Biometrics

As of September 14th 2015 all applicants submitting documents for Schengen visa have to provide fingerprint-based biometrics. Owing to each applicant aged 12 and older must appear in person at the authorized visa application centers. The biometric data is recorded once in 59 months by the diplomatic missions or authorized visa centers of the Schengen states. The biometrics are valid for 59 months for any subsequent visa for entry in any Schengen country.

As of January 11th, 2025 when applying for national visas type D all applicants aged 12 and older must appear at Visa application center in person to provide their fingerprints. Please note that biometrics are not interchangeable with biometrics given for C visas. They will not be stored. This means that all visa D applicants will have to appear personally and they will have to provide biometrics every time they apply for a D visa or for a new C visa after a D visa.

The following categories of applicants are exempt from providing the fingerprints:

1) Children under the age of 12;

2) Persons for whom the collection of fingerprints is physically impossible (on medical grounds);

3) Heads of State or Government and members of a national Government with accompanying spouses, and members of a their official delegation when they are invited by Member States’ Governments or by international organizations for an official purpose;

4) Sovereigns and other senior members of a royal family, when they are invited by member states’ governments or by international organization’s for an official purpose.

Please note that in case of applications for visas type C in the following cases it is mandatory to submit documents in person to provide your fingerprints:
- change of passport;
- change of citizenship, name or surname, or/and any transliteration as per the previous passport;
- Schengen visa refusal if the fingerprints had not been provided for the previous Schengen visas during the last 59 months.
We would not able to accept documents from an authorized representative in such cases.

The Consulate reserves the right to request for fingerprints to be recorded again even if the fingerprints are submitted at any Representative of Schengen country the last 59 months for visas type C and for visas type D. In this case fingerprints must be provided ONLY in the VMS visa application center office where the documents were submitted.