EU unveils plans for new secure visas for visitors

The European Commission today unveiled plans to introduce new secure visas for non-European Union nationals visiting the bloc and options for EU governments to jointly process such visa applications.

The new visas are part of a wider European upgrade of identity documents to make travel more secure, and to make it easier for authorities to find fake travel documents, officials said.

The new short-stay visas currently used by 13 EU nations will be upgraded with a biometric chip containing a finger print of the visa holder.

Later upgrades foresee adding a facial scan to the identity chip on the visa.

EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini said the other plan to set up so-called common application centres abroad will streamline the procedure and cut time by which applicants receive their travel passes to go to the EU.

The EU proposal foresees two or more participating EU member states pooling consular staff and equipment in taking visa applications. Officials said they expect the new visas to be available within the next year.