humanitarian visa

Definition(s)

In the global context, a visa granting access to and temporary stay in the issuing State for a variable duration to a person on humanitarian grounds as specified in the applicable national or regional law, often aimed at complying with relevant human rights and refugee law.

In the EU context, (a) derogation from the admissibility requirements for the issuance of a visa based on humanitarian grounds in accordance with Art. 19(4) of the Visa Code or b) issuance of a short-stay Schengen visa with limited territorial validity (LTV) on humanitarian grounds in accordance with Art. 25(1) of the Code.

Source(s)

Global context: IOM Glossary on Migration, 2019

EU-context: Derived by EMN from Art. 19(4) and 25(1) of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 (Visa Code)

Translations

BG: хуманитарна виза
CS: humanitární vízum
DE: Visum aus humanitären Gründen
EL: θεώρηση για ανθρωπιστικούς λόγους
EN: humanitarian visa
ES: visado humanitario
ET: humanitaarviisa
FI: humanitaarinen viisumi
FR: visa humanitaire
GA: víosa ar fhoras daonnúil
HR: humanitarna viza
HU: humanitárius vízum
IT: visto per motivi umanitari
LT: humanitarinė viza
LV: humānu apsvērumu dēļ izsniegta vīza
MT: Viża għal raġunijiet umanitarji
NL: N/A
PL: wiza wydana z przyczyn humanitarnych
PT: visto humanitário
RO: viză umanitară
SK: humanitárne vízum
SL: humanitarni vizum
SV: visering av humanitära skäl
NO: visum på humanitært grunnlag
KA: ჰუმანიტარული ვიზა
UK: гуманітарна віза
HY: Մարդասիրական վիզա, որը տրվում է որոշ երկրների կողմից՝ փախստականներին հետապնդումներից պաշտպանելու իրենց միջազգային պարտավորությունը կատարելու նպատակով

Synonym(s)

visa on humanitarian grounds

Broader Term

legal pathway

Related Term(s)

Note(s)

Humanitarian visa are generally understood as authorisations to access the territory of a State, and which are granted by derogation from the applicable rules because of specific humanitarian reasons. They are considered an alternative procedure for protected entry that allow persons in need of protection legal access to a third country and/or to apply for international protection, with an initial assessment being carried out extraterritorially and the merits of the application being examined on the spot upon arrival through international protection procedures or procedures for another status.
Humanitarian visas can be granted by the visa-issuing authority of the State in the applicant's country of origin or in a country of destination, and exceptionally also at the border of the visa-issuing State or to persons who are already within the State. Beyond granting legal access to and temporary stay in the State, humanitarian visas rarely provide the person with any further entitlement to protection or services.
There is currently no EU regulation on humanitarian visas per se, nor is there a specific procedure. However, under the Visa Code, which sets out the procedures and conditions for issuing visas for the purpose of short stays and airport transit within the Schengen area, provision is made for visas to be issued 'on humanitarian grounds'. These visas are often referred to as 'humanitarian visas', the provision of such visa as 'protected entry'. Pursuant to Art. 33(1) of the Visa Code a visa's duration can also be extended on humanitarian grounds. While Art. 19(4) of the Visa Code regulates exemptions from the admissibility requirements for visa applications, Art. 25(1) provides for exemptions from the fulfilment of the Schengen visa obligation. However, there is no automatic link between exemption from the admissibility requirements and the issuance of an LTV visa on humanitarian grounds.
On 7 March 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that EU Member States are not obliged, under EU law, to grant a humanitarian visa as the issuing of LTV visas falls solely on national law because there is no explicit provision regarding how they should be issued in the Visa Code. For more information see the judgement of the CJEU.
However, humanitarian visas are also part of legal pathways for persons in need of protection, which include the following:
- resettlement;
- humanitarian admission programmes;
- simplifying visa requirements for certain nationalities or certain groups;
- more generous use of family reunification rules;
- use of existing channels for legal migration for the purposes of labour and study.
For more information see: Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA): Legal entry channels to the EU for persons in need of international protection: a toolbox, 2015 and European Parliament: Briefing: Towards an EU humanitarian visa scheme? June 2016.
IE is not bound by the Visa Code. The qualification criteria for a visa may be waived on humanitarian grounds or visas may be granted to facilitate entry for resettlement or humanitarian admission programmes under national law.