Kazakhstan not put on a ‘black list’ by EU in regards to Schengen visas
«As a general rule, a decision to issue Schengen visa is taken by the respective Consulate of the Member State of the EU within 15 days. This rule will continue to apply to Kazakhstan.
This period may, in exceptional individual cases, be extended up to 45 days, if a more detailed examination of the application and/or additional documents are required. This has always applied to all applicants regardless of citizenship, and is only used in exceptional cases.
Recent introduction of prior consultation procedure for Kazakhstan, which may take of up to seven days, falls within the general rule of 15 days, so the applicants will not experience significant delays.
Prior consultation procedure is a standard procedure regulated in the Visa Code, and applies to a number of countries. There are no «black lists» in the Schengen Information System (SIS) which is systematically used by Schengen member states to consult each other.
The introduction of a prior consultation procedure for Kazakhstan within the Schengen visa system has nothing to do with the overall excellent relations between the EU and Kazakhstan which continue their dynamic development in many different areas of mutual interest,» a statement reads.
Earlier, Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aibek Smadyarov informed about the changes in the procedure of obtaining Schengen visas by Kazakhstani nationals.
«As for the issue that Kazakhstan was put on a «black list», we have not received any official information from the EU side. However, we were informed that beginning from March 1, Kazakhstan will be included in the list of countries whose nationals will need additional consultations to apply for a Schengen visa,» he said.
