EU reviews Schengen short-stay visa rules and fees

The European Commission published a call for evidence on 8 September 2026 to overhaul the Schengen short-stay Visa Code. The review sets out proposals to modernise how short-stay visas work across the Schengen area, including a possible new EU-level charge on top of the existing €90 visa fee, and updated rules for frequent business travellers. The public consultation runs until 6 October 2026.

If you hold a British, American, Canadian, Australian, Japanese or other visa-exempt passport, this reform has no direct bearing on your trips to Europe. You are not on the Schengen visa track. Your pre-travel requirement for Europe will be ETIAS, a separate system with its own fee (€20, set in EU law) and its own application process. The Visa Code reform and ETIAS run on parallel tracks and do not interact.

Who needs a Schengen short-stay visa?

The Schengen short-stay visa, known as the “C visa”, allows nationals from countries without visa-free access to the Schengen area to visit for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. The list covers a large share of the world’s population, including nationals of India, China, Russia, Turkey, Vietnam, Egypt, Pakistan and many others. Millions of applications are processed each year through the consular networks of Schengen member states.

The current adult fee is €90, set in the EU Visa Code. Some categories pay less or nothing at all: children under 12, researchers and students from certain countries, for example.

What is the Commission proposing to change?

The September call for evidence sets out three main directions the Commission intends to explore in draft legislation.

The first is an additional EU-level charge on top of the existing €90 consular fee. Rather than the full fee going to the member state processing the application, some portion would be collected at European level. The Commission says it will assess “the feasibility of introducing an additional charge on top of the Schengen visa fee.” The amount is not fixed, and the proposal would need to go through the full EU legislative process before taking effect.

The second is harmonised rules for trusted frequent business travellers. At present, treatment of regular corporate visitors varies across member states. The reform would standardise the criteria so that a traveller established as trusted in one Schengen country is recognised consistently across others.

The third is updated digital procedures. Most Schengen visa applicants still visit a consulate in person for a biometric appointment. The Commission is examining how more of the process can move online, including use of the EU digital identity infrastructure that is being built out alongside EES and ETIAS.

If I hold a UK, US or Australian passport, does this affect me?

No. Nationals of the roughly 60 visa-exempt countries and territories (including the UK, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and the rest) do not apply for Schengen visas. They travel under visa-free access arrangements and, once ETIAS is live, will register via that system instead.

ETIAS is governed by a separate regulation and a separately set fee. The €20 fee is official EU law under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1411. It is not under review and is not connected to the Visa Code reform. Under-18s and over-70s pay nothing, though they still need an ETIAS once the system is live.

ETIAS is not live yet. Press reporting on EU planning points to 2027, but the EU has not announced an official date. No action is required yet. Applications are not open. The ETIAS status page carries the current official position.

Why is the EU reviewing this now?

The September call for evidence follows directly from the Commission’s first-ever Visa Policy Strategy, published in January 2026. That document set a framework for making visa access conditional on measurable data: overstay rates, asylum application volumes, and compliance with return obligations. The September step converts that framework into the outline of actual legislation.

The timing also reflects what EES has made possible. The Entry/Exit System went fully operational on 10 April 2026, registering facial images, fingerprints and travel-document data at every Schengen external border. For the first time, the EU has real exit-check data: it knows how long each visitor stays and whether they leave on time. Overstay rates by nationality can now be measured rather than estimated. That changes what a modernised Visa Code can practically do.

The broader picture is that the EU is building a layered entry infrastructure: EES logs every crossing for all non-EU visitors, ETIAS will screen visa-exempt nationals before departure, and the revised Visa Code updates the rules for those who need a full short-stay visa. The three sit on top of each other and share the same eu-LISA technology platform.

For travellers from visa-exempt countries, the Schengen visa track is not the relevant one. But understanding how the whole system fits together helps clarify why ETIAS exists: it extends pre-travel screening to nationalities that previously needed no paperwork at all, as part of the same strategy that is also tightening the visa track.