1. ISTAT June 2016 The Italian entry visas system; its database and its possible uses Alberto Colella alberto.colella@esteri.it Visa Unit Direzione Generale per gli Italiani all’Estero e le Politiche Migratorie - Centro Visti

2. I will talk about: Who we are and what we do The Italian visa policy The legal limits of exchanging data on visa applications Exchange of data and information for a better understanding and management of international migrations

3. Entry visas: the Italian system The rules are the same: the EU regulations; we play on equal terms...... for a growing service...... obtained at constant or reduced resources...... that has a favorable impact to the Treasury (and the country)...... and that is being done quickly...

4. ... also thanks to the IT systems...... which generates few complaints...... and that we try to improve... … this is an instrument for competitiveness and growth …infine, the figures. We collect a lot of data! Entry visas: the Italian system

5. PERIPHERAL SYSTEMS (LVIS) o Opening of applications for visa request; o Capturing biometric and personal data information; o Issuing / refusal of visas; o Storing data of visa applications; o Temporary storage (two months) of fingerprints data. NATIONAL CENTRAL SYSTEM (NVIS - MFA) o Acquisition of visa applications from peripheral systems; o Data transmission to the European database; o Checks with the Ministry of Interior (National Authorities, archive of not eligible people for visa issuing, etc...); o Consultations with Schengen area partners; o Issuing authorization toward diplomatic and consular offices (Peripheral Systems); o Storage of visa applications without fingerprints data. CENTRAL EUROPEAN SYSTEM (CVIS) o Recording and storage of visa applications; o Storage of fingerprints data for a term of five years.

6. Visas issued by Italy in the 10 largest Consulates in 2015

7. Some figures… 2,043,162 visas issued by Italy in 2015 13M visas issued by Schengen countries in 2015 160 Italian Consulates issuing visas 104M euro – consular fees 445,532 visas issued in Moscow in 2015 400 full time employees 1: visa issued in Tallinn and Riga 5,2%: refusal rate

8. Entry and use of data by visa authorities Regulation (EC) No 767/2008 of 9 July 2008 concerning the VIS and the exchange of data between Member States on short-stay visas and Council Decision 2008/633/JHA of 23 June 2008 concerning access for consultation of the VIS by designated authorities of Member States The Decree of the MFA and of the Ministry of Interior of 6 October 2011: the authorized personnel of the MFA accesses to the VIS for the purposes of issuing visas, including for the decision whether to annul, revoke or extend the visa for the entry in the Schengen area. The Ministry of Interior is the authority authorized to access VIS data for the purposes of the prevention, detection and investigation of terrorist offences and of other serious criminal offences.

9. Following Article 23 of Regulation 767/2008, an automated system is in place for the deletion of the VIS files on the expiry date of the visa (5 years), if a visa has been issued, on the new expiry date of the visa, if a visa has been extended, on the date of the creation of the application file in the VIS, if the application has been withdrawn, closed or discontinued, on the date of the decision of the visa authority if a visa has been refused, annulled, shortened or revoked. Retention period for data storage

10. Possible uses NOW - We use data on visas for statistical purposes (Annuario statistico – trasparency) and as a tool for detecting cases of visa misuse or even corruption (law enforcement) Currently there is no exchange of data between our database and the databases of the Ministry of Interior PROPOSED: Exchange of information as a tool for policy decision, both at national and EU level - Cross checking on nationalities of applicants - Comparison of data on the different entry channels (legal or illegal), with the aim of increasing legal channels of immigration -Compare entry visa figures with residence permits -Overstayers (Smart Borders) -Exchange of information at EU level? Currently we only compare gross figures

11. Paesi soggetti a visto Reg. (CE) 539/2001 Paesi dell’UE Paesi Schengen Paesi esenti dal visto per corto soggiorno Paesi soggetti all’obbligo di visto Paesi soggetti all’obbligo di VTA

12. Statistiche sui visti Anno Totale Visti Rilasciati Var % Visti Uniformi - VSU NazionaliVTL 20001.008.97121%808.141163.71437.116 2001947.071-6%723.334186.16537.572 2002853.414-10%642.731155.00255.681 2003874.8743%648.539178.53247.803 2004982.49912%737.893195.82548.781 20051.076.66410%810.996213.98451.684 20061.198.16711%947.916194.01256.239 20071.519.81627%1.130.265363.27726.274 20081.563.5673%1.201.354318.87243.341 20091.401.704-10%1.051.883301.56148.260 20101.543.40810%1.274.988218.31850.102 20111.714.66111%1.446.850231.75036.061 20121.872.3949%1.634.656198.10439.634 20132.125.49013,5%1.917.285169.05539.150 20142.216.3164,2%2.052.457141.80522.054 20152.043.162-7,81%1.901.804127.65913.699

13. Visa statistics – main Schengen countries

14. distribuzione geografica visti rilasciati (anno 2015) Area20142015 Europa 1.175.244828.606 Asia e Oceania 598.417776.506 Mediterraneo e Medio Oriente 273.070258.669 Nord e Sud America 80.83383.045 Africa sub-sahariana 88.76596.342

15. principali paesi per il rilascio di visti (anno 2014) Paese20142015Var. Russia720.508492.739-31,6% Cina346.739540.883+56% Turchia140.338138.077-1,6% India80.748103.343+27,9%

16. Principali tipologie di visti rilasciati 2012 variazione percentuale 2014-2015 201320142015 turismo1.364.1471.675.1961.802.2561.642.135- 8,8 affari202.779200.927186.452185.413-0,55 lavoro62.49725.68323.58819.741-16,3 motivi familiari 81.32276.17457.89946.559-19,5 studio49.83052.48951.87852.1990,6

17. 17 Visti rilasciati nel 2014 per finalità

18. Grazie !