The European Community and Ukraine entered into an agreement on the facilitation of the issuance of visas on January 1, 2008. The purpose of the agreement is to facilitate the issuance of visas for an intended stay of no more than 90 days per half year, so called Schengen visas to the citizens of Ukraine.
The main points of the agreement are the following:
• More categories of visa applicants than before are entitled to multiple entry visas with longer validity.
• The fee for processing visa applications will continue to be 35 Euro for all types of Schengenvisa. There is however a possibility to charge a higher fee for applications that are handed in three days before departure.
• Several categories of applicants are exempted from paying a fee. Click here for more information.
• There is a processing time of 10 calendar days, starting from the day a complete visa application is handed in. The processing time may though be extended up to 30 days if when further inquiry is needed.
• Fore some categories of applicants it has been decided which supporting documents that may be required of the applicants to prove the purpose of the journey. Please note that the requirements of presenting enough means for up-keep during the journey and the returnticket and the intent to return as well as the requirement of travel medical insurance have not been changed. The Embassy will thus continue to require that the documentation to support these facts is submitted in with the application.
• The overall requirement of personal appearance to hand in a visa application as well as supporting documents does however remain. An applicant may have to come to the Embassy for an interview if there are any questions regarding the purpose of the journey.
• Holders of a valid diplomatic passports are exempted from the requirement of having a visa for short stay visits for a period not exceeding 90 days of 180 days.