Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code)

• Published date: 15 September 2009
• Official Gazette Publication: Diario Oficial de la Unión Europea, L 243, 15 de septiembre de 2009,Journal officiel de l’Union européenne, L 243, 15 septembre 2009,Gazzetta ufficiale dell’Unione europea, L 243, 15 settembre 2009

02009R0810 — EN — 12.04.2016 — 004.005

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►B REGULATION (EC) No 810/2009 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code) (OJ L 243 15.9.2009, p. 1)

Amended by:

		Official Journal
		No	page	date
►M1	COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 977/2011 of 3 October 2011	L 258	9	4.10.2011
►M2	REGULATION (EU) No 154/2012 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 February 2012	L 58	3	29.2.2012
►M3	REGULATION (EU) No 610/2013 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 26 June 2013	L 182	1	29.6.2013
►M4	REGULATION (EU) 2016/399 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 9 March 2016	L 77	1	23.3.2016

Corrected by:

►C1 Corrigendum, OJ L 284, 12.11.2018, p. 38 (810/2009)

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▼B

REGULATION (EC) No 810/2009 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 13 July 2009

establishing a Community Code on Visas

(Visa Code)

TITLE I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Objective and scope

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1. This Regulation establishes the procedures and conditions for issuing visas for transit through or intended stays on the territory of the Member States not exceeding 90 days in any 180-day period.

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2. The provisions of this Regulation shall apply to any third-country national who must be in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders of the Member States pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 of 15 March 2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement (1), without prejudice to:

(a)the rights of free movement enjoyed by third-country nationals who are family members of citizens of the Union;

(b)the equivalent rights enjoyed by third-country nationals and their family members, who, under agreements between the Community and its Member States, on the one hand, and these third countries, on the other, enjoy rights of free movement equivalent to those of Union citizens and members of their families.

3. This Regulation also lists the third countries whose nationals are required to hold an airport transit visa by way of exception from the principle of free transit laid down in Annex 9 to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, and establishes the procedures and conditions for issuing visas for the purpose of transit through the international transit areas of Member States’ airports.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:

1.‘third-country national’ means any person who is not a citizen of the Union within the meaning of Article 17(1) of the Treaty;

2.‘visa’ means an authorisation issued by a Member State with a view to:

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(a)transit through or an intended stay on the territory of the Member States of a duration of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period;

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(b)transit through the international transit areas of airports of the Member States;

3.‘uniform visa’ means a visa valid for the entire territory of the Member States;

4.‘visa with limited territorial validity’ means a visa valid for the territory of one or more Member States but not all Member States;

5.‘airport transit visa’ means a visa valid for transit through the international transit areas of one or more airports of the Member States;

6.‘visa sticker’ means the uniform format for visas as defined by Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 of 29 May 1995 laying down a uniform format for visas (2);

7.‘recognised travel document’ means a travel document recognised by one or more Member States for the purpose of affixing visas;

8.‘separate sheet for affixing a visa’ means the uniform format for forms for affixing the visa issued by Member States to persons holding travel documents not recognised by the Member State drawing up the form as defined by Council Regulation (EC) No 333/2002 of 18 February 2002 on a uniform format for forms for affixing the visa issued by Member States to persons holding travel documents not recognised by the Member State drawing up the form (3);

9.‘consulate’ means a Member State’s diplomatic mission or a Member State’s consular post authorised to issue visas and headed by a career consular officer as defined by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963;

10.‘application’ means an application for a visa;

11.‘commercial intermediary’ means a private administrative agency, transport company or travel agency (tour operator or retailer).

TITLE II

AIRPORT TRANSIT VISA

Article 3

Third-country nationals required to hold an airport transit visa

1. Nationals of the third countries listed in Annex IV shall be required to hold an airport transit visa when passing through the international transit areas of airports situated on the territory of the Member States.

2. In urgent cases of mass influx of illegal immigrants, individual Member States may require nationals of third countries other than those referred to in paragraph 1 to hold an airport transit visa when passing through the international transit areas of airports situated on their territory. Member States shall notify the Commission of such decisions before their entry into force and of withdrawals of such an airport transit visa requirement.

3. Within the framework of the Committee referred to in Article 52(1), those notifications shall be reviewed on an annual basis for the purpose of transferring the third country concerned to the list set out in Annex IV.

4. If the third country is not transferred to the list set out in Annex IV, the Member State concerned may maintain, provided that the conditions in paragraph 2 are met, or withdraw the airport transit visa requirement.

5. The following categories of persons shall be exempt from the requirement to hold an airport transit visa provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2:

(a)holders of a valid uniform visa, national long-stay visa or residence permit issued by a Member State;

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(b)third-country nationals holding a valid residence permit issued by a Member State which does not take part in the adoption of this Regulation or by a Member State which does not yet apply the provisions of the Schengen acquis in full, or third-country nationals holding one of the valid residence permits listed in Annex V issued by Andorra, Canada, Japan, San Marino or the United States of America guaranteeing the holder’s unconditional readmission;

(c)third-country nationals holding a valid visa for a Member State which does not take part in the adoption of this Regulation, for a Member State which does not yet apply the provisions of the Schengen acquis in full, or for Canada, Japan or the United States of America, when travelling to the issuing country or to any other third country, or when, having used the visa, returning from the issuing country;

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(d)family members of citizens of the Union as referred to in Article 1(2)(a);

(e)holders of diplomatic passports;

(f)flight crew members who are nationals of a contracting Party to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation.

TITLE III

PROCEDURES AND CONDITIONS FOR ISSUING VISAS

CHAPTER I

Authorities taking part in the procedures relating to applications

Article 4

Authorities competent for taking part in the procedures relating to applications

1. Applications shall be examined and decided on by consulates.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, applications may be examined and decided on at the external borders of the Member States by the authorities responsible for checks on persons, in accordance with Articles 35 and 36.

3. In the non-European overseas territories of Member States, applications may be examined and decided on by the authorities designated by the Member State concerned.

4. A Member State may require the involvement of authorities other than the ones designated in paragraphs 1 and 2 in the examination of and decision on applications.

5. A Member State may require to be consulted or informed by another Member State in accordance with Articles 22 and 31.

Article 5

Member State competent for examining and deciding on an application

1. The Member State competent for examining and deciding on an application for a uniform visa shall be:

(a)the Member State whose territory constitutes the sole destination of the visit(s);

(b)if the visit includes more than one destination, the Member State whose territory constitutes the main destination of the visit(s) in terms of the length or purpose of stay; or

(c)if no main destination can be determined, the Member State whose external border the applicant intends to cross in order to enter the territory of the Member States.

2. The Member State competent for examining and deciding on an application for a uniform visa for the purpose of transit shall be:

(a)in the case of transit through only one Member State, the Member State concerned; or

(b)in the case of transit through several Member States, the Member State whose external border the applicant intends to cross to start the transit.

3. The Member State competent for examining and deciding on an application for an airport transit visa shall be:

(a)in the case of a single airport transit, the Member State on whose...