On July 9, 2014, the European Commission issued an amended version of the HANDBOOK FOR THE PROCESSING OF VISA APPLICATIONS AND THE MODIFICATION OF ISSUED VISAS[1]. The guidelines provide an interpretation to the rules of the SCHENGEN VISA CODE[2] that set forth the procedures and conditions for issuing visas for transit through or intended stays in the territory of the Schengen Member States[3] not exceeding 90 days in any 180-day period.
Art. 33 of the Schengen Visa Code sets forth:
the individual must have reasons of force majeure, humanitarian reasons or serious personal reasons.
the request for an extension of the visa must be addressed to the competent authorities of the Member State where he is present even if that is not the Member State whose consulate issued the visa. In Italy, the request must be addressed to the local police office (Questura). A circular letter on the matter is available at this link in the Police website https://www.poliziadistato.it/statics/39/circolare-art–33–per-la–proroga-del-periodo-di-validita-del-visto.pdf)
Example of the reason for force majeure:
– a last-minute change of flight schedule by the airline (e.g. due to weather conditions, strike)
Example of humanitarian reasons:
– sudden serious illness of the person concerned (meaning that the person is unable to travel) or sudden serious illness or death of a close relative living in a Member State.
According to the Visa Facilitation Agreements (VFAs)[4], it is mandatory to extend only for reasons of “force majeure” and not for “humanitarian reasons”. Nevertheless, third-country nationals covered by these VFAs also benefit from the more generous provisions of the Visa Code.
Examples of serious personal reasons:
– a Namibian national has traveled to Cologne (Germany) to collect a family member who has undergone an operation. The day before the scheduled departure, the patient has a relapse and is only allowed to leave the hospital two weeks later.
– an Angolan businessperson has traveled to Italy to negotiate a contract with an Italian company and to visit several production sites in Italy. Negotiations take longer than expected and the Angolan national has to stay one week longer than intended.
Example of personal reasons not justifying the extension of a visa:
– a Colombian national has traveled to Sweden to participate in a family event. At this event, he meets an old friend and would like to prolong his stay for another two weeks.
Generally, the extension should allow the holder to travel to the same territory as the one covered by the initial visa. However, the authorities of the Member State responsible for the extension may limit the territorial validity of the extended visa. The contrary can never be the case, i.e. a visa that originally had a limited territorial validity cannot be extended to allow a stay in the entire territory of the Member States.
Generally, the extension of a visa should not result in a total stay going beyond 90 days in a 180 days period.
If the competent authority considers that the reasons provided for requesting an extension of a visa are sufficient, the following should be verified:
If the visa is extended for reasons of force majeure the competent authority may disregard the verification of these.
[1] based on COMMISSION DECISION C(2010) 1620, of 19.3.2010, COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION
C(2011) 5501,of 4.8.2011, COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION C(2014) 2727, of 29.4.2014 https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/visa-policy/docs/20140709_visa_code_handbook_consolidated_en.pdf
[2] Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:32009R0810
[3] Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
[4] Visa Facilitation Agreements (VFAs) between the European Union and certain third countries on the facilitation of the issuance of visas provide procedural facilitations to nationals of specific third countries (e.g. reduction of the visa fee, issuance of multiple-entry visas for specific categories of applicants, shorter processing times) without altering the conditions for issuing visas (i.e. the visa applicant must still satisfy the entry conditions).
Attorney at law.
One of the leading corporate immigration lawyers in Italy. Admitted to the Milan Bar Association (1988) and to the Taipei Bar Association (2016), a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and an accredited partner of Invest in Tuscany.
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