Council Decision of 22 December 2009 amending the Schengen consultation network (technical specifications) (2009/1024/EU)

ANNEX II U.K.

Part 2 of the Schengen consultation network (technical specifications) is amended as follows:

1.

point 2.1.1 shall be replaced by the following:

‘The general process flow of documents may be described shortly as follows. Detailed information can be found in 3.1 “LIST OF FUNCTIONALITIES”.

The following messages can be exchanged via the Schengen Consultation Network:

— FORM A

:

“CONSULTATION REQUEST REGARDING VISA APPLICATION”

— FORM B

:

“REPLY TO CONSULTATION REQUEST”

— FORM C

:

“NOTIFICATION OF ISSUE OF VLTV”

— FORM F

:

“VISA APPLICATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF REPRESENTATION”

— FORM G

:

“RESPONSE TO A VISA APPLICATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF REPRESENTATION”

— FORM E

:

“ERROR MESSAGE”

— FORM R

:

“DELIVERY NOTIFICATION”

— FORM H

:

“NOTIFICATION OF ISSUE OF A VISA”

The receipt of any form A, B, C, F, G, E or H has to be acknowledged by replying with a form R, if the original message contained a ‘Document unifier’. The ‘Document unifier’ is labelled by ‘000’ on the form (the individual headings are documented below.). For the sake of clarity, the notification of the delivery is not stated explicitly in the following flow samples.’;

2.

in point 2.1.1.1, the following changes shall be introduced:

• the first subparagraph shall be replaced by the following:

  ‘Four forms – A, B, C and H – are exchanged via the network. A FORM A contains the consultation request on which the consulted authority has the opportunity to reply within 7 calendar days (See also 1.2.2). If the applicant has a nationality or belongs to a category of such a national for whom prior consultation is requested by a/some Member State(s) consultation of those States' central authority is required pursuant to Article 22 of the Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of 13 July 2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code)(1)’;

• the third subparagraph shall be replaced by the following:

  ‘If the consulting (requesting) authority issues a VLTV it notifies this to all Member States by sending C FORMs.’;

• below the table (Fig. 2), the following subparagraph shall be added:

  ‘According to Article 31 of the Visa Code a Member State may require that its central authorities be informed of visas issued by other Member States to nationals of specific third countries or to specific categories of such nationals, except when an airport transit visa is issued. This information is transmitted by sending an H-FORM.’;

3.

point 2.1.1.2 shall be replaced by the following:

‘If and only if a State intends to represent another State or to be represented by another State, the consultation procedure shall meet the requirements referred to in Article 8 of the Visa Code and in the representation arrangements concerned, as described in the below sample process pictures (pictures 1 and 2).

Consultation when processing a visa application in the context of representation shall be subject to the following rules, in accordance with Article 22 of the Visa Code, and can be carried out in the framework of one or both of the following scenarios:

Picture 1 — Norway representing Sweden

Norway’s central authorities are to ensure that necessary consultations of the other States take place. The absence of a reply within seven (7) days shall mean that the consulted State(s) has(have) no grounds for objecting to the issuing of the visa. If the represented State (Sweden) wants to be involved this has to be laid down in a bilateral representation arrangement between the States involved (Norway and Sweden). In that case, the represented State must always reply to the representing State's FORM F using a FORM G (obligation to reply). A visa cannot be issued if no reply indicating consent is received. The represented State may specify on the FORM G reply, that a Visa of Limited Territorial Validity (VLTV) should be issued in the framework of representation. In this case, all other Schengen States are duly notified (by means of a FORM C) of the VLTV's issued by the representing State. It is not necessary to state the territory to which the visa is limited.

