Visa Information System

admin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:42:19 +0000

Since September 2006 Virtualisers has offered extensive project management services as a technical subcontractor to the Belgian Federal Ministry of the Interior and the related government agencies, that are involved in connecting their systems to the so called Visa Information System (VIS). The European Union Visa Information System is using a central database containing information, including biometrics, on visa applications by Third Country Nationals requiring a visa to enter the Schengen group. The system was established in June 2004 by the Council decision 2004/512/EC and was launched on 11/10/2011. VIS is rolled out on a regional basis, starting with North African and Middle Eastern countries for which the biometric border control checks were launched on 31/10/2011.
New applicants for a VIS Schengen visa have to travel to the nearest EU consulate to give their biometric information (10 fingerprints and a facial image), which is then entered into the system and remains valid for five years. Information is centrally stored in a database and a Biometric Matching System (BMS) in Strasbourg (with a back-up site in Austria) allowing checks to be made at border crossing points to ensure that the person holding the biometric visa is the same person who applied for it.
Two types of search are possible: verification and identification. Verification consists of a check, carried out by the separate Biometric Matching System that the fingerprints scanned at the border crossing point correspond to those associated with the biometric record attached to the visa (duration approx. 2 seconds). Identification consists of comparing the fingerprints taken at the border crossing post with the contents of the entire database.
All Schengen and Schengen-associated states will implement the system at all national consulates and official EU border crossing points within 3 years of the system going live. Belgium receives about 200.000 visa applications on a yearly base, but the central system is expected to contain over 40 million biometric records at full capacity.
VIS aims to prevent visa fraud and visa shopping by applicants between EU member states and to facilitate checks at external border crossing points and within territory of member states, assisting in the identification of listed persons. The bodies having access to VIS are: Consulates, police authorities from member states and Europol. Transfer of data to third countries or international organizations may take place only in an exceptional case of urgency, with the consent of the member state that entered the data.
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Visa Information System

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