Schengen visa applications to go fully digital by 2030
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Algérie 360
The European Commission is preparing a single platform, EU VAP, that will fully centralise Schengen visa applications online by 2030, with a launch timetable yet to be set. Each member state will have a transition period of up to seven years before paper applications are abandoned, according to Algérie360.
The future European platform for Schengen visa applications, EU VAP, is under development and could be operational as early as 2028, according to the European agency eu-LISA. The European Commission, for its part, is targeting a launch "around 2030", a timetable linked to the deployment of other IT systems at the European Union’s borders.
The European regulation adopted in 2023 provides that implementation of the system will depend in particular on the adoption of the necessary delegated and implementing acts and the validation of comprehensive technical tests by eu-LISA. In its 2026-2028 programming document, adopted on 31 July 2026, the agency says it has secured additional staff to begin work in 2026 and subsequently maintain the platform.
The platform’s launch will not immediately eliminate paper applications. Each Schengen member state may provide for a transition period of up to seven years, which could keep some physical procedures in place into the 2030s.
