New Lithuanian Visa Centres to open in seven countries
In cooperation with an external service provider new Lithuanian visa centres will be opened in seven countries. On 17 December 2014, agreements on establishment of visa centres in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, China and Turkey were signed with the company VFS Global selected by way of international tender at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Main advantages of visa centres include significantly enlarged territorial coverage and better access, better quality of service, i.e. visa centres are conveniently located, have long working hours, payments accepted in local currency or by credit cards, all additional services are provided in the same centre and convenient advance registration is available. Depending on the country visa centres charge EUR 20–26 for their services. Opening of visa centres and their operation will come at no additional cost for Lithuania’s budget.
Foreign citizens will be able to apply for Schengen visa directly at diplomatic and consular representations of the Republic of Lithuania in their countries.
Approaching deadline for implementation of the European Parliament and Council Regulation concerning Visa Information System introduces the obligation to collect biometric data of visa applicants, therefore new visa centres to be opened in the Eastern Partnership countries as of 29 January 2015 will serve as a key element of the biometric data reading system.
The external service provider is a global leader and cooperates with all Schengen area partners and provides technical examination services of the Schengen visa in 1369 visa centres in 115 countries.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been cooperating with the selected external service provider since 2013. There are 16 visa centres in Russia and 13 in Ukraine.
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