The surveys of this Report were carried out towards the end of 2005 in the Consulates of some EU Member States – in Kyiv, Chisinau, Minsk and Moscow. We surveyed the visa systems of Belgium, Finland, France, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. The project included interviews with 961 persons who had lodged visa applications, with 85% of the positive response ratio.
So far the Programme has embraced the monitoring of the Polish visa policy (Monitoring of the Polish Visa Policy, Stefan Batory Foundation, Warsaw 2004) and of the Polish Eastern border (Monitoring of the Eastern Borders of Poland, Stefan Batory Foundation, Warsaw 2003).
The project included interviews with 961 persons who had lodged visa applications, with 85% of the positive response ratio. Additionally, in-depth interviews were conducted with individuals who had been refused visas, as well as with Consulate staff.
The surveys showed, on the one hand, large discrepancies in the policies pursued by the individual Schengen States with regard to the granting of visas, and on the other, a number of similarities between the practices applied by the Consulates of the