Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement (codification)

Article 1

This Regulation determines the third countries whose nationals are subject to, or exempt from, the visa requirement, on the basis of a case-by-case assessment of a variety of criteria relating, inter alia, to illegal immigration, public policy and security, economic benefit, in particular in terms of tourism and foreign trade, and the Union's external relations with the relevant third countries, including, in particular, considerations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the implications of regional coherence and reciprocity.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘visa’ means a visa as defined in point (a) of Article 2(2) of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹).

Article 3

Article 4

The following persons shall also be exempt from the visa requirement:

(a) the nationals of third countries listed in Annex I to this Regulation who are holders of a local border traffic permit issued by the Member States pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1931/2006 when those holders exercise their right within the context of the local border traffic regime;

(b) school pupils who are nationals of a third country listed in Annex I to this Regulation, who reside in a Member State applying Council Decision 94/795/JHA (²) and who are travelling in the context of a school excursion as members of a group of school pupils accompanied by a teacher from the school in question;

(c) recognised refugees and stateless persons and other persons who do not hold the nationality of any country, who reside in a Member State and who are holders of a travel document issued by that Member State.

Article 5

Nationals of new third countries formerly part of third countries listed in Annexes I and II shall be subject respectively to Articles 3 and 4 unless and until the Council decides otherwise under the procedure laid down in the relevant provision of the TFEU.

Article 6

A Member State may provide for exceptions from the visa requirement provided for in Article 3 or from the exemption from the visa requirement provided for in Article 4 as regards:

(a) holders of diplomatic passports, service/official passports or special passports;

(b) civilian air and sea crew members in the performance of their duties;

(c) civilian sea crew members, when they go ashore, who hold a seafarer's identity document issued in accordance with the International Labour Organisation Conventions No 108 of 13 May 1958 or No 185 of 19 June 2003 or the International Maritime Organization Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic of 9 April 1965;

(d) crew and members of emergency or rescue missions in the event of a disaster or an accident;

(e) civilian crew of ships navigating in international inland waters;

(f) holders of travel documents issued by intergovernmental international organisations of which at least one Member State is a member, or by other entities recognised by the Member State concerned as subjects of international law, to officials of those organisations or entities.

A Member State may exempt from the visa requirement provided for in Article 3:

(a) a school pupil having the nationality of a third country listed in Annex I, who resides in a third country listed in Annex II or in Switzerland and Liechtenstein and who is travelling in the context of a school excursion as a member of a group of school pupils accompanied by a teacher from the school in question;

(b) recognised refugees and stateless persons if the third country where they reside and which issued their travel document is one of the third countries listed in Annex II;

(c) members of the armed forces travelling on NATO or Partnership for Peace business and holders of identification and movement orders provided for by the Agreement between the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty regarding the Status of their Forces of 19 June 1951;

(d) without prejudice to the requirements stemming from the European Agreement on the Abolition of Visas for Refugees of the Council of Europe signed at Strasbourg on 20 April 1959, recognised refugees and stateless persons and other persons who do not hold the nationality of any country who reside in Ireland and are holders of a travel document issued by Ireland, which is recognised by the Member State concerned.

Article 7

Where a third country listed in Annex II applies a visa requirement for nationals of at least one Member State, the following provisions shall apply:

(a) within 30 days of the implementation by the third country of the visa requirement, the Member State concerned shall notify the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission thereof in writing. That notification shall: (i) specify the date of implementation of the visa requirement and the types of travel documents and visas concerned; (ii) include a detailed explanation of the preliminary measures that the Member State concerned has taken with a view to ensuring visa-free travel with the third country in question and all relevant information. Information relating to that notification shall be published without delay by the Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union, including information on the date of implementation of the visa requirement and the types of travel documents and visas concerned. If the third country decides to lift the visa requirement before the expiry of the deadline referred to in the first subparagraph of this point, the notification shall not be made or shall be withdrawn and the information shall not be published;

(b) the Commission shall, immediately following the date of the publication referred to in the third subparagraph of point (a) and in consultation with the Member State concerned, take steps with the authorities of the third country in question, in particular in the political, economic and commercial fields, in order to restore or introduce visa-free travel and shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of those steps without delay;

