EU Visas for SCG Students and Experts

Brussels, 10 January 2005 – Students, scientists and experts from Serbia-Montenegro and other Western Balkan countries will get their visas for the EU territory much faster and more easily from now on, provided they go there to further their education, decided the Council of Ministers of the EU, according to BETA.

The decision entered force in early January and it applies to university and secondary school students, professors, scientists volunteering as teachers and persons who come to the EU as volunteers.

Visas and temporary leaves to remain will be issued for one year and in exceptional cases for longer, reads the EU regulation.

There is a special procedure for specialization in medicine – each EU Member State will have to decide for itself whether they want to accept students and experts from ‘third countries’ wishing to advance their knowledge in this field.

Each Member State can restrict the stay of SCG and Western Balkan students and experts to its own territory, but the EU Council of Ministers’ regulation emphasizes that the movement on the entire territory of the EU should be facilitated when EU programmes require access to educational institutions in several Member States.

The regulation also emphasizes that, provided individual EU Member States have laws permitting it, students can work while studying in the EU in order to be able to cover their expenses.

Furthermore, person applying for a visa, i.e. one-year stay in order to advance their knowledge or ‘voluntary mission’, needs to show they are able to cover their expenses while in the EU, they need a return ticket and health insurance and should not jeopardize the EU peace and safety.

EU Member States should include this regulation in their legislatures no later than 1 January 2007, but can start applying it immediately.