Countries in Europe’s border-free Schengen vicinity will stop accepting visa packages with the old passport beginning June 1.
The 26 member countries said the flow follows Kenya’s declaration to void old technology passports on 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-honored for visa programs,” reads the assertion.
According to Kenya’s Immigration Department, the e-passport is cozier because it functions as a microchip, making it tamper-proof.
Schengen visas are issued to those whose passports expire at least 90 days from the departure dates.
The visa allows one to journey to all the Schengen member states, provided the visa is lodged at the embassy, where one might stay the longest.
The Schengen Agreement, originally signed by five nations on June 14, 1985, created a special sector that now includes 26 European countries.
It abolished its internal obstacles to permit the free movement of humans and used commonplace guidelines for controlling external borders and combating trans-border crimes.
ZONE
Schengen quarter covers most of the EU countries, including the UK and Ireland.
Member states include Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Italy, France, and Greece.
Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, and Lichtenstein are also members of the Schengen zone, although they may not be in the European Union.
The other members are 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 traveling.
My experiences.
I traveled to Cote d’Ivoire several years ago with my wife, two sisters, and a brother-in-law. Tickets were purchased, and passports were 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. We were excited 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 and spent 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 and passports and gave us permission to board the plane, which was 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 or speak. Secondly, immigration officials 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?
