EU-Azerbaijan agreement on facilitating the issuing of visas

The EU and the Republic of Azerbaijan signed today a visa facilitation agreement  at a ceremony that took place in Vilnius, in the margins of the Eastern Partnership Summit. 

On behalf of the EU, the agreement was signed by Linas Linkevičius, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania in his capacity as President of the Council of the European Union, and by Štefan Fule, Commissioner with responsibility for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy. For Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, signed the agreement, says EU press release.

The agreement will now be sent to the European Parliament with a view to obtaining its consent before it can be concluded. It will enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the two parties notify each other that the internal procedures have been completed, or at the date of the entry into force of the EU-Azerbaijan readmission agreement if that date is later. The two agreements shall enter into force together. The UK, Ireland and Denmark are not bound by the agreement.

The agreement makes it easier and cheaper for citizens of Azerbaijan, in particular those who travel most, to acquire short-stay visas allowing them to travel to and freely throughout the EU. A short-stay visa is a visa for an intended stay of no more than 90 days in any period of 180 days. For some categories of frequent travellers and under certain conditions, member states are supposed to issue multiple-entry visas with a validity from one to up to five years. Holders of diplomatic are exempted from the visa obligation. -0-