eu-com-schengen-coop

Early 2013 the Yammer tool for exchanging information in the LSC was abolished and DG HOME
created an "interest group" would be created on CIRCABC. This tool was meant to mainly function
as a repository for documents. Access is limited to the member of a given interest group.
By the end of the reporting period no Member States representatives had signed up. DG HOME,
however, continues to upload relevant information on this platform.
4. Challenges
The following issues are considered as challenges by the Member States’ consulates present in the
United Kingdom:
The huge amount of applications, especially in some periods of the years (e.g. holiday
season) can be difficult to deal with, considering the shortage of staff.
A considerable number of "no show"- appointments
Improvement in the harmonization of the procedures between the Schengen countries (i.e.:
different attitudes in respect of the authorization of the visa length).
After a period of 5-year stay in the United Kingdom EU/EEA family members are issued
with a so-called "permanent residence card" that does not comply with Article 10 of
Directive 38/2004 (is does not refer to the family member status) Therefore the Schengen
Sates should issue a visa to these family members, even if they travel together with or join to
their EU/EEA family members.
The diverging interpretation of the implementation of Directive 38/2004/EC among Member
States and even within the same Embassy still gives rise to questions. This of course also
has repercussions on the information to the public.
Visa shopping: spotting trends can be a challenge in a big city like London and trends seem
to change pretty quickly. The latest one observed is an increase in applicants from Ecuador
(could also be from other Latin American countries, but mostly from Ecuador) travelling to
London on a 6 months valid UK visa working as volunteers for a Christian organisation.
5. Other issues
N/A
12893/14 PR/lm 186
DG D 1 A
EN