Picture 2 — Norway representing Sweden

Sweden’s central authorities are to ensure that necessary consultations of the other State(s) take place. The absence of a reply within seven (7) days shall mean that the consulted State(s) has(have) no grounds for objecting to the issuing of the visa. The represented State must always reply to the representing State's FORM F using a FORM G (obligation to reply). A visa cannot be issued if no reply indicating consent is received. The represented State may specify on the FORM G reply, that a Visa of Limited Territorial Validity (VLTV) should be issued in the framework of representation. In this case, all other Schengen States are duly notified (by means of a FORM C) of the VLTV's issued by the representing State. It is not necessary to state the territory to which the visa is limited. The consultation procedure (7 calendar days) and any further communication between the represented State and representing State in relation to the decision process (e.g. exchange of forms F and G) has to be done within 15 calendar days in accordance with Article 23(1) of the Visa Code.’;

4.

in point 2.1.2, the first subparagraph shall be replaced by the following:

‘Each heading is identified by a number ranging from 001 to 999, followed by the separation sign “.”, the value of the heading and <CR><LF> (=Hexa: 0X0D resp. 0X0A) or <LF> (=Hexa:0X0A). The leading numbers refer to the headings in a form (A, B, C, F, G, H, E, R).’;

5.

in point 2.1.4, the following changes shall be introduced:

• in the table, heading ‘027’ shall be replaced by the following:

  ‘027.

  Main destination

  M

  Code (3) x3

  CZE (see 2.2.1)’;

• heading ‘023’ shall be replaced by the following:

  ‘023.

  Border of entry

  M

  Code (3)

  CZE (see 2.2.1)’;

• heading ‘026’ shall be replaced by the following:

  ‘026.

  Type of visa

  M

  Code (1)

  C’;

• headings 029, 030, 031 and 032 shall be deleted;

• the following heading shall be added:

  (*4) : Mandatory if the Member State's reference number of the application is available in the VIS.’;
  ‘099.	Reference number of the application in the VIS	O*4	alphanumblank (33)	CZE200907264365

• in the explanation, below the table, the following changes shall be introduced:

  • heading ‘027’ shall be replaced by the following:

    ‘Heading No. 027: Main destination

    format: Code (3) x 3

    This refers to the Member State or Member States (max 3) of main destination where the visa applicant should stay.’;

  • heading ‘023’ shall be replaced by the following:

    ‘Heading No. 023: Border of entry

    format: Code (3)

    This refers to the applicant’s information about the State of first entry.’;

  • heading ‘026’ shall be replaced by the following:

    ‘Heading No. 026: Type of visa

    format: Code (1)

    “C” visas type is to be used.’;

  • headings 029, 030, 031 and 032 shall be deleted;

  • the following heading shall be added:

    ‘Heading No. 099: Reference number of the application in the VIS format: alphanumblank (33)

    Unique number for identifying the visa application, consisting of country code [A-Z] indicating the issuing State, supplemented with a sequence of capital letters, numeral code, TELEX characters and blanks in minimal length 1 and maximum length 30 characters.

    The maximum total length has to be 33 characters.’;

6.

point 2.1.5 shall be replaced by the following:

‘2.1.5.

FORM B: “REPLY TO CONSULTATION REQUEST”

(*) : M: Mandatory heading; O: Optional heading (*1) : See *1 of form A. (*2) : Mandatory if the Member State's reference number of the application is available in the VIS.
No	Heading	M/O*	Format	Examples/Comments
000.	Document unifier (to use in form R)	M*1	alphanumblank (50)	DB-SQNR06755-MTS-ID-AUT
001.	Reference number of consultation request	M	alphanum (19)	DSL0290096401230100
040.	Reference number of reply	M	alphanum (19)	FRA0010020030040050
041.	Reply	M	code (1)	3 “1” = explicit approval “2” = refusal
042.	Date of reply	M	date (8)	19960305 (YYYYMMDD)
099.	Reference number of the application in the VIS	O*2	alphanumblank (33)	CZE200907264365

Heading No. 000 & Heading No. 001:

See FORM A: “CONSULTATION REQUEST REGARDING VISA APPLICATION”.

Heading No. 040: Reply reference

format: alphanum (19)

Identifier of a reply to a consultation.

The heading’s structure is as follows:

• 3 bytes for identification of the consulting State.

• 16 free bytes for identification at national level.

Heading No. 041: Reply

format: code (1)

Consultation can result in the following replies:

• “1” explicit approval within the deadline of 7 calendar days.

• “2” refusal within the deadline of 7 calendar days.

Heading No. 042: Date of reply

format: date (8)

This is the date the consulted central authority formulates its reply.

