Schengen Information System (SIS)

2022: Plan to replace a paper Schengen visa with a 2D barcode by 2031

The European Commission plans to complete the transfer of European visas online by 2031.

On the new platform, citizens of 102 states, including Russia, will be able to apply for a visa, pay a visa fee and receive a document.

To issue a Schengen visa, the foreigner will have enough completed application, scanned passport, medical insurance and additional documents. Then the application is sent to the department of the desired EU country for processing.

The only downside is that beginners will have to take biometrics at the consulate or visa center. It will also be necessary to reach the consulate for those who handed over fingerprints more than 59 months (almost 5 years) ago. Or updated the passport.

As a result, there will be no more paper Schengen visa in the passport. It will be replaced by a 2D barcode, cryptographically signed by the country's signature certification authority (CSCA), to which a foreigner plans to travel.

2019: Britain steals data from the Schengen system and detains tourists due to obsolescence of a stolen copy

At the end of July 2019, one of the EU officials told reporters that the British authorities did make unauthorized copies of data stored in the EU database to track illegal migrants, missing people, stolen cars or suspected criminals. The official also mentioned that Europe is trying to correct the mistake.

This database, called the Schengen Information System (SIS), is managed by the EU and includes information such as names, personal data, photographs, fingerprints and arrest warrants for 500,000 citizens who are banned from entering Europe, more than 100,000 missing and more than 36,000 criminal suspects (by the end of July 2019). In the future, it is planned to use this database as a basis for storing biometric data.

Britain has made illegal copies of the EU visa database. So they searched for migrants and criminals

This database was created with the sole purpose of helping EU countries control the flow of tourists and immigrants passing into the Schengen area without passports. The UK gained access to this database in 2015, although it is not an official member of the Schengen zone.

In May 2018, journalists from the EU Observer received a secret EU report on 29 pages, which examined the problem of the illegal use of SIS by the UK authorities. According to a report compiled by the EU Commission and Schengen experts from EU countries, British officials made copies of this database and uploaded it to customs posts at seaports and airports.

In addition, SIS is constantly updated, which means that the UK has worked for many years only with an outdated version of the database, which caused additional problems. As a result, UK officials cannot find out in time about the update of data in the SIS, which leads to unnecessary detentions and allows criminals to freely move through the UK to the Schengen zone.

These violations, according to the report, "pose a serious and immediate threat to the integrity and security of SIS data, as well as to the security of citizens affected by this data." It also became known from the report that the British authorities abused the data obtained by providing unauthorized access to classified information to third-party contractors, including American companies (IBM, Atos, CGI and others). The report expressed concern that the UK allows contractors to copy this data, which at any time may be requested by US officials in accordance with local law.

In May 2018, the EU authorities did not confirm the veracity of the report. Nevertheless, in comments made at the end of July 2019, officials negligently recognized the existence of the report and the reliability of the data contained in it.

These data were to remain confidential discussions that were held with individual member states, said European Security Commissioner Julian King when asked about the report cited by Schengen Visa Info and the EU Observer.

He also added that the problem concerns several States at once. At the same time, King did not mention that the problem was based on the actions of the UK.

The UK authorities did make unauthorized copies of data stored in the EU database to track illegal migrants, missing people, stolen cars or suspected criminals

As a result of these comments, the Dutch politician and member of the European Parliament, Sophie in't Veld, asked the European Commission to publish a report revealing the abuse of the UK database of the Schengen Information System^[1]

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