Europe

EU Increases Schengen Visa Fees for Citizens of The Gambia by 50%

Citizens of The Gambia applying for a Schengen visa will now have to pay a 50 per cent higher fee, due to a decision adopted on Thursday, December 8, by the European Union’s Council.

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The fee for Gambian passport holders has spiked up from €80 to €120, the Council has revealed in a press release.

According to the same, the measure has been taken as leverage in order to push The Gambia to cooperate with the EU in the return and readmission of its nationals who are currently illegally staying in one of the EU Member States, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

The decision is a response to the lack of substantial and sustained improvement in cooperation on readmission with The Gambia. In particular, cooperation on identification and return remains challenging, the timeframe set by the EU-Gambia readmission arrangement has not been adhered to, and a unilateral moratorium on returns by charter flights remained in place until March 2022,” the Council explains.

A month ago, on November 9, the EU Commission had adopted the proposals to tighten visa restrictions for citizens of The Gambia and Senegal, asserting that these two countries had failed to cooperate with the EU in terms of readmission of their citizens who were illegally present in the EU.

The measures include requesting all Schengen visa applicants to submit several documents proving they meet the requirements, more than Schengen visa applicants are usually required. They are no longer eligible to benefit from multiple entry visas, instead they will only be able to obtain visas with single entry into the Schengen Area. The 15 days processing period will also be extended.

At the same time, the measures have foreseen the abolishment of the visa fee waiver for persons holding diplomatic and service passports.

These measures are a result of the Gambia’s refusal to cooperate with the EU, after both the European Council and the Council have continuously highlighted the need to mark real progress on the return and readmission of Gambians to their home country.

The Schengen visa code, which was updated in 2019, enables the EU to use visa policy as a leverage in order to push third countries to cooperate in the readmission of their citizens. After a second review of the cooperation of Gambia with the EU in this regard, it has been concluded that Gambia’s cooperation was insufficient, and thus increasing the fees has been seen as a necessary further step.

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