Tanzania: Schengen Visa Fees to Rise By 33% in 2020, Old Passports Still Acceptable

By The Citizen Reporter

Dar es Salaam — Countries that make up the Schengen region in Europe are set to increase Visa fees with effect from February 1, 2020.

Speaking to The Citizen in Dar es Salaam, an official from the Dutch embassy said travelers in need of a Schengen Visa will have to pay higher visa fees, due to the Schengen visa code changes.

"The Schengen visa fees are set to increase by 33.3 per cent from Euros 60 to 80 (Sh150, 540 to Sh200, 000) when a new regulation comes into force in February," said the official in the visa section of the embassy.

As part of the changes, applicants will be allowed to apply for visas of up to six months in advance.

"However, travelers will still not be allowed to file an application later than three months before their intended entry to the Schengen, except for justified individual cases, in which the consulate or the central authorities may allow the lodging of applications later than 15 calendar days," said the official.

Passports of non-EU travelers entering the Schengen borders will no longer be stamped after 2022 because the new system will make passport stamps unnecessary because all exit and entry data will be registered.

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"The new scheme of the European Union called Entry/Exit System (EES) will register entry and exit data and refusal of entry data of third-country nationals crossing the external borders of the Member States and determining the conditions for access to the EES for law enforcement purposes."

In another development, Tanzanians holding the non-biometric East African passports can still apply for the Schengen Visa using the old passports.

Tanzania's case remains a unique one after several countries including neighboring Kenya decreeing that travelers will require the new East African Biometric Passport to apply for the Schengen Visa.

The 26 Schengen countries are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia and Liechtenstein.

Others are Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.