Regulation (EU) 2023/2685 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 November 2023 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 as regards the digitalisation of the visa procedure

1 Visas issued by the Member States in conformity with Article 5 shall be produced in a uniform digital format (“digital visa”). They shall contain the data fields set out in the Annex.

2 The digital visa shall: (a) be issued as a 2D barcode which shall be cryptographically signed by the Country Signing Certificate Authority of the issuing Member State; (b) contain the facial image of the visa holder; and (c) be printable.

3 Member States may add national entries in the “comments” section in accordance with Article 10(1), point (n) of Regulation (EC) No 767/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

1 The Commission shall adopt implementing acts to establish technical specifications for the uniform format for digital visas relating to the following: (a) technical standards and methods for: (i) encoding the data contained in the digital visa; and (ii) the facial image; (b) specifications for generating the printable version of the digital visa.

2 The Commission may decide by means of implementing acts that the technical specifications referred to in paragraph 1 are to be secret and not be published. In that case those technical specifications shall be made available only to persons duly authorised by a Member State or by the Commission.

3 The implementing acts referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure to be applied as referred to in Article 6(2) of this Regulation in conjunction with the transitional provision in Article 13(1), point (c), of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council . (3) Article 3 is deleted; (4) in Article 4, paragraph 2 is deleted; (5) the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 is replaced by the text set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

1 Once the following conditions have been met, the Commission shall adopt a decision, by means of an implementing act, setting the date from which Member States are to issue digital visas pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 as amended by this Regulation: (a) the implementing acts laying down the technical specifications referred to in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 have been adopted; (b) the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA), established by Regulation (EU) 2018/1726 of the European Parliament and of the Council has declared the successful completion of comprehensive tests; (c) eu-LISA has validated the technical and legal arrangements for the start of issuing visas in digital format and notified them to the Commission.

2 The Commission decision referred to in paragraph 1 shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

3 By 1 December 2026 and every year thereafter until the decision of the Commission referred to in paragraph 1 has been adopted, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the progress with regard to the implementation of this Regulation. That report shall contain detailed information about the costs incurred and information on any risks which impact the overall costs.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall apply from the date set by the Commission in accordance with Article 2(1), with the exception of Article 1, point 2, which shall apply from 27 December 2023.