Common Consular Instructions on visas for the diplomatic missions and consular posts

Visas issued by the Member States in conformity with Article 5 shall be produced in the form of a uniform format (sticker). They shall conform to the specifications set out in the Annex.

Further technical specifications which render the visa difficult to counterfeit or falsify shall be laid down in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 6.

1 The specifications referred to in Article 2 shall be secret and not be published. They shall be made available only to bodies designated by the Member States as responsible for printing and to persons duly authorised by a Member State or the Commission.

2 Each Member State shall designate one body having responsibility for printing visas. It shall communicate the name of that body to the Commission and the other Member States. The same body may be designated by two or more Member States for this purpose. Each Member State shall be entitled to change its designated body. It shall inform the Commission and the other Member States accordingly.

1 Without prejudice to the relevant more extensive provisions concerning data protection, an individual to whom a visa is issued shall have the right to verify the personal particulars entered on the visa and, where appropriate, to ask for any corrections or deletions to be made.

2 No information in machine-readable form shall be given on the uniform format for visas unless it also appears in the boxes described in points 6 to 12 of the Annex, or unless it is mentioned in the relevant travel document.

For the purposes of this Regulation a ‘visa’ shall mean an authorisation given by a or a decision taken by a Member State which is required for entry into its territory with a view to: an intended stay in that Member State or in several Member States of no more than three months in all, transit through the territory or airport transit zone of that Member State or several Member States.

1 Where reference is made to the procedure defined in this Article, the following provisions shall apply.

2 The Commission shall be assisted by a committee composed of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in article 148(2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States within the committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The chairman shall not vote.

3 (a) The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are in accordance with the opinion of the committee. (b) If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion of the committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall, without delay, submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority. If, on the expire of a period of two months, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission, save where the Council has decided against the said measures by a simple majority.

Where Member States use the uniform visa format for purposes other than those covered by Article 5, appropriate measures must be taken to ensure that confusion with the visa referred to in Article 5 is not possible.

This Regulation shall enter into force not the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. Article 1 shall become applicable six months after the adoption of the measures referred to in Article 2.

1 Further technical specifications for the uniform format for visas relating to the following shall be established in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 6(2): (a) additional elements and security requirements including enhanced anti-forgery, counterfeiting and falsification standards; (b) technical standards and methods to be used for the filling in of the uniform visa.

2 The colours of the visa sticker may be changed in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 6(2).’

1 The Commission shall be assisted by a committee.

2 Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC ’ shall apply. The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at two months.

3 The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

The first sentence of Annex 8 of the final version of the Common Consular Instructions and Annex 6 of the final version of the Common Manual as they stand following the Decision of the Schengen Executive Committee of 28 April 1999 shall be replaced by the following: ‘The technical and security features for the visa sticker format are contained in, or adopted on the basis of, Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 of 29 May 1995 laying down a uniform format for visas , as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 334/2002 ’.

This Regulation shall not affect the powers of the Member States regarding recognition of the States and territorial entities and passports, identity documents and travel documents issued by their authorities.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.