1995R1683 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 002.001 — 1
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►B COUNCILREGULATION(EC)No1683/95
of29May1995
layingdownauniformformatforvisas
(OJ L 164, 14.7.1995, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1 Council Regulation (EC) No 334/2002 of 18 February 2002 L 53 7 23.2.2002
Amended by:
►A1 Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the
Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia,the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic ofMalta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the SlovakRepublic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European
Union is foundedL 236 33 23.9.2003
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COUNCILREGULATION(EC)No1683/95
of29May1995
layingdownauniformformatforvisas
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, in
particular Article 100c (3) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,Whereas Article 100c (3) of the Treaty requires the Council to adopt
measures relating to a uniform format for visas before 1 January 1996;
Whereas the introduction of a uniform format for visas is an important
step towards the harmonization of visa policy; whereas Article 7a ofthe Treaty stipulates that the internal market shall comprise an areawithout internal frontiers in which the free movement of persons isensured in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty; whereas this
step is also to be regarded as forming a coherent whole with measures
falling within Title VI of the Treaty on European Union;
Whereas it is essential that the uniform format for visas should contain
all the necessary information and meet very high technical standards,notably as regards safeguards against counterfeiting and falsification;
whereas it must also be suited to use by all the Member States and
bear universally recognizable security features which are clearly visibleto the naked eye;
Whereas this Regulation only lays down such specifications as are not
secret; whereas these specifications need to be supplemented by further
specifications which must remain secret in order to prevent counter-
feiting and falsification and which may not include personal data orreferences to such data; whereas powers to adopt further specificationsshould be conferred on the Commission;
Whereas, to ensure that the information referred to is not made avail-
able to more persons than necessary, it is also essential that each
Member State should designate not more than one body having respon-sibility for printing the uniform format for visas, with Member Statesremaining free to change the body, if need be; whereas, for securityreasons, each Member State must communicate the name of thecompetent body to the Commission and the other Member States;
Whereas, to be effective, this Regulation should apply to all visas
covered by Article 5; whereas Member States should be free also touse the uniform visa format for visas which can be used for purposesother than those covered by Article 5 provided differences visible tothe naked eye are incorporated to make confusion with the uniform
visa impossible;
Whereas, with regard to the personal data to be entered on the uniform
format for visas in accordance with the Annex hereto, complianceshould be ensured with Member States' data-protection provisions aswell as with the relevant Community legislation,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Visas issued by the Member States in conformity with Article 5 shall
be produced in the form of a uniform format (sticker). They shallconform to the specifications set out in the Annex.1995R1683 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 002.001 — 2
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Article 2
1. Further technical specifications for the uniform format for visas
relating to the following shall be established in accordance with theprocedure referred to in Article 6(2):
(a) additional elements and security requirements including enhanced
anti-forgery, counterfeiting and falsification standards;
(b) technical standards and methods to be used for the filling in of the
uniform visa.
2. The colours of the visa sticker may be changed in accordance
with the procedure referred to in Article 6(2).
Article 3
1. The specifications referred to in Article 2 shall be secret and not
be published. They shall be made available only to bodies designatedby the Member States as responsible for printing and to persons dulyauthorized by a Member State or the Commission.
2. Each Member State shall designate one body having responsi-
bility for printing visas. It shall communicate the name of that bodyto the Commission and the other Member States. The same body may
be designated by two or more Member States for this purpose. Each
Member State shall be entitled to change its designated body. It shallinform the Commission and the other Member States accordingly.
Article 4
1. Without prejudice to the relevant more extensive provisions
concerning data protection, an individual to whom a visa is issued shall
have the right to verify the personal particulars entered on the visa and,where appropriate, to ask for any corrections or deletions to be made.
2. No information in machine-readable form shall be given on the
uniform formatfor visas unless italso appears in t he boxes describedin points 6 to 12 of the Annex, or unless it is mentioned in the relevanttravel document.
