TheCable

The Schengen new visa rules takes effect on Sunday, requiring applicants to pay an increased fee of €80.

An official from the information monitoring and media division of Lithuania, had earlier announced that the increase followed the implementation of the updated Schengen visa code adopted by the EU Council in June 2019.

Schengen refers to the European Union (EU) passport-free zone that covers 26 countries such as Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy and Latvia.

Others are Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The new fee is €20 more than initial €60 being charged for the visa application.

Children applying for visa will now pay €40 instead of €35.

“The European Union has argued that the visa fee hike brings it in line with the level where it would be today if it had been aligned to the general EU-wide inflation rate since 2006,” information on Schengen visa website reads.

“It also points out that despite the increase, Schengen visa fees remain much lower than the ones for other countries.

“‘By international standards, the €80 visa fee remains low. As a comparison, applying for a tourist visa to the United States costs €143 and €126 for China. Travelers to Australia have to pay €90 for their visa, while those going to New Zealand will be charged €146. A visa to Canada costs €68, to India €95, and to the UK €112 (January 2020),’ a Q&A published by the European Commission points out.”