eu-com-schengen-coop

had however various degrees of impact among Schengen members, from making up minor
percentage of total visas issued (0-1 percent) to considerable percentage (Sweden: 13 percent,
Germany 9 percent).
Some Schengen members, notably Germany and Sweden, experienced a considerable impact of the
Syrian crisis on the workload of the embassies, primarily due to national decisions of resettling
Syrian nationals to their national territory. For SE, a government decision of granting permanent
residency to all Syrian refugees (7000) already in Sweden on a temporary residency implied a
possibility of family reunification, which generated considerable work for the embassies/consulates
in Amman, Ankara and Istanbul. For DE, a decision of the German government to grant temporary
two-year stay to Syrian refugees (two programmes of 5000 and 7000 individuals) implied that visas
for these would need to be issued in Amman and Beirut. The processing had a great impact on the
workload of the embassy with waiting periods of up to six weeks for having a Schengen visa issued.
Other Schengen members (CH, HU) were also affected by national decisions related to the Syrian
crisis, though to a minor extent. In the case of FR, all FR embassies are required to receive and
process asylum applications. Since the start of the Syrian crisis, this had generated approximately
7000 asylum requests from Syrian nationals that naturally have also impacted the workload.
Cases of fraud
Schengen members continued to exchange information about "facilitators" (e.g. travel agencies
producing fake hotel reservations for people intending to perform irregular migration or providing
unwarranted services to visa applicants under the pretext of being an element in the visa application
process). This aspect has generally been under increased focus of MS.
Medical insurance companies
In 2012, the LSC abandoned the practice of having a common list of MICs. Schengen members
agreed to circulate information, if new and not already known MICs were being referred to more
often in visa applications and/or if information about traditional companies should be known (e.g. in
case of bankruptcy).
3.4 Any other initiative taken in LSC
Nothing to report
4. Challenges
The LSC continues to face the same challenges in terms of enhancing the mentality of the visa
applicant that could lead to further drops in the average refusal rate of Schengen applications.
Outlining a joint document of FAQ/"Remember when applying" that all Schengen members could
make available on their websites, communicate via social media and refer the applicants to in the
process of booking interviews, could possibly be undertaken.
5. Other issues
Nothing to report
12893/14 PR/lm 103
DG D 1 A
EN