Poland is working on launching a new visa appointment system that will allow only legitimate applicants to secure the visa appointment. This move will eliminate middle agents who charge a hefty money for securing a visa appointment.
REASONS TO INTRODUCE NEW VISA SYSTEM
This move has been taken as a result of visa scandal that has been reported in 2023.
Also, Portugal employers and foreign nationals have complained multiple times that they are facing issues while booking an appointment. As a result, they have to take help from third party agents in exchange for money.
Although employers are not able to secure immediate visa appointments, intermediary agents can secure it . This malpractice shows that the system is getting exploited in a certain way. Owing to which, Polish authorities are working on strengthening their system to get rid of middlemen. Therefore, it will be possible for applicants to schedule an appointment for free through official channels.
INSIGHTS ABOUT NEW APPOINTMENT SYSTEM
Poland will launch new electronic services which will verify a person’s identity. The new services will allow only the applicable candidates to secure the appointment.
Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated “The Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to launch an additional electronic service verifying the identity of a person who intends to make an appointment at a consular office via an online service in the near future.”
The Ministry did not share additional information on electronic verification service. However, it is assumed that biometric will be used for this purpose. Hence, in the near future, it might be possible that a Polish Schenegen visa could be issued by going through a biometric process.
The dates for launching the new system have not been announced. According to the Ministry, it will be introduced within this year.
PILOT IMPLEMENTATION IN HIGH MIGRATION NATIONS
According to the Ministry, the Pilot program will be firstly introduced in “high risk migration nations”. India, Philippines and Uzbekistan have been selected for this program.
The Polish Ministry said “The selection of offices for the pilot implementation of the mechanism will be based on the analysis of statistical data and conditions prevailing in a given country of office.”
Upon the successful evaluation of the program, it will be expanded for other countries.
The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said “In the longer term, after the evaluation of the effectiveness of the model used, it will be possible to expand it, both in the current operating system (eKonsulat) and in the planned new platform of consular e-services.”
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