Schengen visa rules relaxed for citizens of this country: Check details here

The European Union has announced a relaxation of its visa procedures for Turkish citizens entering the Schengen zone, a development welcomed by Ankara and seen as a step towards revitalising long-stalled talks on visa liberalisation.

Speaking in Ankara on July 18, the EU’s ambassador to Turkey, Thomas Hans Ossowski, confirmed that the new rules, simplifying the process for multiple-entry visas came into effect on July 15. The revised approach aims to ease the lengthy bureaucracy for Turkish travellers, an issue that has drawn criticism for years, he said, Reuters reported.

“It will be much easier and much faster for Turkish citizens,” Ossowski told reporters. He, however, acknowledged that the new system was not a permanent solution to ongoing frustrations surrounding the visa regime.

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Under the new framework, Turkish applicants who have previously complied with visa conditions will now be eligible for progressively longer multiple-entry visas. Starting from a six-month visa upon their second application, they can eventually receive one-year, three-year, and five-year multi-entry visas.

The move comes in response to persistent complaints from Turkish nationals about delays and complications in the EU visa process. The EU has attributed the sluggish system to a surge in applications and the administrative burden on accredited visa agencies. Ongoing discussions with Ankara are exploring ways to streamline the process further.

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Türkiye’s (Turkey’s) Foreign Ministry welcomed the EU’s decision and stated that both Turkish institutions and the European Commission will continue working toward broader visa facilitation.

While Türkiye has held EU candidate status since 1999, its membership process has been effectively frozen in recent years over concerns related to human rights and democratic governance. Nonetheless, recent months have shown tentative signs of renewed engagement and economic cooperation between Ankara and Brussels.

Ambassador Ossowski highlughted that the EU had committed more than a decade ago to granting visa-free travel to Turkish citizens, stressing the need to revive the liberalisation process.

“Every other candidate country has visa-free travel except Turkey,” he said and added, “It is urgent to re-engage in this process of visa-free travel in the Schengen space and the EU.”