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"In view of the great public interest in the issue of visa issuance, and also with the aim of preventing violations of the rights of Ukrainian citizens to freedom of movement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine regularly monitors the process of issuing foreign visas to Ukrainian citizens," he said.
According to a representative of the foreign policy agency, the Consular Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held meetings with the heads of consular sections of the embassies of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, during which the Ukrainian side noted the need for the embassies to conduct extensive explanatory work to disseminate information about the advantages of the new system of submitting visa applications for Ukrainian citizens, and also emphasized the importance of ensuring quality service and proper treatment of applicants – citizens of Ukraine.
Recall that on February 19, the German Embassy in Ukraine and on March 1, the embassies of Belgium and the Netherlands began cooperation with the international company VFS in order to speed up the processing of citizens' visa applications. In particular, the company takes responsibility for compiling the full package of documents of applicants who apply for visas to the Benelux countries, submitting them to the embassy, and subsequently returning the documents to the applicant. For these services, a payment of 170 UAH is charged to the company's account, while the visa fee of €35 is paid separately. As for the German Embassy, the company VFS is only responsible for scheduling interview dates for applicants, for which it charges a fee of 30 UAH.
According to information provided by the embassies of these countries, the company VFS cooperates with 46 embassies of EU member states in 18 countries around the world, including the representations of Belgium, the Netherlands and Great Britain in Moscow.
On March 2, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Ukraine, Jean-Paul Véziant, stated that France and Italy are also considering the possibility of cooperating with the company VFS to issue visas to Ukrainian citizens.
European Commission does not like the increase in visa prices for Ukrainians
A representative of the European Commission, Emma Udwin, believes that the increase in the cost of visas for Ukrainians through the involvement of the intermediary company VFS contradicts the spirit of the agreement on visa facilitation between the EU and Ukraine. She stated this on Wednesday, March 7, commenting on the decision of Belgium and the Netherlands to provide visas to Ukrainians through the mediation of the international company VFS, and the decision of the German Embassy in Ukraine to cooperate with this company to schedule interview times.
"You must distinguish between what are the legal provisions and what is the spirit of the agreement. There is nothing in what they are doing that contradicts the essence of the agreement, but we believe that the increase in prices contradicts the idea and spirit of the agreement," Udwin said. She noted that the main goal of the agreement between Ukraine and the EU was to facilitate and speed up Ukrainians' obtaining of European visas, and in any case not the opposite.
Emma Udwin noted that the creation of a visa application center does not in principle contradict the provisions of the agreement between Ukraine and the EU, since issues of the visa issuance process and their cost should be decided by member states. "Thus, with regard to visa fees, the actual increase to €60 should be considered in terms of compliance with the spirit of the agreement, which is aimed at excluding an increase in the cost of visas for Ukraine. Thus, we do not support such prices," Udwin noted.
Recall that Ukraine and the European Union initialed the visa facilitation agreement on October 27, 2006. The agreement, in particular, stipulates that decisions regarding the issuance or refusal of a visa will be made within 10 days, and the number of documents required for visa processing will be reduced. In addition, this agreement provides for simplified criteria for issuing multiple-entry visas for many groups of people, in particular, close relatives of EU citizens, truck drivers, businessmen, students, journalists, and members of official delegations. In addition, it was planned that the cost of a Schengen visa would be fixed at €35, and free visas would be issued to close relatives of EU citizens, students, disabled persons, journalists, and pensioners.
Ukraine and the EU plan to sign the agreement in the summer of this year.