On September 15, the first phase of the new initiative aimed at preparing the online form for Schengen visa applications was launched. The project, drafted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Italy, is called “E-@pplication“.
The initiative will enable users of the visa service to fill in visa applications online, combining technological upgrading, cost and time optimization, and ultimately greater efficiency across the entire network. The project – presented at the European Seminar on Visas for Innovation (Rome, July 7, 2017) – is part of the European medium-term plan for the creation of an electronic visa (e-visa).
“E-@plication” is a software that, through a wizard, allows the user to fill in the visa application online and print it right away. After signing it, the user must go to the Embassy’s Visa Office in order to submit the application and additional documentation.
For reasons related especially to cyber security requirements, the application must be brought to the Office physically and cannot be sent electronically to the Office.
The completed form contains a series of bar codes that will be read by an optical reader for data acquisition.
What are the benefits of the new system?
The benefits of the new system are many: time efficiency for data entry; greater completeness of data; minor typing errors; higher quality of data entered; reduction of waiting times.
The new system is completely optional for users and will coexist with the manual insertion of visa applications.
In order to speed up processing times for each case, all visa applicants are strongly encouraged to resort to this new procedure by visiting the website http://e-applicationvisa.esteri.it and also by consulting this announcement.
