Countries in Europe’s border-free Schengen vicinity will stop accepting visa packages at the old passport beginning June 1.
In a statement, the 26 member countries said the flow follows Kenya’s declaration to void old technology passports from September 1.
“The Schengen member states consequently wish to inform the Kenyan public that from June 1, 2019, best the new East African Community biometric e-passport might be time-honoured for visa programs,” reads the assertion.
According to Kenya’s Immigration Department, the e-passport is cozier because it functions a microchip making it tamper-proof.
Schengen visas are issued to those whose passports expire as a minimum 90 days from the departure dates.
The visa lets in one to journey to all the Schengen member states provided the visa is lodged at the embassy in which one might stay the longest.
Originally signed by using five nations on June 14, 1985, the Schengen Agreement created a special sector that now includes 26 European countries.
It abolished their internal obstacles to permit free movement of humans and uses commonplace guidelines for controlling external borders and combating trans-border crimes.
ZONE
Schengen quarter covers maximum of the EU countries, apart from the UK and Ireland.
Member states consist of Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Italy, France and Greece.
Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein are also part of the Schengen zone despite the fact that they may be not in the European Union.
Other members consist of the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Financial Freedom in networking allows us to travel to many places around the globe. Since 9/11, we have discovered how important a passport and a visa are to global travelling.
My experiences.
Several years ago I traveled to Cote d’Ivoire with my wife, two sisters and a brother in law. Tickets purchased, passports in hand we boarded the plane in Chicago for the long flight to Abidjan via Zurich. The efficient agent at the airline ticket counter checked our flight tickets and passports and approved us to board the flight. Excited we were and looking forward to the long flight overseas. Why were we going to Abidjan? My son and his wife were missionaries in Cote d’Ivoire. We looked forward to visiting and learning about their culture and work.
We arrived in Zurich, spend a couple of hours lounging around the airport, stretching our legs and waiting for the next portion of our flight to Abidjan. Again, the agent at the counter checked our boarding passes, our passports and gave us permission to board the plane, now a direct flight to Abidjan.
No one told us about the surprise we would encounter at the Abidjan airport. First of all, this is a French-speaking country. A language none of us could understand nor speak. Secondly, immigration asked us for our Passports and Visas! Visas! What visas! No one suggested we needed a visa to enter the country of Cote d’Ivoire. Not the travel agent, nor the airline agents. Now what?
