Kosovars can travel to Schengen without a visa

From today, Kosovars can travel visa-free for short-term stays in the EU's Schengen Area, completing an 11-year process. The first visa-free flight to Kosovars is scheduled at 08:00 am. Additionally, another special flight is planned for Monday departing at 10:30. This came after the Kosovo government organized the first visa-free trip for EU quiz winners as part of an information campaign, Klan Kosova reports. Prime Minister Albin Kurti congratulated the people of Kosovo on the visa liberalization and, in a speech at Kosovo International Airport “Adem Jashari”, recalled that Kosovo had waited too long for the completion of this process, He emphasized that today is the end of Fraudulent. Prime Minister Kurti told a press conference that 50 citizens who secured this opportunity through the government's campaign will be visiting Vienna today. Noting that a considerable number of Kosovars are already working abroad, in particular in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and the fact that the diaspora’s contribution to Kosovo’s economy accounted for nearly 40 per cent of the GDP in 2022, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), recently said that Kosovo plays a dynamic role as an origin, transit, and increasingly, a destination for migrants. An official website operated by the EU government, Kosovo’s European Integration provided further details related to the consequences that citizens of Kosovo risk facing in case they violate the visa-free travel rules. Through a post on the Facebook account, the website warned that if a person stays in the Schengen Area for a period of more than 90 days, without obtaining a residence permit or a long-term visa, they risk being subject to a travel ban in the EU’s passport-free travel zone. In addition, Kosovo’s European Integration recalled that under the current Schengen rules, working in the Schengen Zone countries without holding a work permit is also illegal, among other things. In April 2023, the EU adopted visa-free travel for Kosovo’s passport holders, stressing that they would be allowed to travel without visas starting from this year. Besides, the German Embassy in Kosovo also confirmed that from January 2024, Kosovars would be eligible to travel visa-free for short-term stays in Schengen Zone countries. Currently, Kosovo is ranked 188th in the VisaGuide.World Passport Index, which ranks passports of a total of 199 states in terms of the power of their passports, while previously it was emphasized that the visa liberalization would quadruple the strength of Kosovo’s passport.