Article 5
For the purposes of this Regulation a ‘visa’ shall mean an authorization
given by or a decision taken by a Member State which is required forentry into its territory with a view to:
— an intended stay in that Member State or in several Member States
of no more than three months in all,
— transit through the territory or airport transit zone of that Member
State or several Member States.
Article 6
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee.
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of
Decision 1999/468/EC (
1) shall apply.
The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be
set at two months.
3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Article 7
Where Member States use the uniform visa format for purposes other
than those covered by Article 5, appropriate measures must be taken to1995R1683 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 002.001 — 3
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ensure that confusion with the visa referred to in Article 5 is not
possible.
Article 8
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following
that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Commu-
nities .
Article 1 shall become applicable six months after the adoption of the
measures referred to in Article 2.
The integration of the photograph provided for in point 2a of the
Annex shall be implemented at the latest five years after the adoptionof the technical measures provided for the adoption of this measure inArticle 2.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.1995R1683 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 002.001 — 4
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ANNEX
Securityfeatures
1. A sign consisting of nine ellipses in a fan-shape shall appear in this space.
2. An optically variable mark (‘kinegram’ or equivalent) shall appear in this
space. Depending on the angle of view, 12 stars, the letter ‘E’ and a globe
become visible in various sizes and colours.
2a. An integrated photograph produced according to high security standards.3. The logo consisting of a letter or letters indicating the issuing Member State
(or ‘BNL’ in the case of the Benelux countries, namely Belgium, Luxem-
bourg and the Netherlands) with a latent image effect shall appear in this
space. This logo shall appear lightwhen held flatand dark when t urned by
90º. The following logos shall be used: A for Austria, BNL for Benelux, CY
for Cyprus, CZE for the Czech Republic, D for Germany, DK for Denmark,
E for Spain, EST for Estonia, F for France, FIN for Finland, GR for Greece,
H for Hungary, I for Italy, IRL for Ireland, LT for Lithuania, LVA for
Latvia, M for Malta, P for Portugal, PL for Poland, S for Sweden, SK for
Slovakia, SVN for Slovenia, UK for the United Kingdom.
4. The word ‘visa’ in capital letters shall appear in the middle of this space in
optically variable colouring. Depending on the angle of view, it shall appear
green or red.
5. This box shall contain the number of the visa, which shall be pre-printed
and shall begin with the letter or letters indicating the issuing country as
described in point3 above. A special t ype shall be used.
Sectionstobecompleted
6. This box shall begin with the words ‘valid for’. The issuing authority shall
indicate the territory or territories for which the visa is valid.
7. This box shall begin with the word ‘from’ and the word ‘until’ shall appear
further along the line. The issuing authority shall indicate here the period of
validity of the visa.
8. This box shall begin with the words ‘number of entries’ and further along
the line the words ‘duration of stay’ (i.e. duration of applicants' intended
stay) and again ‘days’ shall appear.
9. This box shall begin with the words ‘issued in’ and shall be used to indicate
the place of issue.
10. This box shall begin with the word ‘on’ (after which the date of issue shall
be filled in by the issuing authority) and further along the line the words
‘number of passport’ shall appear (after which the holder's passport number
shall appear).
11. This box shall begin with the words ‘type of visa’. The issuing authority
shall indicate the category of visa in conformity with Articles 5 and 7 of
this Regulation.1995R1683 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 002.001 — 5
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12. This box shall begin with the word ‘remarks’. It shall be used by the issuing
authority to indicate any further information which is considered necessary,
provided that it complies with Article 4 of this Regulation. The following
two and a half lines shall be left empty for such remarks.
13. This box shall contain the relevant machine-readable information to facili-
tate external border controls.
The paper shall be pastel green with red and blue markings.The words designating the boxes shall appear in English and French. The
issuing State may add a third official Community language. However, the word
‘visa’ in the top line may appear in any one official language of the Community.1995R1683 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 002.001 — 6