REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the delegation of power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission pursuant to 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)
Date: 2024-03-14
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: EU migration policy, EU visa policy, European Commission, Schengen Agreement, delegated legislation, external border of the EU, foreign national, illegal migration, powers of the institutions (EU), transfer of competence

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 14.3.2024  COM(2024) 128 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the delegation of power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission pursuant to 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)  
 
 
1.  LEGAL BACKGROUND 

Article 51a of the Visa Code1 confers on the Commission the power to adopt delegated 
acts to revise the amount of the visa fees for a period of five years from 1 August 2019. 
Nine months before the end of the five-year period, the Commission is required to draw 
up a report in respect of the delegation of power.  

Assessment of the need to revise the visa fees 

In line with Article 16(9) of the Visa Code, the Commission is required to carry out an 
assessment of the need to revise the visa fees based on objective criteria such as Union-
wide inflation and the salaries of Member States’ civil servants. The report also contains 
this assessment. Where appropriate, the assessment is to be accompanied by a delegated 
act adjusting the visa fees, in line with Article 51a of the Visa Code.  

Since the Commission is tasked with carrying out this assessment every three years and 
the  provision  first  became  applicable  on  2  February  2020,  the  assessment  has  been 
conducted for the first time based on 2023 data. 

Current fees and Visa Facilitation Agreements 

Currently, the fee for a short-stay visa application is EUR 802 for adults (older than 12), 
and EUR 40 for applicants between the ages of 6 and 12. Visa fees for younger applicants 
are  waived.  In  addition,  the  application  of  visas  can  be  outsourced  to  external  service 
providers,  who  may  charge  a  service  fee  of  maximum  half  of  the  standard  visa  fee 
(currently, EUR 40). 

In  case the Council adopts  an Implementing  Decision under point (b) of Article 25a(5) 
because of a third country’s insufficient cooperation on readmission, a visa fee of EUR 
120 or EUR 160 is charged to applicants aged 12 and over. 

Additionally, the EU has signed visa facilitation agreements with several third countries, 
four of which are currently still in force: 

–  Armenia3: the visa fee is reduced to EUR 35 for adult applicants and waived for 

applicants under the age of 12. 

–  Azerbaijan4: the visa fee is reduced to EUR 35 for adult applicants and waived for 

applicants under the age of 12. 

–  Belarus5:  the  visa  fee  reduced  to  EUR  35  for  adult  applicants  and  waived  for 
applicants  under  the  age  of  12.  (It  is  partly  suspended  for  members  of  the 

1 Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing 

a Community Code on visas, OJ L 243 15.9.2009, p. 1, 
ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2009/810/2020-02-02. 

2 Increased from EUR 60 during the last revision of the Visa Code in 2020. 

3 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/agree_internation/2013/628/oj. 

4 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/agree_internation/2014/242/oj. 

5 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/agree_internation/2020/752/oj. 

1 

 
 
Belarusian Government or of official delegations.)6 

–  Cabo  Verde7:  the  visa  fee  is  reduced  to  75%  of  the  standard  fee  for  non-visa 
facilitation  agreement  nationals  (i.e.,  it  is  currently  EUR  60),  and  waived  for 
applicants under 12. 

Any increase of the visa fee by means of a delegated act will not apply to applicants from 
Armenia, Azerbaijan, or Belarus, as the respective visa facilitation agreements specify the 
visa  fees,  which  are  unaffected  by  a  delegated  act.  However,  as  the  visa  facilitation 
agreement  with  Cabo  Verde  foresees  a  percentage  of  the  standard  visa  fee  instead  of  a 
fixed amount, it would change for Cabo Verdean nationals. 

Other  visa  facilitation  agreements  were  signed  with  Albania,  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina, 
Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine. However, as these 
countries were moved to Annex II of the Visa Regulation 2018/18068, their nationals no 
longer need to apply for visas, thus the visa facilitation agreements are largely not relevant 
anymore in practice9. 

The visa facilitation agreement signed with  the Russian Federation has  been suspended 
following Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.10 

2.  CALCULATION OF THE REVISED VISA FEE 

In line with Article 16(9) of the Visa Code, the European Commission shall assess the visa 
fees every three years, taking into account objective criteria such as Union-wide inflation 
and salaries of civil servants of EU Member States.  

