CENTRAL VISA UNIT
Nationals of more than 100 countries or territories who wish to come to Malta must obtain entry clearance before they travel, whatever the purpose of their visit.
Committed to ensuring all those who have a genuine reason to come to Malta to do so with as little inconvenience as possible, the Central Visa Unit, is an effective and professional immigration control authority, set up in 2006, in the interests of sustainable growth and social inclusion, not only in respect of Malta but also for the rest of Europe.
Formerly known as the Schengen Implementation Unit, this Unit was responsible for the introduction of a number of provisions of the Schengen acquis, ensuring proper functioning of the visa issuing procedures in all of Malta’s diplomatic missions and consular posts. It was responsible, since 2004, for the introduction of all legal, organisational, operational, practical and technical conditions were fulfilled in a uniform, correct, consistent and efficient manner.
As Malta’s central authority, the CVU is equipped to forward and process visa requests rapidly, via the Visa Management System, which together with the networking facilitation between all of Malta’s diplomatic missions and consular posts, plays a vital role in the acceleration of application and authorisation procedures.
The Visa Managements System is a web browser driven application and accessed via intranet, by all of Malta’s diplomatic missions and consular posts, which are connected to the Government network via a VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection, using high encryption levels.
Recognising the need to process applications in a timely manner, the CVU faces daily challenges in managing the competing priorities of service, delivery and control. It responds to an increasing demand for Schengen visas and a rapidly changing visa policy environment and changes to the nationalities that require such entry clearance.
The CVU is responsible for
- the monitoring of the visa process;
- it ensures that the application of the “Common Consular Instructions on Visas”
is properly applied in all of Malta’s diplomatic missions and consular posts;
- consultation/s with central authorities of other Schengen Member States
through the Schengen consultation network - VISION;
- the training of all Consular Staff; and
- the preparation of Training Manuals for all MFA Consular Staff