those who received denials in recent past or had conflict with the EU laws, the approximate estimated number of recipients of such visas has to amount to 30-40%.

The Center for Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy of Ukraine is an independent analytical center, founded in 1992. It conducts studies in the area of international relations, foreign policy, security, European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine.

www.novisa.org.ua

			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