Armenia and EU to sign visa simplification in December

Signing of the agreement on simplification of visa regime between Armenia and the European Union is scheduled for December 2012, and the document will contribute to the development of economic and cultural relations between the countries. This was reported by Traian Hristea, the head of the EU delegation to Armenia.

According to Traian Hristea, signing in 2010 of similar agreements between the EU and Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova led to the reduction of risks of illegal migration. Besides, during the indicated period, more than 5 million students from those three countries obtained visas to the EU, where they could continue their education.

The preliminary agreement, signed between the EU and Armenia on simplification of visa regime, has contributed to the facilitation of procedure for issuing visas to enter the EU countries, to the reduction of the number of documents, required for visas, and the fee for the visa, which will be 35 euros after the signing of the principal document.

On October 4, the Government of Armenia has decided to cancel unilaterally, starting from January 10, 2013, the visa regime for citizens of member states of the European Union and citizens of the countries of the Schengen zone.