Travel agency procedure
The travel agency process is a process that simplifies visa application .
Instead of going to the diplomatic mission (embassy / consulate) of the country to be visited in person, all participants in a group trip can submit their documents to the travel agency that is organizing the trip. The travel agency must be accredited at the embassy.
advantages
- Less effort for the traveler: there is often only one diplomatic mission in the capital. Getting there is expensive and time-consuming.
- Promotion of tourism
- Less effort for the embassy: the travel agency takes over the compilation of the documents and helps with filling out the forms. It does a certain preliminary check of the completeness of the application forms. This reduces the workload of the embassy, which can now concentrate on deciding on the application.
disadvantage
- Since a traveler no longer has to visit the embassy in person, his identity is no longer checked by the embassy. The procedure can therefore be used by travel agencies with criminal intent to smuggle people into the destination country of the group trip. Instead of just visiting the destination country, the travelers do not return home in these cases. See also: human trafficking
The travel agency procedure was used by Germany from the beginning of 2000 to simplify entry from Ukraine . When the number of travelers rose too much and there were indications of increased smuggling crime, the proceedings were suspended again in the second half of 2001. See also: Visa Affair and Volmer Decree .
Since September 1, 2004, Germany has been conducting the travel agency procedure in the People's Republic of China for trips to the Schengen area . A sharp increase in the number of travelers is already being observed here as well.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Suspiciously many tour groups . In: Die Welt , February 19, 2005