Heading No. 099:

See FORM A: “CONSULTATION REQUEST REGARDING VISA APPLICATION”.’;

7.

in Point 2.1.6, the following changes shall be introduced:

• in the table, heading ‘045’ shall be replaced by the following:

  (*4) : The previous version of visa number with 9 characters has to remain operational and readable. Exception for Germany: ICAO document 9303 on machine-readable travel documents provides the country code “D” for Germany.’;
  ‘045.	Visa number	M	alphanumblank (12)(*4)	D000000001, CZE000000001

• heading ‘026’ shall be replaced by the following:

  ‘026.

  Type of visa

  M

  Code (1)

  C’;

• heading ‘027’ shall be replaced by the following:

  ‘027.

  Main destination

  M

  Code (3) x3

  CZE (see 2.2.1)’;

• heading ‘023’ shall be replaced by the following:

  ‘023.

  Border of entry

  M

  Code (3)

  CZE (see 2.2.1)’;

• headings 029, 030, 031 and 032 shall be deleted;

• the following heading shall be added:

  (*5) : Mandatory if the Member State's reference number of the application is available in the VIS.’;
  ‘099.	Reference number of the application in the VIS	O*5	alphanumblank (33)	CZE200907264365

• in the explanation, below the table, the following changes shall be introduced:

  • heading ‘045’ shall be replaced by the following:

    ‘Heading No. 045: Visa number

    format: alphanumblank (12)

    Unique number for identifying the visa sticker, consisting of one or three letter(s) identifying the State, supplemented with TELEX characters if needed and a sequence number of the visa sticker. The total number of characters shall amount to 12(2)’;

  • ‘Heading No. 000 & Heading No. 001 & Remaining headings’ shall be replaced by the following:

    ‘Other headings:

    See FORM A: “CONSULTATION REQUEST REGARDING VISA APPLICATION”.’;

8.

in point 2.1.7, the following changes shall be introduced:

• in the table, heading ‘027’ shall be replaced by the following:

  ‘027.

  Main destination

  M

  Code (3) x3

  CZE (see 2.2.1)’;

• heading ‘023’ shall be replaced by the following:

  ‘023.

  Border of entry

  M

  Code (3)

  CZE (see 2.2.1)’;

• heading ‘026’ shall be replaced by the following:

  ‘026.

  Type of visa

  M

  Code (1)

  C’;

• headings 029, 030, 031 and 032 shall be deleted;

• the following heading shall be added:

  (*4) : Mandatory if the Member State's reference number of the application is available in the VIS.’;
  ‘099.	Reference number of the application in the VIS	O*4	alphanumblank (33)	CZE200907264365

• in the explanation, below the table, ‘Headings’ shall be replaced by the following:

  ‘Other headings:

  See FORM A: “CONSULTATION REQUEST REGARDING VISA APPLICATION”.’;

9.

point 2.1.8 shall be replaced by the following:

‘2.1.8.

FORM G: “RESPONSE TO A VISA APPLICATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF REPRESENTATION”

(*) : M: Mandatory heading; O: Optional heading (*1) : See *1 of form A. (*2) : Mandatory if the Member State's reference number of the application is available in the VIS.
No	Heading	M/O*	Format	Examples/Comments
000.	Document unifier (to use in form R)	M*1	alphanumblank (50)	DB-SQNR06755-MTS-ID-AUT
001.	Reference number of consultation request	M	alphanum (19)	DSL0290096401230100
040.	Reference number of reply	M	alphanum (19)	FRA0010020030040050
041.	Reply	M	code (1)	3 “1” = explicit approval “2” = refusal “5” = approval for LTV
042.	Date of reply	M	date (8)	19960305 (YYYYMMDD)
101.	Comments	O	alphanumblank (240)	LTV:BNL-D-F
099.	Reference number of the application in the VIS	O*2	alphanumblank (33)	CZE200907264365

Heading No. 041: Reply

format: code (1)

In addition to the codes mentioned in heading 041. of

FORM B: “REPLY TO CONSULTATION REQUEST”

the following code is also allowed:

“5” approval for LTV

Heading No. 101: Comments

Format: alphanumblank (240)

This optional space enables the represented State to transmit additional information to the representing State for the purpose of issuing the visa.