(c) if within 90 days of the date of the publication referred to in the third subparagraph of point (a) and despite all the steps taken in accordance with point (b), the third country has not lifted the visa requirement, the Member State concerned may request the Commission to suspend the exemption from the visa requirement for certain categories of nationals of that third country. Where a Member State makes such a request, it shall inform the European Parliament and the Council thereof;

(d) the Commission shall, when considering further steps in accordance with point (e), (f) or (h), take into account the outcome of the measures taken by the Member State concerned with a view to ensuring visa-free travel with the third country in question, the steps taken in accordance with point (b), and the consequences of the suspension of the exemption from the visa requirement for the external relations of the Union and its Member States with the third country in question;

(e) if the third country concerned has not lifted the visa requirement, the Commission shall, at the latest within six months of the date of the publication referred to in the third subparagraph of point (a) and subsequently at intervals not exceeding six months within a total period which may not extend beyond the date on which the delegated act referred to in point (f) enters into force or is objected to: (i) adopt, at the request of the Member State concerned or on its own initiative, an implementing act temporarily suspending the exemption from the visa requirement for certain categories of nationals of the third country concerned for a period of up to six months. That implementing act shall fix a date, within 90 days of its entry into force, on which the suspension of the exemption from the visa requirement is to take effect, taking into account the available resources in the consulates of the Member States. When adopting subsequent implementing acts, the Commission may extend the period of that suspension by further periods of up to six months and may modify the categories of nationals of the third country in question for which the exemption from the visa requirement is suspended. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 11(2). Without prejudice to the application of Article 6, during the periods of suspension all the categories of nationals of the third country referred to in the implementing act shall be required to be in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders of the Member States; or (ii) submit to the committee referred to in Article 11(1) a report assessing the situation and stating the reasons why it decided not to suspend the exemption from the visa requirement and inform the European Parliament and the Council thereof. All relevant factors, such as those referred to in point (d), shall be taken into account in that report. The European Parliament and the Council may have a political discussion on the basis of that report;

(f) if within 24 months of the date of the publication referred to in the third subparagraph of point (a), the third country concerned has not lifted the visa requirement, the Commission shall adopt a delegated act in accordance with Article 10 temporarily suspending the exemption from the visa requirement for a period of 12 months for the nationals of that third country. The delegated act shall fix a date, within 90 days of its entry into force, on which the suspension of the exemption from the visa requirement is to take effect, taking into account the available resources in the consulates of the Member States and shall amend Annex II accordingly. That amendment shall be made by inserting next to the name of the third country in question a footnote indicating that the exemption from the visa requirement is suspended with regard to that third country and specifying the period of that suspension. From the date when the suspension of the exemption from the visa requirement for the nationals of the third country concerned takes effect or when an objection to the delegated act is expressed pursuant to Article 10(7), any implementing act adopted pursuant to point (e) of this Article concerning that third country shall expire. Where the Commission submits a legislative proposal as referred to in point (h), the period of suspension of the exemption from the visa requirement referred to in the first subparagraph of this point shall be extended by six months. The footnote referred to in that subparagraph shall be amended accordingly. Without prejudice to the application of Article 6, during the periods of that suspension the nationals of the third country concerned by the delegated act shall be required to be in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders of the Member States;

(g) any subsequent notification made by another Member State pursuant to point (a) concerning the same third country during the period of application of measures adopted pursuant to point (e) or (f) with regard to that third country shall be merged into the ongoing procedures without the deadlines or periods set out in those points being extended;

(h) if within six months of the entry into force of the delegated act referred to in point (f) the third country in question has not lifted the visa requirement, the Commission may submit a legislative proposal to amend this Regulation in order to transfer the reference to the third country from Annex II to Annex I;

(i) the procedures referred to in points (e), (f) and (h) shall not affect the right of the Commission to submit at any time a legislative proposal to amend this Regulation in order to transfer the reference to the third country concerned from Annex II to Annex I;

(j) where the third country in question lifts the visa requirement, the Member State concerned shall immediately notify the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission thereof. The notification shall be published without delay by the Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Any implementing or delegated act adopted pursuant to point (e) or (f) concerning the third country in question shall expire seven days after the publication referred to in the first subparagraph of this point. Where the third country in question has introduced a visa requirement for nationals of two or more Member States, the implementing or delegated act concerning that third country shall expire seven days after the publication of the notification concerning the last Member State whose nationals were subject to the visa requirement by that third country. The footnote referred to in the first subparagraph of point (f) shall be deleted upon expiry of the delegated act concerned. The information concerning that expiry shall be published without delay by the Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Where the third country in question lifts the visa requirement without the Member State concerned notifying it in accordance with the first subparagraph of this point, the Commission shall on its own initiative proceed without delay with the publication referred to in that subparagraph, and the second subparagraph of this point shall apply.

