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Azerbaijan-EU negotiations on visa facilitation to be launched on March 1

27 February 2012 14:22 (UTC +04:00)

The mission will be co-chaired by Rob Rozenburg, Deputy Head of International Affairs Unit and Diederik Paalman, Deputy Head of Visa Policy Unit.

"With the launch of the Eastern Partnership initiative in 2009 we aimed at strengthening ties between the EU and its Eastern neighbours. Now we see the fruits of that initiative as we start visa facilitation negotiations with Azerbaijan. Visa facilitation is about more contacts between people in the EU and Azerbaijan, more exchanges and more business opportunities. It is simply more mobility for people and that is something the EU and Azerbaijani citizens are looking forward to," said Jerome Pons, Charge d’Affaires of EU Delegation to Azerbaijan.

The negotiation process on Visa facilitations makes it easier to travel from one country to another. It considers among others issues the simplification of documentation to be submitted in support of the visa application, the possibility of issuing multiple-entry visas with a longer period of validity, the reducing of the handling fees for specific categories of travellers, the set of deadlines for processing visa applications, etc. The negotiation of readmission agreements, which is conducted in the same movement, ultimately provides mechanisms for the return of nationals staying without authorisation on the territories of the EU or Azerbaijan.