The Liechtenstein government has adopted a statement regarding the reform of the Visa Information System (VIS), with a special focus on the age for taking fingerprints, two months after discussing the matter in the first reading in September.
In the meeting, the Liechtenstein policymakers adopted the statement on VIS reform, which intends to reduce the age of those taking fingerprints for children from 12 years to six years, while people over the age of 75 can be exempted from this requirement.
The EU regulations form the basis for the renewals of the VIS in order to better meet the challenges in visa, border and security policy. Most of the changes are of a technical nature. However, certain provisions of the VIS regulations need to be specified in national legislation. This is done by amending the Aliens Act and the Asylum Act.
The reform of the Visa Infomation System (VIS) is regulated in two specific EU regulations: Regulation (EU) 2021/1133 and Regulation (EU) 2021/1134, which are the continuation of the development of the Schengen acquis – with the latter including rules and agreements that legitimate the passport-free travel across the European countries.
Lichtenstein, as a Schengen member state, is required to comply with these rules. Moreover, the EU regulations are the basis for the renewals of the VIS, with the changes being mainly of a technical nature.
Certain provisions of the VIS regulation are specified in national legislation, which is done by amending the Aliens Act and the Asylum Act.
According to the VIS Technical Report 2022, the overall technical performance of VIS and BMS was in line with the service level agreement (SLA), with the availability of 2022 being 99.93 per cent and 99.98 per cent in the following year.
The next step for the Central VIS is connecting to Europol, despite the fact that it has been ready to join since October 2019. One of the most recent VIS revisions was adopted in 2921 and included reforming the system and bringing new functionalities, such as the integration of long-stay visas and residence permits.
Until the reform is implemented, perhaps Bulgaria and Romania, who in July of 2021 have achieved read-only access to VIS, can accelerate their European integration. The capacity for VIS increased from 100 million for BMS to 85 million for the VIS and BMS background databases, which was finalised in January 2020 and lasted two years.
Some of the new functionalities, except for recording long-stay visas and residence permits, now also include the integration of an information mechanism (VISMail), which is related to prior consultation and visa issuance notification.
In addition, live facial-image enrolment and matching will be included, as well as the incorporation of a list of recognised travel documents.
VIS is important for the Schengen area because it helps enhance border security, facilitate visa issuance, and prevent visa shopping, quite a common practice among third-country nationals, which describes applying for a Schengen visa for one country and then staying in another country.
