Article 3 · Regulation (EU) 2021/1134

Contents

Article 3Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2016/399#

Regulation (EU) 2016/399 is amended as follows:

(1)in Article 8, paragraph 3 is amended as follows:

(a)the following point is inserted:

(bb)if the third-country national holds a long-stay visa or a residence permit, the thorough checks on entry shall comprise verification of the identity of the holder of the long-stay visa or residence permit and the authenticity and validity of the long-stay visa or residence permit by consulting the VIS in accordance with Article 22g of Regulation (EC) No 767/2008.In circumstances where verification of the identity of the holder of the long-stay visa or residence permit or of the authenticity and validity of the long-stay visa or residence permit, fails or where there are doubts as to the identity of the holder, the authenticity of the long-stay visa or residence permit or the travel document, the duly authorised staff of those competent authorities shall proceed to a verification of the document chip;”;

(b)points (c) to (f) are deleted;

(2)in Annex VII, point 6, is replaced by the following:“6.Minors6.1.Border guards shall pay particular attention to minors, whether travelling accompanied or unaccompanied. Minors crossing an external border shall be subject to the same checks on entry and exit as adults, as provided for in this Regulation.6.2.In the case of accompanied minors, the border guard shall check that the persons accompanying minors have parental care or legal guardianship over them, especially where minors are accompanied by only one adult and there are serious grounds for suspecting that they may have been unlawfully removed from the custody of the persons legally exercising parental care or legal guardianship over them. In the latter case, the border guard shall carry out a further investigation in order to detect any inconsistencies or contradictions in the information given.6.3.In the case of minors travelling unaccompanied, border guards shall ensure, by means of thorough checks on travel documents and supporting documents, that the minors do not leave the territory against the wishes of the persons having parental care or legal guardianship over them.6.4.Member States shall nominate national contact points for consultation on minors and inform the Commission thereof. A list of those national contact points shall be made available to the Member States by the Commission.6.5.Where there is doubt as to any of the circumstances set out in points 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3, border guards shall make use of the list of national contact points for consultation on minors.6.6.Member States shall ensure that border guards verifying biometrics of children or using them to identify a child are specifically trained to do so in a child-friendly and child-sensitive manner and in full respect of the best interests of the child and the safeguards laid down in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. When accompanied by a parent or a legal guardian that person shall accompany the child when the biometrics are verified or used for identification. No force shall be used. Member States shall ensure, where necessary, that the infrastructure at border crossing points is adapted for the use of biometrics of children.”.

Defined terms · 16

Show every defined term

applicant
means a person who has lodged an application for a visa, long-stay visa or residence permit;
application form
means the harmonised application form for a Schengen Visa set out in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 810/2009;
designated authorities
means the Member State designated authorities as defined in point (26) of Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2226, point (3a) of Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 767/2008, and point (21) of Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240;”;
designated authority
means an authority designated by a Member State pursuant to Article 22l(1) as responsible for the prevention, detection or investigation of terrorist offences or other serious criminal offences;
Europol data
means personal data processed by Europol for the purpose referred to in point (a) of Article 18(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/794 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
facial image
means digital image of the face;
fingerprint data
means the VIS data relating to fingerprints;
hit
means the existence of a correspondence established by an automated comparison of the personal data recorded in an application file of the VIS with the specific risk indicators referred to in Article 9j or with the personal data present in a record, file or alert registered in the VIS, in another EU information system as referred to in Article 9a or 22b (EU information systems), in Europol data or in Interpol databases queried by the VIS;
identity data
means the data referred to in point (4)(a) and (aa) of Article 9 and point (d) of Article 22a(1);
law enforcement
means the prevention, detection or investigation of terrorist offences or other serious criminal offences;
long-stay visa
means an authorisation issued by a Member State as provided for in Article 18 of the Schengen Convention;
residence permit
means a residence permit issued by a Member State in accordance with the uniform format laid down by Council Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002 and a document as referred to in point (16)(b) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399;
serious criminal offence
means an offence which corresponds or is equivalent to one of the offences referred to in Article 2(2) of Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA, if it is punishable under national law by a custodial sentence or a detention order for a maximum period of at least three years.
supervisory authorities
means the supervisory authority referred to in Article 51(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council and the supervisory authority referred to in Article 41 of Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
terrorist offence
means any of the offences under national law referred to in Articles 3 to 14 of Directive (EU) 2017/541 of the European Parliament and of the Council or, for the Member States which are not bound by that Directive, the offences under national law equivalent to one of those offences;
visa authorities
means the authorities in each Member State which are responsible for examining and for taking decisions on visa applications or for taking decisions on whether to annul, revoke or extend visas, including the central visa authorities and the authorities responsible for issuing visas at the border;