The fee  revision mechanism is  intended to  capture cost  increases for Member States in 
processing  visa  applications  around  the  world.  Besides  staff  expenses,  real  estate, 
equipment  and  services,  especially  in  the  IT  domain,  are  the  main  cost  components. 
Increases in staff costs are captured by national civil servants’ salaries, while Union-wide 
inflation is intended to reflect cost increases in the other components. 

While  it  would  be  possible  for  the  Commission  to  use  additional  indicators  when 
calculating the fee revision, this option has been discarded at an early stage. For example, 
it was considered whether a location-specific inflation component should be added to the 
calculation, since most visa processing takes place outside of the European Union. Hence, 
Member States’ costs are not only affected by inflation in the EU, but in a differentiated 
manner by inflation in each of the Member States’ consular locations. However, adding a 
location-specific  inflation  component  would  have  required  data  for  hundreds  of  cities 

6 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2021/1940/oj. 

7 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/agree_internation/2013/521/2021-10-19. 

8 Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 listing 
the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders 
and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement, OJ L 303, 28.11.2018, p. 39  – 58, ELI: 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1806/2023-05-15. 

9 Where nationals of these countries nonetheless need to apply for a short-stay visa, for example because 
they  hold  non-biometric  passports  which  do  not  qualify  for  visa-free  travel,  the  visa  facilitation 
agreements still apply. The agreements provide for a visa fee of EUR 35 for adult applicants, which 
would not be affected by an increase of the visa fee. 

10 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2022/1500/oj. 

2 

 
 
around  the  world,  and  it  would  have  raised  the  question  of  determining  appropriate 
location-specific weights. Since Member States have consular networks of vastly different 
sizes and geographical scope, it would have also introduced potential imbalances in the 
treatment of Member States. 

As  a  result,  the  Commission  decided  to  limit  the  calculation  to  the  two  indicators 
specifically mentioned in the Visa Code, namely Union-wide inflation and the weighted 
average of the salaries of Member States’ civil servants. 

2.1. 

Inflation 

As provided for in the Visa Code, the Union-wide inflation rate published by Eurostat is 
used, i.e., the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP)11. The annual inflation rate is 
calculated as follows: 

𝐼𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 =  

(𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑁 + 1) − (𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑁)
𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑁

Based on the above calculation, the following data can be computed: 

June Year N 
June Year N+1 
Annual inflation rate 

2020-2021 
106.31 
108.65 
2.2% 

2021-2022 
108.65 
119.03 
9.6% 

2022-2023 
119.03 
126.69 
6.4% 

2.2. 

Purchasing power indicator of Member States’ civil servants 

The weighted average of the purchasing power of the salaries of the Member States’ civil 
servants has been calculated by (detailed calculation in Annex): 

a)  Multiplying  the  evolution  of  the  real  net  remuneration  in  each  Member  State 
between year N and N+1 (=evolution of purchasing power) with the weight of each 
Member  State  in  the  total  EU  GDP.  The  GDP,  expressed  in  purchasing  power 
parities, as the share of the total of EU GDP is used as the weighting factor. The 
real net remuneration indicator per Member State as well as the corresponding GDP 
weights are published by Eurostat annually in October and cover the preceding year 
up to July12. 

b)  The  total  EU-wide  salary  indicator  is  calculated  as  the  sum  of  each  Member 

States’s GDP-weighted indicator. 

2.3.  Visa Fee Adjustment Indicator 

An overall indicator representing the evolution of the two factors has been calculated for 
each yearly period. This indicator is calculated in the same way as the annual salary update 

11 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser//product/view/PRC_HICP_MIDX.  

12 Eurostat Reports on the 2021, 2022 and 2023 annual updates of remuneration and pensions of EU officials, 
available at https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/civil-servants-remuneration/publications. The database is 
available on Eurobase at https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/prc_rem_cs/default/table.  

