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Entry visa praxis
General information about entry visas
A visa is a permit to enter into and stay in the Schengen area for a specified short period, at most three months per half year, and provides a form of a ‘uniform visa´ according to Article two of the Visa Code. In some exceptional cases, a visa may be limited to apply only to Sweden or for a number of limited Member States, a ‘visa with limited territorial validity´.
It is possible to apply for a Schengen visa that applies for several entries where a person is for instance visiting their own children or in connection with recurrent business visits. This visa applies to stays of a maximum of 90 days per half year. Such a visa can be obtained for at most five years.
A person who has special reasons can obtain a visa for a longer period — at most one year. The visa applies throughout the Schengen area but is considered according to national rules and is a ‘D-visa´.
Visas are granted, for example, for
- business trips
- participating in conferences, seminars or similar events
- visiting relatives and friends
- cultural exchanges
- participating in sporting events
- tourist visits
- other specifically stated purposes of a personal or financial nature, for example
- transit journeys
- airport transit.
Examination of visa cases
Every visa application is considered individually and individual grounds are taken into consideration. In certain cases the Swedish mission abroad can refer an application to the Swedish Migration Board, which will make a decision.
When staff at Swedish missions abroad and at the Migration Board carry out their duties, they shall ensure that the applicants are treated well and with respect. Discrimination against any person on the basis of gender, race, ethnic origin, religion, beliefs, disability, age or sexual orientation is not permitted. This is prescribed by Article 39 in the EU´s Visa Code.
Examination of visa applications comprises checking the
- purpose of the visit
and that the applicant
- has a valid passport which permits entry to the Schengen countries
- has sufficient money for the visit and the return journey, including medical travel insurance
- is not on the SIS alert list
- is not a threat to law and order, national security, public health or any of the Schengen states' international relations.
Assessing whether a visa application should be approved or not is based on many circumstances, including:
- whether the applicant does not have documents which entitle them to return home after a certain time spent abroad
- whether the applicant belongs to any minority group which is vulnerable or persecuted in their country of origin
- whether the applicant is temporarily living in or visiting a third country
- the political conditions in the country of origin
- the applicant's need for protection
- the intention of the authorities in the country of origin to take back their own citizens
- the applicant's ties to Sweden compared to their ties to their country of origin
- the opportunity to travel to the country of origin to visit relatives or to meet in another country.
A visa application shall not be approved if the examination reveals that the purpose of the application is to take up residence. The decision-making authorities shall assess whether there is a risk that the applicant, on the basis of personal or other circumstances, does not intend to leave Sweden or the Schengen zone. In the case of applicants who come from countries where defection is common and where re-admission may be a problem, a more restrictive assessment may be made than for others. The importance of the visit should be weighed against the circumstances which may go against an application being approved.
Exceptions
Situations may arise where the applicant probably cannot return home, but where the circumstances of the individual case are such that the visa should still be issued. For example, this could be when there are very distressing and/or strong humanitarian reasons such as serious illness, a death in the family or similar.
It may also be a matter of a visit for cultural exchange, participation in seminars and sporting events and other international exchanges as well as business trips which are of special importance to Sweden. In such cases, a national visa can be issued. These circumstances are then weighed against how important the visit is judged to be. The applicant's intention to leave Sweden and the Schengen zone is of particular importance.
