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On Thursday 6 April, the European Parliament endorsed the visa waiver regime for Ukrainian citizens who will be exempted from EU short-stay visa requirement.

Under the new law, Ukrainians who hold a biometric passport will be able to enter the EU without a visa for 90 days in any 180-day period, for tourism, to visit relatives or friends, or for business purposes. However, this does not provide for the right to work. The exemption applies to all EU countries, except Ireland and the UK, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

The legislation, approved in the EP by 521 votes to 75 with 36 abstentions, still needs to be formally adopted by the Council of Ministers. It is likely to enter into force in June, 20 days after it is published in the EU Official Journal.

Background

eu-LISA ensures 24/7 operational management of VIS's central system and its communication infrastructure. eu-LISA is responsible for the constant maintenance as well as the evolution of the system, while strictly following relevant security and data protection regulations. The Agency provides training to national authorities on how to use VIS, produces statistics and reports, and monitors relevant strands of research.

As well as VIS, the Agency manages two other large IT systems: Eurodac – a centralised system that collects and processes the digitalised fingerprints of asylum seekers in Europe, and the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) – the largest IT system for public security and law enforcement cooperation in Europe.

 

Contact:

for media requests: press [at] eulisa [dot] europa [dot] eu (press[at]eulisa[dot]europa[dot]eu)

for general information: info [at] eulisa [dot] europa [dot] eu (info[at]eulisa[dot]europa[dot]eu)