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
of  EU  civil  servants,  which  combines  an  inflation  indicator  with  an  indicator  for  the 
evolution of national civil servants’ purchasing power13: 

𝑉𝑖𝑠𝑎 𝐹𝑒𝑒 𝐴𝑑𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 =  

(100 + 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒) ∗ (100 + 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟)
100

− 100 

Based on this, the following visa fee adjustment can be calculated: 

Inflation 
rate 

Salary purchasing 
power indicator 

Visa fee adjustment 
indicator 

Start 
2020-2021 
2021-2022 
2022-2023 

2.2% 
9.6% 
6.4% 

0.2% 
-4.6% 
-1.7% 

2.4% 
4.6% 
4.6% 

Adjusted visa 
fee (EUR) 
80.00 
81.92 
85.69 
89.63 

(Fees in 
EUR) 

Start 
2020-2021 
2021-2022 
2022-2023 

Reduced 
visa fee for 
children 

40.00 
40.96 
42.84 
44.81 

VFA Visa 
fee for Cabo 
Verdean 
nationals 
60.00 
61.44 
64.26 
67.22 

Increased visa fee 
due to Council 
Implementing 
Decision (1) 
120.00 
122.88 
128.53 
134.44 

Increased visa fee 
due to Council 
Implementing 
Decision (2) 
160.00 
163.84 
171.38 
179.26 

The “start” year is set to 2020, as this is the year the current mechanism to revise the visa 
fee became applicable. 

3.  ASSESSMENT AND IMPACT 

The calculation of the fee revision results in an increase of the fee from EUR 80 to EUR 
90 for adults, EUR 40 to EUR 45 for children, and EUR 120 to EUR 135 or EUR 160 to 
EUR  180  where  the  Council  has  adopted  an  Implementing  Decision  under  point  (b)  of 
Article  25a(5)  for  insufficient  readmission  cooperation.  The  fee  for  nationals  of  Cabo 
Verde under the corresponding visa facilitation agreement would increase from EUR 60 to 
EUR  67,50.  The  maximum  service  fee  charged  by  external  service  providers  would 
increase from EUR 40 to EUR 45. This is equivalent to a 12.5% fee increase across the 
board in three years. 

Based  on  internal  calculations,  a  visa  fee  increase  of  12.5%  would  lead  to  a  projected 
additional income of approximately EUR 71 million for all Member States.14  

The Commission considered whether it is appropriate to adopt a delegated act amending 
the visa fees by examining the fees charged by non-EU jurisdictions for visa services. In 

13 See Eurostat Methodology Manual, document Doc A6465/14/26 rev4, in particular the annotated 

calculation example in Appendix Two, 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/Annexes/prc_rem_esms_an3.7z. 

14 This represents an approximately 12.3% increase. This is due to the fact that the visa fee for applicants 
covered  under  the  Visa  Facilitation  Agreements  with  Armenia,  Azerbaijan,  and  Belarus  will  not  be 
affected by the visa fee increase. Additionally, some applicants will remain exempt from paying a visa 
fee. 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
comparison with most other large countries of destination, the price of a Schengen visa is 
still relatively low. For instance, the United States has recently raised their visa fees from 
USD 160 to USD 185, representing a 15% fee increase for visas.15 

Country 
USA 
UK 

Canada 
Australia 
New Zealand 
Japan 

Fee in national currency 
185 (USD) 
115 – 771, depending on length of 
validity (GBP) 
100 + 85 biometrics fee (CAD) 
190 (AUD) 
211, excluding tourism levy (NZD) 
3000 single entry 
6000 multiple entry (JPY) 

Approximate fees in EUR 
172 
135 – 900 

130 
117 
120 
19 
38 

Given the inflationary environment of the past several years and the cost increases that 
Member  States  have  had  to  absorb,  the  Commission  considers  that  the  calculated  fee 
increases should be passed on to  visa applicants.  It  has thus  adopted a delegated  act  in 
parallel to this report to give effect to the new visa fees. 

A 12.5% increase of the visa fee will lead to an almost 12.5% predicted increase in visa 
revenue for Member States.  

This additional income should, according to Recital 7 of Regulation 2019/115516, be used 
to  make  available  sufficient  resources,  including  staff,  to  process  visa  applications 
respecting the 15-day deadline set out by Article 23 of the Visa Code and the accelerated 
procedure foreseen under Directive 2004/38/EC for family members of EU citizens17. It 
should also be used to help ensure that appointments to lodge a visa application can be 
granted within two weeks, as required by Article 9 of the Visa Code.  

