The European Commission announced a new regulation to simplify visa application procedures for Turkish citizens wishing to travel to EU Schengen countries. The announced changes will reduce waiting times for Turkish visa applicants and cut red tape.
As reported by CNN Türk, with yesterday’s decision by the EU executive body, Turks will no longer need to apply for short visas of 7-10 days, but after applying for a short-stay visa, they will be eligible for a visa for Schengen countries initially for 6 months, then extendable successively to 1 year, 3 years and up to 5 years, following a so-called ‘cascade’ system that provides for a progressive extension of stay permits.
This ‘cascade’ system will be available to Turkish citizens who have previously obtained a Schengen visa, who have not violated the visa regulations and who have a regular travel record without having exceeded their visa authorisation times. Thus, the new visa regulation for Turkish citizens travelling to the EU is as follows:
- A Schengen visa for up to 6 months will be granted to Turkish citizens who apply for a visa within one year of the expiry of their previous short-stay visa.
- If a Turkish citizen has applied for a 6 months Schengen visa and it has expired, and applies for a new visa within 2 years from its expiry date, they will be granted a Schengen visa for 1 year.
- Turkish nationals who have a one-year Schengen visa and apply for a new visa within 2 years of the expiry of the previous one, will be granted a 3-year visa with the right to enter the Schengen area multiple times.
- Finally, if a Turkish citizen received a Schengen visa for 3 years and, from the date of expiry, applies for a new visa within 2 years, they will receive a visa for 5 years with the right to enter the Schengen area multiple times.
In any case, the period of validity of the visa may not exceed the period of validity of the passport, so that the Schengen visa will expire at least 3 months before the expiry date of the Turkish citizen’s passport. The new ‘cascade’ visa system will apply to 25 EU countries belonging to the Schengen area: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden. The four non-EU Schengen countries, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, are out of the new regulation.
The news was announced by the EU ambassador in Ankara, Thomas Hans Ossowski, who called for negotiations between Turkey and the EU on visa liberalisation to resume as soon as possible: “It will be much easier and much faster for Turkish citizens”, said Ossowski, who stressed that “it is urgent to reengage in this process of visa-free travel in the Schengen space and the EU’. Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat also confirmed the new regulations aimed at facilitating and speeding up visa application procedures for Turkish citizens.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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