Serbian citizens to be required to ask for permission and pay EUR 10 for traveling to EU from 2020

In the future, the citizens of the countries of the Western Balkans will need to seek authorization from the competent EU institutions for traveling to the Schengen Area. They will have to do so even though the visa exemption will remain in effect. The Committee for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament (LIBE) said that the entire procedure was complex and that the system, if adopted, might only come into effect in early 2020.



The authorization request will be made by filling out and electronic form and the EU will respond in no more than 72 hours. However, those who are determined to be a safety liability will be denied the permit, says the proposition for establishing the new European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS).



The proposition has been confirmed by LIBE and will be submitted for adoption to the EU Council of Ministers after being adopted by all the competent institutions of the EU.



According to the proposition, the citizens of the countries of the Western Balkans and other countries that do not need visas for traveling to the Schengen Area will have to pay EUR 10 for the service of previous check, but the expense will cover a three-year traveling period, that is, the period of the validity of the passport.



People under 18 and over 60, members of families of EU citizens, as well as students and science workers, will be exempt from having to pay for this service.



The electronic form will require, aside from personal and passport data, the staying address in the Union, the local contact and the country of entrance. The applying citizens will also need to “inform authorities of any convictions for serious criminal offenses (such as terrorism, sexual exploitation of children, trafficking in human beings or drugs, murder and rape), about stays in specific conflict zones and of any prior administrative decisions requiring them to leave a country, all over the last ten years”.



The application will automatically be checked against all relevant databases, including the Schengen Information System, the Entry/Exit System as well as Europol and Interpol databases, to verify, among other issues, whether the travel document has been reported lost or stolen and if the person is wanted for arrest, the explanation says. The applicant may be requested to provide additional information, and in exceptional cases be invited for an interview, it is added.



If they are refused entry, he or she will be informed of the reasons and of their rights to an effective remedy, including judicial recourse, the proposition says.