Booking an appointment to apply for a Schengen visa is difficult in many third countries 
as applicants can often only book appointments at a date which exceeds the two weeks 
deadline  prescribed  by  the  Visa  Code18.  This  can  also  prevent  family  members  of  EU 
citizens  from  benefiting  from  the  accelerated  procedure  prescribed  under  Directive 
2004/38/EC. The current situation has a negative impact on the image of the EU abroad 
and on its relations with some of its partners, and therefore needs to be addressed.  

The economic impact of a change in the visa fee has been considered, as nationals who are 
granted a visa and travel to the Schengen area for whatever purpose bring economic capital 
with them contributing to local economies. A minimal increase of 12.5% or EUR 10 is not 
considered a likely deterrent for visa applicants, considering the comparatively higher cost 

15 Since June 17, 2023. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/niv-fee-increases-to-take-

effect-june-17-2023.html. 

16 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/1155/oj. 

17 Article 5(2) of Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on 
the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory 
of the Member States (OJ L 158, 30.4.2004, p. 77, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2004/38/2011-06-
16): “Member States shall grant such persons every facility to obtain the necessary visas. Such visas 
shall be issued free of charge as soon as possible and on the basis of an accelerated procedure”. 

18 Article 9.2 of the Visa Code: “Applicants may be required to obtain an appointment for the lodging of an 
application. The appointment shall, as a rule, take place within a period of two weeks from the date when 
the appointment was requested.” 

5 

 
 
 
of  transportation  to  travel  to  the  Schengen  area  or  accommodation  during  the  trip.  The 
same  conclusion  was  reached  in  2018,  ahead  of  the  last  visa  fee  increase.19  Thus,  no 
negative economic impact is expected, and the Commission does not expect any substantial 
impact on the number of visa applicants, in particular for tourism or business. 

4.  REPORT ON THE DELEGATION OF POWERS 

Since the delegation of power was conferred upon the Commission in 2019, this is the first 
time that the Commission is making use of it and adopting a delegated act revising the visa 
fees. The Commission was able to exercise the delegation of powers as intended by the co-
legislators without problems, limiting itself to the objective indicators expressly listed in 
the  Visa  Code  (Union-wide  inflation  and  weighted  average  of  the  salaries  of  Member 
States’ civil servants). The necessary data was available from Eurostat in a timely manner 
and allowed the Commission to assess the appropriateness of revising the visa fee. The 
Commission  made  use  of  the  delegated  power  to  set  the  new  visa  fees  in  line  with  the 
results of the calculations. 

The Commission sees no obstacle to the tacit extension of the delegation of powers, as 
provided for by Article 51a(2) of the Visa Code, which would mean that the Commission 
will once again assess the need to revise the amount of the visa fees in 2026/27. 

5.  CONCLUSION 

Based on the above methodology and assessment, the Commission together with this report 
adopts a delegated act that increases the visa fees by 12.5%, which will mean that adults 
henceforth pay a fee of EUR 90. 

Further, the Commission takes this opportunity to remind Member States of Recital 7 of 
Regulation 2019/1155 as well as Article 9 of the Visa Code as amended and calls upon 
Member States to use the newly generated income to help increase resources – including 
staff – to increase visa processing capacities in the consulates and decrease waiting times 
for applicants, eliminating situations of non-compliance with the deadlines specified in the 
Visa  Code  and  with  the  accelerated  procedure  prescribed  for  family  members  of  EU 
citizens under Directive 2004/38/EC. 

This report also fulfils the reporting requirement under Article 51a(2) of the Visa Code. 
The  Commission  invites  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  to  take  note  of  this 
report. 

19 See point 8.1 of the Impact Assessment: 

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A52018SC0077.  

