These are the new rules for Schengen visas.

Parliament and the EU Council have formally agreed to simplify the application process and issuing short-term visas. The new EU visa code aims to facilitate travel to the Schengen Zone for tourism, trade and business, and at the same time contribute to internal security.

The visa requirements will have to be submitted in six months (in place of the current three months) and 15 days before the target trip, except cases that will be allowed to submit applications for nine months”, the European Parliament says in a press release.

With the new code, the Schengen visa fee will rise from 60 euros to 80 euros. Children under the age of 6, students and researchers will continue to be exempt from payments, while applicants under the age of 18 will have to pay a lower fee.

EU member states will be obliged to work with foreign service providers for visa accession, from non-EU member states where they are not present or represented by another country.

Multi-introductory visas will be available for frequent travelers to the Schengen Zone, and additional facilities will be made for well-known artists and top performance athletes visiting the EU.

Now, for the new EU visa code's entry into force, the agreement will be put to the polls at the Civil Freedom Commission. Once confirmed, the Council of Ministers will have to formally approve it to publish the text in the EU Official Journal. Six months after its publication the changes will come into force, albinfo.ch conveys.

However, some of the provisions in the new code will not necessarily be implemented in all member states.

According to the January 2019 report, citizens of 102 states and two other entities need visas to visit the EU. Kosovo and Turkey are among the countries in the process of reaching a visa liberalisation agreement with the EU.

Statistics show that in 2017, embassies and visa consulates Schengen processed 16,155,613 visa apps for Schengen.