Immigration: EU Ambassador in Armenia: Visa Liberalization Does Not Mean Permission to Work in EU

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The EU Ambassador to Armenia Andrea Victorin is concerned that the Armenian society does not completely understand what visa liberalization means.

That is why, during a conference of the Analytical Center on Globalization and Regional Cooperation titled “Effective Promotion of Visa Liberalization in Georgia, Moldova, and Armenia,” she took her time to explain that once a visa liberalization is signed between the EU and Armenia that does not mean Armenians will be eligible to work in the EU member countries.

“Visa liberalization does not mean that you can go to European countries to work. It is important for everyone to understand that, otherwise you will be highly disappointed. This means that you can come to the EU for 90 days within a period of six months. This gives you many opportunities, and it also increases your sense of responsibility,” Victorin said.

She further explained that visa liberalization would still provide Armenians, in particular youth, with many opportunities to move freely throughout the Schengen zone, encouraging the latter to make use of the opportunities provided by the Erasmus+ program more often, as according to her it is the biggest and most important exchange program in the EU, reports Schengen Visa Info.

Yet, when asked when visa liberalization would happen for Armenia, she simply pointed out the amount of time it took for other countries: six years for Moldova, five years for Ukraine and as long as nine years for Ukraine.

On the other hand, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Avet Adonts said that the agenda formed between Armenia and the EU demands at least to start the visa liberalization dialogue.

“This is today’s demand because the formed agenda, its content and the implementation of its agenda require that,” he said, adding that the negotiating process on liberalizing the visa regime with the EU is one of the main points of bilateral relations between Yerevan and Brussels.

Deputy FM Adonts, however, said he was hopeful that the visa liberalization dialogue would be launched by the end of this year.

Armenia is only one of several world countries trying to reach a visa liberalization agreement with the Schengen countries, among others also Kosovo, Turkey, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

According to Schengen visa statistics, in 2018, the Schengen consulates located in Armenia received 59,012 Schengen visa applications. 52,081 of them were approved, and only 11.8% were rejected. Among the approved applications, only 16,530 of them were granted with multiple entry visas.

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