The European Council has approved new rules that broaden the grounds for visa-free status suspension amid rising concerns over irregular migration and hybrid security threats.
The visa-free status allows nationals of certain non-EU countries to enter the Schengen Area without a visa up to 90 days in a 180-day period. The updated mechanism will allow the EU to respond swiftly in case visa exemption is being abused or works against EU interests.
New grounds for suspension
The EU will be able to revoke visa-free status if the country fails to align with the EU's visa policy. An example of this is if an EU-bordering country that enjoys visa exemption does not require a visa from non-exempted countries, increasing irregular migration.
The suspension may also apply if the EU is concerned that the country in question violates human rights.
New rules also explicitly say that visa exemption can be suspended when a country runs an investor citizenship scheme – granting citizenship to individuals who make a significant financial investment in a country, often with little to no residency requirements.
Moreover, the EU lowered the threshold which quantifies substantial increases in cases of refused entry and overstay, asylum applications and serious criminal offences, from 50% to 30%. The reference period can be between 2 to 12 months.
New terms
The amendments will enter into force in roughly four weeks: the document will be signed during the plenary session at the European Parliament next week, and will be officially published 20 days after that. The exact date has not been specified.
The period for initial suspension will increase to 12 months (from nine months currently) and can be extended to 24 months (from 18 months currently), totalling 36 months.
While the temporary suspension would affect the entire population under current rules, the new regulations allow for separation between citizens and government officials and diplomats. This reflects EU concerns about punishing an entire nation for a government's actions, as in Georgia's case.
However, if by the end of this period, the circumstances leading to the suspension have not been fixed, the visa-free status can be permanently revoked.
Which countries are at risk?
The European Commission is set to present a report on the monitoring of the EU visa-free regime in December. All countries on the list are assessed.
Countries in the Western Balkan region, such as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, could become a point of concern, considering the high irregular migration records, organised crime and visa policy misalignment highlighted in the previous Commission's monitoring reports.
Georgia is currently at the highest risk of suspension. Tbilisi has been on a collision course with Brussels for some time due to the recent adoption of anti-LGBTQ legislation and the Foreign Agents Registration Act law (FARA) – a blueprint of Russia's Foreign Agent Law. Tbilisi, however, claims it is modelled after the American FARA. In January, the Commission suspended visa-free travel for Georgia's diplomatic passport holders.
Even though the Commission can move ahead with a temporary suspension without a vote in the Parliament or among EU Member States, as many as 19 States consider supporting such a measure for Georgia if the EU decides to act, RadioFreeEurope reported.
Eastern Caribbean countries – Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia – have also been flagged as States running investor-citizenship schemes.
The EU implemented a visa suspension mechanism in 2013. Since then, it has only been applied once to Vanuatu, an island country in the southwestern Pacific, in 2024.
In September 2022, the EU also suspended the visa facilitation agreement with Russia, making it more expensive and time-consuming for Russian citizens to obtain short-stay Schengen visas.
