The Kyrgyzstan authorities have called on Switzerland to remove the Schengen visa requirements for its official passport holders.
Switzerland currently permits visa-free entry for Kyrgystan diplomatic passport holders only. However, the Kyrgyzstan authorities have required that official passport holders also get added to the list of people eligible for unrestricted entry to Switzerland, Schengen.News reports.
As explained by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan, the requirement on the matter was made by the Director of the Consular Department of the MFA, Seitek Zhumakadyr uulu, during a meeting with the Consul of the Swiss Embassy in Kyrgyzstan, Christophe Godin.
Zhumakadyr said that an additional protocol to the bilateral agreement on a visa-free regime for diplomatic passport holders needs to be created so that official passport holders of Kyrgyzstan also get to enjoy the same rights.
Nonetheless, the Swiss Consul did not make any statement on whether Switzerland would remove the Schengen visa requirement for Kyrgyzstan’s official passport holders. The two parties only agreed to continue their close communication on issues that are of mutual interest.
Switzerland and Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement on mutual visa exemption for diplomatic passport holders in September 2016. As for official passport holders of Kyrgyzstan, it is yet to be seen what decision Swiss authorities will take.
Kyrgyzstan Ordinary Passport Holders Need to Obtain a Visa to Enter Schengen Area
Differently from diplomatic passport holders of Kyrgyzstan, who are permitted visa-free entry to Switzerland on an official mission or for other travel purposes without exercising a gainful occupation, the case is not the same for ordinary passport holders.
All citizens of Kyrgyzstan need to obtain a visa in order to be permitted entry into Switzerland and the other Schengen countries.
Data from the Schengen Statistics portal show that citizens of Kyrgyzstan filed 27,163 Schengen visa applications in 2023. Of the total number of applications made, 21957 were approved, whereas 5,104 were denied.
Kyrgyzstan citizens submitted Schengen visa applications to only three member states in 2023, which are Germany, Hungary, and Switzerland. These three countries received 12,236, 10,649, and 4,278 Schengen visa applications from Kyrgyz citizens last year, respectively.
Source: https://schengen.news/kyrgyzstan-calls-on-switzerland-to-extend-visa-free-entry-to-official-passport-holders/
