Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the central premise (or promise) of the European Union all about interoperability? The ability to move freely between Schengen States - from Border Control to Working Permits to Currency etc etc.
I've always read or heard the EU being described from an internal perspective i.e. being a resident from the EU. What I haven't really read about or heard is the benefit of the collective brand from an outsider's perspective i.e. a foreigner; a business visitor; a tourist.
I can only imagine that tourism, as well as foreign business investment are separately key contributors to the various EU states' GDP's.
Why then is the process of securing a Schengen visa to visit an EU State so hopefully inconsistent and imbalanced from State to State?
For those of you that have the luxury of having an American or EU passport for examples, you probably have never encountered "Visa Hell". For a schmuck like myself however, a South African passport doesn't exactly open doors.
Since 2007, I have secured 8 Schengen Visas - 5 of the last 6 being 6-month, multiple entry visas. I've visited the following embassies: Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Italy and Finland and let me tell you...the various experiences couldn't be more different.
For those of you that don't know what a Schengen Visa is - it's basically one visa which applies for the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
So if you're planning a trip to Belgium, Denmark and Greece for example, then you'd have to go to the Greek Embassy first and apply for your visa there. The reason being that Greece is the first port of entry.
Here's where the logic goes pear shaped:
- Does it really matter that the Greek Embassy gives you a visa which essentially is equally valid for any other Schengen State?
- Does it matter which country issues a Schengen Visa if in fact the applicant could conceivably end up in any of the Schengen States during the period covered in their visa?
- And if it does matter, why is the application process so fundamentally different from country to country?
I guess that's my beef. I've seen people made to wait outside of the Embassy in the freezing cold and falling snow until they are called inside. I've seen one Embassy that accepts inbound faxes and e-mails and even FEDEX'es the stamped passport to the applicant to save them from coming back a second time. One Embassy answers the phone whilst another only accepts appointments via online booking. I've also seen incredibly erratic and inconsistent standards when it comes to things like passport pictures - you can smile; no you can't; you're facing forwards when you should be tilted at 45 degrees to the left; why aren't you facing forwards? And the list goes on.
Where's the uniformity? Where's the integration? Where's the consistency?
Bottom line is that I heart Finland. Not so much when it comes to France and Italy. Netherlands and Belgium are perennial favorites.
Ask me why when you see me next.
And until then, EU: sort out your brand promise of being an integrated, holistic and unified community. Because if the visa application process is anything to go by, you're about as disconnected and disjointed as the typical product or service brand.
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