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Revision of The Schengen Visa Code

On 1st April, 2014, the European Commission published its long-awaited proposal for a revision of the Schengen Visa Code. Some of the new measures the European Commission proposes will go a long way towards removing administrative burdens and facilitating the entry of seafarers into the Schengen area. This is certainly the case for the new provisions extending the validity period of multiple-entry visas, shortening the time period to process applications, and eliminating existing requirements to lodge them in person.

The proposal must now be approved by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, which cannot be expected before 2015, at the earliest. Until such time, the current visa rules laid down in the Visa Code will continue to apply. In this context, it is noteworthy that on 29th April, 2014, the European Commission issued a Commission Implementing Decision amending Commission Decision C(2010) 1620 establishing the Visa Handbook. Regarding seamen, the Commission took onboard the industry's concerns, as per below.

Scenarios amending the Schengen Visa Handbook

- § 15 – Recommended best practice for seafarers when it is not possible to determine in which Member State they will start their transit, because the place of embarkation is unknown in advance (important for tramp shipping), i.e. the consulate of the Member State where the transit could possibly start, should deal with the visa application.

- § 20 (a) – A scenario for two-entry visas for first time applicant seafarers, to allow them to disembark the ship back into a Schengen port and transit through the Schengen territory, after their contract has come to an end.

- § 20 (c) – A recognition that seafarers are a category of people for which the occurrence of "unforeseeable and imperative" reasons are relatively frequent. Hence, seafarers having proved their integrity and reliability generally qualify for multiple entry visas with a longer period of validity, for the purpose of transit.

- § 22 – Recommended best practice for, inter alia, seafarers having a visa with limited territorial validity. In cases where those seafarers would enter the Schengen area in a Member State that is different from the one where the vessel is expected to call, the consent of the other Member State is necessary to extend the territorial validity to cover both Member States.

- § 22 and 27 – Recommended best practice and examples of scenarios for issuing visas to seafarers at the border. Despite the general rule that visas should not be issued at the border to third country nationals, a visa with limited territorial validity may be issued at the border to a seafarer recruited with short notice. If another Member State should give its consent to an extension of the territorial validity of such visa, the form of Annex IX, Part 1 of the Visa Code should be considered as proof of such consent.