Visa information system (VIS) and processing of personal data

The Visa Information System (VIS) is a central IT-system for all Schengen-countries.
 
The main purpose of the Visa Information System (VIS) is improving the implementation of the common visa policy, consular cooperation and consultation between central visa authorities by facilitating the data exchange between Member States on visa applications and related decisions, in order to facilitate the visa application procedure, to prevent “visa shopping”, to facilitate the fight against fraud and to facilitate checks at external border crossing points and within the territory of the Member States. The VIS assists in the identification of any person who may not, or may no longer, fulfil the conditions for entry to, stay or residence on the territory of the Member States. The VIS also establish the criteria and mechanism for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national and mechanism where visas for stays up to 90 days (type C), are requested.
 
The system contains personal information of persons who apply for a short-stay Schengen-visa. Collecting your personal data as required by the standardized Schengen application form, taking your photograph and your fingerprints are mandatory for your visa application to be assessed. Failure to provide such data results in the application being inadmissible.

VIS info flyer 

LEGAL FRAMEWORK

The legal basis for collecting and processing your personal data is set out in Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code) and Regulation (EC) No 767/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 concerning the Visa Information System (VIS) and the exchange of data between Member States on short-stay visas (VIS Regulation).

Data is shared with the relevant authorities of the EU Member States and processed by those authorities for the purpose of deciding on your visa application.  Your data and the data concerning the decision taken on your application or a decision to annul, revoke or extend an issued visa will be entered and stored in the Visa Information System (VIS) for a maximum period of five years, during which time it will be accessible to the visa authorities and the authorities competent for carrying out checks on visas at external borders and within the Member States, immigration and asylum authorities in the Member States for the purposes of verifying whether the conditions for the legal entry, stay and residence in the territory of the Member States are fulfilled, identifying persons who do not or who no longer fulfil these conditions, examining an asylum application and determining responsibility for such examination. Under certain conditions the data will also be available to designated authorities of the Member States and to Europol for the purpose of prevention, detection and investigation of terrorist offences and of other serious criminal offences. Your personal data might also be transferred to third countries or international organizations for the purpose of proving the identity of third-state nationals, including for the purpose of return. Such transfer may only take place under certain conditions laid down in Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 767/2008 (VIS Regulation).
 
VFS Global processes personal data on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia and is bound by standard contractual clauses (Commission Decision 2010/87/EU) for ensuring the same standard of personal data protection as the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia under the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679).
 
WHAT ARE THE RIGHTS OF DATA SUBJECT?

According to Articles 15 to 19 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation) and Article 38 of Regulation (EC) No 767/2008 (VIS Regulation), you are entitled to access  your personal data, to have a copy of it  and to the information about which Member State transmitted it to the VIS. You are also entitled to have your personal data that is inaccurate or incomplete, corrected or completed, the processing of your personal data restricted under certain conditions, and to have your personal data that were processed unlawfully, erased.
 
HOW TO PROCEED WHEN EXERCISING THESE RIGHTS IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA?
 
The authority in charge of processing the data collected in visa procedures is the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia. You may address your request for access, rectification, restriction or erasure to the Personal Data Protection Commissioner.
 
Request for Access, Correction and /or Deletion of Personal Data processed in the Visa Information System (VIS) 
 
Please send the filled-in form directly to the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia:

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AND EUROPEAN AFFAIRS
Personal Data Protection Commissioner
Trg N. Š. Zrinskog 7-8, 1000 Zagreb, Croatia
Telephone: 00385 1 4597 429
E-mail: SzZOP@mvep.hr 
 
If you consider that your data have been unlawfully processed you are also entitled to file a complaint with the national supervisory authority in the Republic of Croatia at any time:
 
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION AGENCY (AZOP)
Selska cesta 136,
10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Telephone 00385 (0)1 4609 000, Fax 00385 (0)1 4609-099,
E-mail: azop@azop.hr 
Web: www.azop.hr