The achievement of this objective shall be measured against indicators such as, inter alia, the percentage of consular posts equipped, secured and/or enhanced to ensure the efficient processing of visa applications and provide quality of service to visa applicants, the percentage of overstayers per nationality, the number of common visa application centres, the average length of waiting time for the visa application to be decided upon, the share of multiple entry visas and the average visa cost per consular post.

I am aware of and consent to the following: the collection of the data required by this application form and the taking of my photograph and, if applicable, the taking of fingerprints, are mandatory for the examination of the visa application; and any personal data concerning me which appear on the visa application form, as well as my fingerprints and my photograph will be supplied to the relevant authorities of the Member States and processed by those authorities, for the purposes of a decision on my visa application.

Such data as well as data concerning the decision taken on my application or a decision whether to annul, revoke or extend a visa issued will be entered into, and stored in the Visa Information System (VIS) for a maximum period of five years, during which 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 into, stay and residence on the territory of the Member States are fulfilled, of identifying persons ...[+++]who do not or who no longer fulfil these conditions, of examining an asylum application and of determining responsibility for such examination.

The declining number of visa applications under the MEV-system, is expected to reduce Member States' visa revenues. However, the issuing of MEVs also reduces costs, as fewer visa applications need to be processed: the economic benefits considerably exceed the estimated costs in all options.

(4) The Visa Information System should have the purpose of improving the implementation of the common visa policy, consular cooperation and consultation between central consular authorities by facilitating the exchange of data between Member States on applications and on the decisions relating thereto, in order to facilitate the visa application procedures and prevent ‘visa shopping’ and to facilitate the fight against fraud and checks at external border crossing points and within the territory of the Member States.

EUROPA - EU law and publications - EUR-Lex - EUR-Lex - 32007D0340 - EN - 2007/340/EC: Council Decision of 19 April 2007 on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Community and the Russian Federation on the facilitation of issuance of short-stay visas // COUNCIL DECISION // (2007/340/EC) // AGREEMENT // between the European Community and the Russian Federation on the facilitation of the issuance of visas to the citizens of the European Union and the Russian Federation // Joint Declaration on Article 6(2) of the Agreement on fees for processing visa applications // Joint Declaration on Article 11 of the Agreement on diplomati ...[+++]c passports // Joint Declaration on issuance of short-stay visas for visits to military and civil burial grounds // Joint Declaration on the harmonisation of information on procedures for issuing short stay visa and documents to be submitted when applying for short stay visas // Joint Declaration concerning the Kingdom of Denmark // Joint Declaration concerning the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland // Joint Declaration concerning the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway // PROTOCOL // to the Agreement on the Member States that do not fully apply the Schengen - acquis