Applicants are hereby informed that, by means of Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1454 of 25th June 2026, the Council of the European Union has adopted temporary measures concerning the issuance of Schengen visas to Somali citizens.
The measures, which entered into force on 26th June 2026, shall remain in force until further notice and apply to all applications for short-stay Schengen visas (type C) submitted by Somali citizens who are subject to a visa requirement.
National long-stay visas (type D) are not affected.
Specifically, as of the date of implementation of the measures:
- Supporting documents: applicants shall submit the complete set of supporting documents required for the type of visa applied for, with no possibility of exemptions, even for applicants already known to the Embassy of Italy in Mogadishu;
- Visa fees: holders of diplomatic and service passports shall not benefit from the discretionary exemption from the payment of visa fees;
- Processing times: the standard processing period for applications may be extended to up to 45 calendar days;
- Number of entries: multiple-entry visas (multientry visas) cannot be issued.
The above-mentioned measures do not apply to:
- Somali citizens who are exempt from the visa requirement pursuant to Article 4(2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, or who are subject to a derogation adopted pursuant to Article 6 of the same Regulation;
- family members of Union citizens to whom Directive 2004/38/EC applies, when accompanying or joining the European Union citizen;
- family members of third-country nationals who enjoy an equivalent right of free movement by virtue of an agreement concluded between the European Union and a third country;
- family members of United Kingdom nationals who are beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement, provided that they have the right to join the beneficiary in the host State and submit their visa application for this purpose;
- cases in which Italy is required to issue a visa pursuant to international obligations, in particular in its capacity as host country of intergovernmental organisations or international conferences, pursuant to multilateral agreements on privileges and immunities.
For these categories of applicants, the ordinary provisions of the Visa Code shall continue to apply.