Other headings:

See FORM B: ‘REPLY TO CONSULTATION REQUEST”.’;

10.

point 2.1.9 shall be replaced by the following:

‘2.1.9

FORM E: “ERROR MESSAGE”

(*) : M: Mandatory heading; O: Optional heading (*1) : See *1 of form A. (*2) : M if heading 050. = 1 (*3) : M if heading 050. = 2 (*4) : Mandatory if the Member State's reference number of the application is available in the VIS.
No	Heading	M/O*	Format	Examples/Comments
000.	Document unifier (to use in form R)	M*1	alphanumblank (50)	DB-SQNR06755-MTS-ID-AUT
047.	Reference of error message	M	alphanum (19)	DSL0290096401230100
048.	Document reference (erroneous form)	M	alphanum (19)	FRA0010020030040050
049.	Type of form	M	code (1)	A {“A”|“B”|“C”|“F”|“G”|“H”}
050.	Type of error	M	code (1)	1 1 = technical error 2 = logical error
051.	Reason for technical error	O*2	num (3)	008 (number of the first heading which had an error)
052.	Reason for logical error	O*3	code (2)	01 reply received too late 02 consultation/information not required 03 VLTV has been issued in the meantime 04 received in duplicate 05 form unknown
099.	Reference number of the application in the VIS	O*4	alphanumblank (33)	CZE200907264365

Heading No. 047: Reference of error message

Format: alphanum (19)

The purpose of this heading is to identify the error message:

• 3 bytes identifying the sending State

• 16 bytes for the national identification number

Heading No. 048: Document reference (erroneous form)

Format: alphanum (19)

This identifies the document the error refers to.

It contains one of the following headings of a referred form:

• “Reference number of request”, (heading 001 of a referred “A” or “F”).

• “Reference number of reply”, (heading 040 of a referred “B” or “G”).

• “Reference of the decision”, (heading 044 of a referred “C” or “H”).

Heading No. 049: Type of form

Format: code (1)

Possible indications:. “A”, “B”, “C”, “F”, “G” or “H”.

Heading No. 050: Type of error

Format: code (1)

This heading indicates the error causing an E Form to be sent. The following codes can be used:

• “1” technical error

• “2” logical error

Heading No. 051: Reason for the technical error

Format: num (3)

If error code 1 appears under heading No. 050, the number of the heading of the document which contains the first error must compulsorily be entered under heading No. 051.

Heading No. 052: Reason for the logical error

Format: code (2)

If error code 2 appears under heading No. 050, the reason for the error shall be entered, according to the following codes:

• “01” Reply received too late

• “02” No consultation/information required

• “03” Reply was not taken into account since visa of limited territorial validity has been issued in the meantime

• “04” Form received in duplicate

• “05” Unknown which form was received

The national applications shall be adapted in such a way that the statistics generated on Form E enable distinction of the number of error messages caused by technical errors (code = “1” under Heading No. 050) and logical errors (code = “2” under Heading No. 050).

Additional rule for form E:

It is prohibited to scan a form E itself for logical or technical failures and to reply to a malformed E by another form E to prevent a cumulative process – “Snowball Effect”.’;

11.

In point 2.1.10. under ‘Additional rules for form R’, the second bullet point shall be replaced by the following:

‘If a Member State receives an alleged erroneous form R, it has to discard this form R without processing it. This means that the Member State should ignore forms R that seem to be invalid. Consequently an application which had to discard potentially malformed forms R will have remaining, unacknowledged forms A,....., H which will have to be resent until a valid form R arrives. If the problem persists it has to be solved bilaterally by technical staff.’;

12.

After point 2.1.10, the following point shall be added:

‘2.1.11.