6 

 
 
 
 
 
Annex - Calculation of the salary (purchasing power) indicator 

2020-21 

Member 
State 

Real 
indicator 

net 

remuneration 

Weight  GDP 
(EU27=100) 

in  PPS 

Effect on total 

BE 
BG 
CZ 
DK 
DE 
EE 
IE 
EL 
ES 
FR 
HR 
IT 
CY 
LV 
LT 
LU 
HU 
MT 
NL 
AT 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SI 
SK 
FI 
SE 

3,0% 
0,8% 
2,2% 
1,8% 
22,6% 
0,3% 
2,4% 
1,5% 
9,1% 
15,7% 
0,6% 
12,5% 
0,2% 
0,3% 
0,5% 
0,4% 
1,6% 
0,1% 
5,2% 
2,5% 
6,5% 
1,8% 
3,1% 
0,4% 
0,9% 
1,4% 
2,8% 

-0,1% 
0,1% 
0,1% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
-0,1% 
0,0% 
-0,2% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,2% 
0,0% 
-0,1% 
0,0% 
0,1% 
0,0% 
0,0% 

Total indicator for 2020-21: 0,2% 

-2,3% 
10,4% 
6,2% 
-0,4% 
0,1% 
12,5% 
0,3% 
-0,6% 
-0,5% 
-0,8% 
2,3% 
-1,3% 
-0,7% 
0,8% 
0,7% 
-3,3% 
1,7% 
5,0% 
0,2% 
-0,9% 
3,8% 
1,2% 
-1,9% 
-1,1% 
6,2% 
0,6% 
0,0% 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2021-22 

Member 
State 

Real 
indicator 

net 

remuneration 

Weight  GDP 
(EU27=100) 

in  PPS 

Effect on total 

BE 
BG 
CZ 
DK 
DE 
EE 
IE 
EL 
ES 
FR 
HR 
IT 
CY 
LV 
LT 
LU 
HU 
MT 
NL 
AT 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SI 
SK 
FI 
SE 

-3,3% 
-9,6% 
-11,3% 
-6,6% 
-5,5% 
-18,4% 
-0,9% 
-10,4% 
-8,1% 
0,2% 
-8,1% 
1,0% 
-5,9% 
-9,8% 
-10,7% 
-5,3% 
-9,5% 
-3,3% 
-4,3% 
-5,9% 
-10,9% 
-6,1% 
-8,1% 
-7,4% 
-6,5% 
-5,5% 
-4,3% 

-0,1% 
-0,1% 
-0,2% 
-0,1% 
-1,2% 
-0,1% 
0,0% 
-0,2% 
-0,7% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,1% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
-0,1% 
0,0% 
-0,2% 
0,0% 
-0,2% 
-0,1% 
-0,7% 
-0,1% 
-0,3% 
0,0% 
-0,1% 
-0,1% 
-0,1% 
Total indicator for 2021-22: -4,6% 

3,2% 
0,8% 
2,2% 
1,7% 
22,2% 
0,3% 
2,5% 
1,5% 
8,9% 
15,8% 
0,6% 
12,6% 
0,2% 
0,3% 
0,6% 
0,4% 
1,6% 
0,1% 
5,2% 
2,4% 
6,6% 
1,7% 
3,1% 
0,4% 
0,8% 
1,4% 
2,9% 

8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2022-23 

Member 
State 

Real 
indicator 

net 

remuneration 

Weight  GDP 
(EU27=100) 

in  PPS 

Effect on total 

BE 
BG 
CZ 
DK 
DE 
EE 
IE 
EL 
ES 
FR 
HR 
IT 
CY 
LV 
LT 
LU 
HU 
MT 
NL 
AT 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SI 
SK 
FI 
SE 

6,1% 
0,1% 
-8,5% 
-0,1% 
-3,0% 
-2,6% 
2,8% 
-1,3% 
2,2% 
-2,0% 
4,2% 
-5,3% 
4,1% 
11,5% 
-4,6% 
2,9% 
-8,7% 
-2,4% 
0,2% 
0,5% 
-1,4% 
2,2% 
-0,6% 
3,4% 
0,0% 
-0,9% 
-4,6% 

0,0% 
0,0% 
-0,2% 
0,0% 
-0,7% 
0,0% 
0,1% 
0,0% 
0,2% 
-0,3% 
0,0% 
-0,7% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
-0,1% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
-0,1% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
0,0% 
-0,1% 
Total indicator for 2022-23: -1,7% 

3,1% 
0,9% 
2,2% 
1,8% 
21,9% 
0,3% 
2,7% 
1,6% 
9,1% 
15,5% 
0,6% 
12,8% 
0,2% 
0,3% 
0,6% 
0,4% 
1,7% 
0,1% 
5,2% 
2,5% 
6,7% 
1,8% 
3,3% 
0,4% 
0,8% 
1,4% 
2,8% 

9