Naira Badalian. Schengen visa for Armenians may not rise in price. This was stated by the head of the EU delegation to Armenia Piotr Switalski on July 16 at a press conference commenting on possible possible outcomes of the Schengen Code reforms for Armenian citizens.

According to the Ambassador, due to the strong migration pressure, the Schengen Code reforms were launched earlier in the European Union. It was done to protect their own borders. "It is planned to introduce certain elements that contribute to increasing the level of controllability of people's movement," Switalski said.

So, on June 19, 2018, the EU ambassadors approved the mandate on behalf of the Council for negotiations with the European Parliament on introducing amendments to the visa regime. To express its position on the proposal "On Amending the Schengen Border Code with regard to the temporary restoration of control at internal borders," as the ambassador said, the Council of Europe has been given six months. As a result of the adoption of this proposal, in addition to procedural changes to the entry of Schengen visa, basic visa prices may increase from 60 euros to 80 euros, and for countries with existing agreements on visa facilitation with the EU from 30 euros to 40 euros.

Nevertheless, as Piotr Switalski pointed out, there are no procedural changes for Armenia, the country, with a simplified visa regime. Most likely, according to Piotr Switalski, the citizens of the country will also not be affected by the increase in the cost of the Schengen visa.

Earlier, ArmInfo reported that in June the Schengen Code reforms were launched. The process should give Europeans more effective means of controlling borders to counter the influx of migrants, as well as to provide some simplification of the procedure for issuing visas to "respectable travelers". However, the payment for this will be an increase in the base price of the Schengen visa from 60 euros to 80 euros, and for countries with existing agreements on visa facilitation with the EU, from 30 euros to 40 euros.