EU Visa Working Party debates Schengen fee hike – Finnish applicants could pay up to €95 in 2027

Meeting number 369691 of the EU Council’s Visa Working Party convened in Brussels on 14 September with Finland’s Home Affairs attaché among the delegates. Top of the agenda was a discussion paper proposing to raise the standard short-stay Schengen visa fee from €80 to €95, the first increase since 2020, to fund new biometric infrastructure and consular digitalisation. The paper estimates that implementing the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) and the forthcoming European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will cost member states an additional €112 million a year. The Commission suggests that a €15 surcharge could cover half that gap without deterring tourism. Finland’s delegation supported a moderate rise but asked for a phased approach, noting that the country processes a high share of applications from Russia and Asia, where price sensitivity is acute. If adopted, the new fee would take effect in the first half of 2027, after a formal vote by Justice and Home Affairs ministers. Finnish consulates issued 186,000 Schengen visas in 2025; Migri projects demand will rebound to pre-pandemic levels by 2028, meaning the fee change could generate €2-3 million in extra annual revenue earmarked for border technology upgrades at Helsinki, Turku and Tampere airports. Business-travel stakeholders are watching closely. The Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) says higher fees are acceptable if they accelerate 48-hour turnaround targets for multi-entry ‘Business C-visas’. Start-ups in the Talent Boost programme likewise favour the proposal if it funds full e-visa deployment, reducing paperwork for recruiting non-EU talent. The Working Party will revisit the issue on 14 October, but companies planning 2027 assignments should already budget for a possible fee hike and monitor guidance from the Finnish Foreign Ministry’s visa service providers VFS Global and TLScontact.