FORM H: “NOTIFICATION OF ISSUE OF A VISA”

(*) : M: Mandatory heading; O: Optional heading (*1) : See *1 of form A. (*2) : The previous version of visa number with 9 characters has to remain operational and readable. Exception for Germany: ICAO document 9303 on machine-readable travel documents provides the country code “D” for Germany. (*3) : Special procedure for Greece. See form A. (*4) : Each Member State specifies a central clearing point which is permanently accessible by email. The central clearing point communicates the reasons for the refusal by secure means of communication – depending on the content – to the central clearing point of the requesting Member State where the visa application is pending. (*5) : Mandatory if the Member State's reference number of the application is available in the VIS.’;
No	Heading	M/O*	Format	Examples/Comments
000.	Document unifier (to use in form R)	M*1	alphanumblank (50)	DB-SQNR06755-MTS-ID-AUT
001.	Reference number of consultation request	M	alphanum (19)	DSL0290096401230100
044.	Reference of the decision	M	alphanum (19)	DSL0010012345678901
045.	Visa number	M	alphanum (12)*2	D000000001, CZE000000001
046.	Date of issue	O	date (8)	19960302 (YYYYMMDD)
026.	Type of visa	M	code (1)	C
002.	Surname at birth	M	name (50)	IVANOVA
003.	Other surname	M	name (50)	POPOVA
004.	First names	M	name (25)	NATALIA
005.	Date of birth	M	date (8)	19640123
006.	Place of birth	M	alphanumblank (35)	MOSCOW
007.	Sex	M	code (1)	F {“M”|“F”|“X”}
008.	Original nationality	M	code (3)	UKR (see 2.2.1)
009.	Type of travel document	M	code (2)	01 (see 2.2.3)
010.	Issuing country or organization	M	code (3)	RUS (see 2.2.1)
011.	Number of travel document	M	alphanumblank (20)	PP00000001
015.	Duration of stay requested	M	num (2)	08 (00-90)
017.	Purpose of stay	M	code (2) x 3	01 (see 2.2.4)
027.	Main destination	M	code (3) x 3	CZE (see 2.2.1)
037.	Current nationality(ies)	M	code (3) x 3	RUS (see 2.2.1)
039.	Date request sent	M	date (8)	19960301 (YYYYMMDD)
013.	Planned travel dates (entry and exit)	M	date (8) x 2	19960401 (and extra 013. with) 19960428 (YYYYMMDD)
016.	Number of entries requested	M	code (1)	1 {“1”|“2”|“M”}
019.	Occupation	O	code (2)	01 (see 2.2.5)
021.	Parents' names	O*3	name (50)	IVANOV
022.	Reference in Schengen State	O	alphanumblank (50) x 2	TRANSPORT COMPANY.
023.	Border of entry	M	code (3)	CZE (see 2.2.1)
025.	Date the application was submitted	O	date (8)	19960225 (YYYYMMDD)
(…)	(…)	(…)	(…)	(…) (…)
(…)	(…)	(…)	(…)	(…) (…)
(…)	(…)	(…)	(…)	(…) (…)
(…)	(…)	(…)	(…)	(…) (…)
(…)	(…)	(…)	(…)	(…)
033.	Privileged member of a Union citizen's family	O*4	code (1)	1 (see2.2.6)
099.	Reference number of the application in the VIS	M*5	alphanumblank (33)	CZE200907264365

13.

Point 2.2.3 shall be replaced by the following:

‘01

ORDINARY PASSPORT

02

GROUP PASSPORT

03

PROTECTION PASSPORT

04

DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT

05

SERVICE PASSPORT

06

OFFICIAL DUTY PASSPORT

07

SPECIAL PASSPORT

08

PASSPORT FOR ALIENS

10

NATIONAL LAISSEZ-PASSER

11

UNITED NATIONS LAISSEZ-PASSER

12

TRAVEL DOCUMENT FOR REFUGEES (1951 GENEVA CONVENTION)

13

TRAVEL DOCUMENT FOR STATELESS PERSONS (1954 NEW YORK CONVENTION)

14

OFFICIAL PASSPORT

16

SEAMAN'S BOOK

99

OTHERS’;

14.

Point 2.2.4 shall be replaced by the following:

‘00

MEDICAL REASONS

01

BUSINESS

02

CULTURAL

03

VISIT OF FAMILY OR FRIENDS

05

OFFICIAL VISIT

07

SPORTS

10

TOURISM

11

STUDY

12

TRANSIT

13

AIRPORT TRANSIT

99

OTHER’.

(1)

OJ L 243, 15.9.2009, p. 1.’;

(2)

See Annex to Council Regulation (EC) No 856/2008 of 24 July 2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 laying down a uniform format for visas as regards the numbering of visas (OJ L 235, 2.9.2008, p. 1).’;