KUWAIT: With travel season approaching, more and more people have started planning their holidays abroad, a long winded procedure that could include making many arrangements. Obtaining a visa is one of them, and one for Europe has many requirements. The most popular is the Schengen Visa that makes traveling across its 25 member countries - 22 European Union states and three non- EU members - much easier and involves less bureaucratic red tape.
The 25 countries covered by Schengen Visa are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungry, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Traveling on a Schengen Visa means that the visa holder can travel to any or all of the member countries using one single visa, thus avoiding the hassle and expenses in obtaining individual visas for each country. This is particularly beneficial for persons who wish to visit several European countries as part of the same trip.
The Schengen visa is a "visitor's visa" and is issued to citizens of countries who are required to obtain a visa before entering Europe. Expats and Kuwaiti applicants shared about the difficulties they encounter in obtaining this visa related to the long period of waiting, besides requirements like the eye scan and fingerprints that are now applicable
. In general, it is easier for Kuwaitis applying for this visa than for people of other nationalities living in Kuwait, people knowledgeable of the visa process said. Further, in some embassies, the expats have to fulfill more requirements. Several embassies denied any additional requirements were introduced this year for the Schengen visa and claimed that all norms remain as usual. According to the Spanish Embassy, there are no new requirements for the Schengen visa. "The requirements are different for the Kuwaiti citizens and people of other nationalities living in Kuwait.
The visa takes three working days at the maximum for Kuwaitis, while it may take up to 21 days for non-Kuwaitis. The fees paid for the visa are nonrefundable. Also, the applicant must have the airline ticket, hotel reservation, etc. For a long time now, we have not changed the requirements," the visa officer at the Embassy of Spain in Kuwait said. The German Embassy is applying similar rules for the visa applicants. "The visa costs KD 23 and the applicant has to fill out the application form and provide all necessary documents also mentioned on our website.
Also, the expats living in Kuwait and applying for the visa have to provide salary certificate and a bank statement, which is not required in case of Kuwaitis," said the employee in charge. "The Schengen visa should be issued by the embassy of the country where the traveler will stay for a longer period than other countries. If the duration of stay was the same, then it should be issued by the embassy of the first visited country. Until now, only the fingerprint is required, and the applicants provide this at the Al Qabas center," she added.
The Al Qabas Assurex exclusive Visa Application Center handles the issuing of visas for the Embassies of Germany and Italy in Kuwait. This center may process the visa application including the fingerprint for the German visa, while for the Italian visa they have to do it at the Italian Embassy. "We charge KD 33 for the German visa and KD 26 for the Italian visa. The visa takes four days for Kuwaitis and 15 days in case of expats," stressed the employee of the Center.
More about the Schengen visa: The purpose of the visit must be leisure, tourism, or business. Upon the issuance of the visa, the visa holder is allowed to enter all member countries and travel freely throughout the Schengen area.
It is strongly recommended to plan your journey within the timeframe of the Schengen Visa as extensions can be very difficult to obtain, thus forcing you to leave to remain in compliance with the Schengen rules and regulations. A Schengen visa allows the holder to travel freely within the Schengen countries for a maximum stay of up to 90 days in a six month period. All Schengen countries are in Europe.
However, it should not be confused with the EU (European Union). Schengen and European Union are two different agreements between European countries. A total of 25 countries, including all European Union countries (except Ireland and United Kingdom) and three non-EU members (Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland) have signed the Schengen agreement.
However, only 15 countries have implemented the common border control and visa provisions. The Schengen Visa holders are not allowed to live permanently or work in Europe. Schengen Visa holders only have the right to travel as temporary visitors to the member countries.
© Kuwait Times 2013