Article 8

The suspension mechanism may be triggered by a notification of a Member State to the Commission in accordance with Article 8b or on the basis of the Commission’s own analysis in accordance with Article 8c.

Article 8a

The suspension mechanism may be triggered on the basis of any of the following grounds:

(a) a substantial increase in the number of nationals of a third country listed in Annex II refused entry to a Member State’s territory or found to be staying in a Member State’s territory without a right to do so;

(b) a substantial increase in the number of asylum applications from the nationals of a third country listed in Annex II for which the recognition rate is low;

(c) a decrease in cooperation on readmission with a third country listed in Annex II or other cases of non-cooperation on readmission;

(d) a significant risk or imminent threat to the public policy or internal security of Member States related to a third country listed in Annex II, in particular where it derives from any of the following: (i) a substantial increase in serious criminal offences, linked to the nationals of that third country, substantiated by objective, concrete and relevant information and data provided by the competent authorities; (ii) hybrid threats; (iii) systemic deficiencies in document security law or procedures;

(e) the operation, by a third country listed in Annex II, of an investor citizenship scheme under which citizenship is granted to a person, in exchange for pre-determined payments or investments, without that person having any genuine link to that third country;

(f) the non-alignment of the visa policy of a third country listed in Annex II with the visa policy of the Union which, in particular because of the geographic proximity of that third country to the Union, could lead to a substantial increase in the number of nationals of other third countries irregularly entering the territory of the Member States after having stayed on, or transited through, the territory of that third country;

(g) in relation to third countries listed in Annex II as a result of the successful conclusion of a visa liberalisation dialogue with the Union, non-compliance by such a third country with the specific requirements, based on Article 1, which were used to assess the appropriateness of granting its nationals an exemption from the visa requirement;

(h) a deterioration in the Union’s external relations with a third country listed in Annex II caused by: (i) serious breaches by that third country of the principles set out in the Charter of the United Nations; (ii) grave violations by that third country of fundamental freedoms or of the obligations deriving from international human rights law or international humanitarian law; (iii) serious breaches by that third country of international law and international legal standards; (iv) non-compliance by that third country with international court decisions and rulings; or (v) that third country carrying out hostile acts against the Union or Member States with the aim of destabilising or undermining society or institutions which are key for the public policy and internal security of the Union or Member States;

(i) any other ground for suspension set out in a short-stay visa waiver agreement between the Union and a third country listed in Annex II, limited to the scope of application of the agreement concerned.

By 31 December 2028, the Commission shall assess how the threshold set out in the first subparagraph has been implemented and shall present the results of that assessment to the European Parliament and to the Council. The assessment shall focus, in particular, on whether the threshold is relevant for the purposes of the suspension mechanism.

For the purposes of paragraph 1, point (c), the following may be considered as other cases of non-cooperation on readmission:

(a) refusing or failing to process readmission applications in a timely manner, including by failing to assist in identifying third-country nationals for whom a Member State has submitted readmission applications or otherwise creating persisting practical obstacles regarding the enforcement of returns;

(b) failing to issue travel documents in a timely manner for the purpose of returning third-country nationals within the deadlines set out in a readmission agreement with a third country listed in Annex II or refusing to accept European travel documents issued following the expiry of the deadlines set out in such a readmission agreement;

(c) terminating or suspending a readmission agreement concluded between the Union and a third country listed in Annex II.

Article 8b

The Commission shall examine, without delay, any notification made pursuant to paragraph 1 or 2 of this Article, taking into account:

(a) whether any of the circumstances amounting to the grounds for suspension set out in Article 8a(1), point (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) or (i), exist;

(b) the number of Member States affected by any of those circumstances;

(c) the overall impact of those circumstances on the migratory situation in the Union as it appears from the data provided by the Member States or available to the Commission;