European Union
Citizens of Kosovo will be allowed to travel to the EU, and EU citizens to go to Kosovo, without requesting a visa, for periods of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Once the law has entered into force, the entire Western Balkans region will have a similar visa framework for the Schengen area.
The visa exemption will enter into force once the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) is in place or from January 2024, if ETIAS is not yet in place.
The Commission proposed to the European Parliament and the Council to grant EU visa-free travel for the people of Kosovo in 2016. Kosovo fulfilled all requirements since 2018, fulfilling all benchmarks set in the Visa Liberalisation Roadmap.
Kosovo is a potential candidate for EU accession and unilaterally declared its independence in February 2008. Its independence is currently not recognised by five EU member states (Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain).
France
Effective 5 April 2023 the government has expanded the online application portal ANEF to allow the submission of applications for certain additional residence permit categories.
This includes applications for one-year cards, multi-annual cards and resident cards submitted by third-country national family members of EU/ EEA/Swiss citizens; spouses of French citizens; and parents of minor French citizens. This also covers the corresponding cards for Algerian nationals.
France
The information required to be included in posted worker notifications via the SIPSI website has been reduced.
Employers no longer have to include the details of work hours, the nature of dangerous material or the work processes used, the signature dates of work contracts or the method of reimbursement for travel, meal and accommodation expenses.
Moreover, companies are now permitted to store digital copies of documents at work locations, rather than paper copies.
Ireland
The Irish Minister for Justice has extended immigration permissions for all beneficiaries of Temporary Protection to 4 March 2024. From 16 February 2023, non-nationals living in Ireland with a Temporary Protection Certificate (yellow paper), will not need to apply for a new Temporary Protection Certificate. Expired certificates may be used as proof of entitlement to temporary protection and related state services until 4 March 2024.
Holders of an expired Temporary Protection Certificate who intend to travel and subsequently re-enter Ireland should note the following information:
- Nationals of Ukraine or of a non-visa-required country are not required to take any action;
- Nationals of a visa-required country should contact
temporaryprotection@justice.ie in order to ensure they have the necessary documentation to re-enter Ireland without a visa. Those who fail to make the necessary arrangements before travel will need to apply for a visa to re-enter the country.
