POLICY REPORT ON IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM IN LATVIA ...

112
applicants who submit visa applications without good fate, but also make decisions more
actively on what should be done to harmonize the reviewing of visa application in compliance
with the Schengen acquis.
In 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued its work with other Schengen
Member States in order to agree on the possibilities of representation in countries where Latvia
does not have its diplomatic or consular mission, as well as consider the possibilities to
represent another Schengen Member State in the field of visas. As a result, in the field of visas
Latvia is represented by 7 Schengen Member States (Germany, Hungary, France, the
Netherlands, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania and Estonia), which represent Latvia in 53 different
locations worldwide. But Latvia currently represents 7 Schengen Member States in the field of
Schengen visas (Hungary, France, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Lithuania, Estonia and Sweden)
in totally 8 locations worldwide. Latvia has developed good cooperation with other Member
States to the Schengen Agreement, thus the Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans also in 2011 to
continue and to expand the started cooperation with Member States to the Schengen Agreement
in the field of representation of Schengen visas.
By taking into account that a large number of citizens of Ukraine reside and enter
Latvia from various regions of Ukraine, it is important to facilitate the procedure for
submission of visa applications by making it more accessible, therefore Latvia as the first
among the Schengen Member States decided to provide an opportunity to citizens of Ukraine to
submit an visa application in all the regions of Ukraine. In order to implement this activity, the
Latvian Embassy in Ukraine has started cooperation, from 1 December 2010, with courier mail
service Pony Express. Further, citizens of Ukraine will have an opportunity to send visa
application documents to the Latvian Embassy in Ukraine by using the branches of courier mail
service Pony Express in Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Lvov, Odessa, Kharkov and Simferopol.
Service fee to Pony Express will equal to EUR 30 (approximately LVL 21).
However, also in the future citizens of Ukraine will have the right to visit the Latvian
Embassy in Ukraine in Kiev for receiving a visa. Thus, visa applicants will have an opportunity
to choose: submit visa applications to the Embassy or via regional branches of courier mail
service Pony Express.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that this is the first project of this type
implemented in Ukraine. Until now, none of the Member States to the Schengen Agreement
has provided opportunities to submit a visa application in all the regions of Ukraine. Following
the initiative of Latvia, the project is simultaneously implemented also by Estonia. The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs is confident that the implementation of this project will provide the
necessary conditions for residents of remote regions of Ukraine to enjoy more convenient and
accessible procedure for submission of visa applications, easier travel and facilitated personal
and business contacts.
III(d) solidarity with MS subjected to disproportionate influxes of immigrants
Please describe whether your Member State has benefited from / has provided any
support with regard to border control in case of specific and disproportionate pressures
in your / in another Member State. Also provide information on your Member State’s
relevant participation in FRONTEX, by type of activity (e.g. joint operations). Note that
information on other forms of support with respect to disproportionate influxes are to be
provided in other sections (e.g. section 7).
In cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme, the participation was
started in 2010 in the programme financed by the European Commission Supporting Integrated
Border Management Systems in the South Caucasus (SCIBM) for provision of support to
Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Being the project implementation partner, the State Border