Jožef Drofenik l.r.
Jan Borkowski l.r.
Republika Poljska zastopa Republiko Slovenijo v naslednjih tretjih državah:
REPUBLIKI ANGOLI – Luanda,
REPUBLIKI ARMENIJI – Erevan,
REPUBLIKI AZERBAJDŽAN – Baku,
KRALJEVINI KAMBODŽI – Phnom Penh,
DEMOKRATIČNI REPUBLIKI KONGO – Kinšasa,
GRUZIJI – Tbilisi,
DEMOKRATIČNI LJUDSKI REPUBLIKI KOREJI – Pjongjang,
LAOŠKI LJUDSKI DEMOKRATIČNI REPUBLIKI – Vientiane,
MONGOLIJI – Ulan Bator,
REPUBLIKI PANAMI – Panama,
ZDRUŽENI REPUBLIKI TANZANIJI – Dar es Salaam,
VZHODNI REPUBLIKI URUGVAJ – Montevideo,
REPUBLIKI JEMEN – Sana.
Republika Slovenija zastopa Republiko Poljsko v:
ČRNI GORI – Podgorica.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, hereinafter referred to as “the Slovene Party” and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland the, hereinafter referred to as “the Polish Party”, hereinafter referred to jointly as “the Contracting Parties”,
recalling the trustful cooperation between the Slovene and Polish consular services,
acknowledging the fact that simplification of visa issuance is the common interest of the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Poland,
taking into consideration the European Community legislation in the field of Common Visa Policy and its future activities in this area,
have agreed as follows:
Chapter 1
Common Visa Application Centre in Podgorica
Article 1
Organizational framework of the activity
1. In this Agreement and in communication with third parties the unit established by the Slovene Party within the official organization of the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Podgorica to perform the activities detailed in the present Agreement is: Common Visa Application Centre (hereinafter referred to as “the Centre”).
2. The Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Podgorica (hereinafter referred to as “the Slovene Embassy”) shall notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro on the joining of the Republic of Poland to the activities of the Centre in accordance with Article 8 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963.
Article 2
The main activity of the Centre
1. The main activity of the Centre is the processing of applications for airport transit visas (visas A), transit visas (visas B) and short-stay visas (visas C). This activity comprises the providing of information to visa applicants, the reception and registration of visa applications, forwarding data and documents, including travel documents of visa applicants, to the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Podgorica (hereinafter referred to as “Polish Embassy”), returning to the visa applicants the travel documents sent by the Polish Embassy to the Centre, and organising interviews for the consul of the Polish Embassy (hereinafter referred to as “the Polish consul”), upon his or her request.
2. The Polish consul, performing consular functions subject to paragraph 2 of Article 3 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 18 April 1961, carries out at the Centre activities related to national long-stay visas and residence permits issuing procedure within the competence of the Polish Embassy. The Polish consul shall conduct the interviews and consult the applicants during office hours of the Centre.
Article 3
Rules of the cooperation in the framework of the Centre
1. The Polish Embassy takes part in the activities of the Centre through the Polish consul who shall be under the supervision of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland within his or her duties.
2. The Polish consul shall observe the rules of the activity of the Centre established by the Slovene Party.
3. The Polish Party shall notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro of the appointment of the Polish consul in accordance with Article 10 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 18 April 1961.
4. The Polish consul shall be responsible for the observance of the present Agreement and the Polish regulations on visas, and shall assist a diplomat of the Slovene Embassy (hereinafter referred to as “Slovene consul”) in performing his or her duties with regard to the operation of the Centre.
5. The staff of the Centre may only be instructed by the Slovene consul.
Article 4
Specific rules concerning visa applications managed by the Centre
1. The Centre shall receive visa fees upon submission of visa application and transfer them with the applications and with the enclosed supporting documents to the Polish Embassy.
2. Referring to paragraph 2 of Article 2 of this Agreement, fees for national long-stay visas and residence permits shall be collected by the Polish consul during his or her presence at the Centre and upon the submission of visa applications by the applicants.
3. Referring to paragraph 1 of this Article, the visa applications and enclosed supporting documents shall be forwarded by the Centre to the Polish Embassy and vice versa through express postal service or other means of transportation designated by the Polish Embassy and the Centre. The applications shall be forwarded once a week. Cost of transportation of applications and passports shall be paid by the sending Party directly to the express postal service.
4. The Slovene consul shall be responsible for ensuring that the staff of the Centre is aware of the rules of processing the visa applications. To this end, the Slovene consul may initiate the organisation of joint trainings with the Polish consul.
Article 5
Registration
For the purposes of smooth processing of visa applications by both Contracting Parties the Centre shall register the following data of applications, referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 2:
a. registration number of the application
b. first name and surname of the applicant
c. date of birth of the applicant
d. gender of the applicant
e. number of the travel document
f. expiration date of the travel document
g. issuing state of the travel document
h. type of the visa applied for
i. the country of destination
j. the amount of collected visa fee
k. the date of receipt of the application
l. the date of forwarding of the application to the Polish Embassy
m. the date of return of the travel document to the Centre
n. the date of return of the travel document to the applicant
o. contact data of the applicant.
Article 6
Participation of other European Union Member States and other states applying the Schengen acquis in the activities of the Centre
1. Participation in the activities of the Centre is open for Member States of the European Union and other states applying the Schengen acquis.
2. The Slovene Party shall notify the Polish Party if a European Union Member State or another state applying the Schengen acquis expresses its intention to join the Centre.
Chapter 2
Mutual visa representation
Article 7
The scope of the representation
1. The Contracting Parties shall represent each other in processing uniform visas (A – airport transit visas, B – transit visas, C – short-stay visas) in accordance with the Common Consular Instructions and with the present Agreement.
The provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 2 of this Agreement remain effective.
2. The list of third countries where the visa representation shall take place is set out in the Annex to this Agreement, which is an integral part of it.
3. The Contracting Parties may assist each other in capturing and forwarding of biometric data to be used for applications for national long-stay visas and residence permits.
4. The representing Contracting Party, in accordance with Article 8 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963, shall notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the receiving State of its assuming the representation.
Article 8
The rules of the representation
1. Acting under Article 7 of this Agreement, the Contracting Parties shall apply the legal norms of the European Community as well as, respectively, Slovene and Polish internal laws in such a way which recognizes also the interests of the represented country.
2. Acting under Article 7 of this Agreement, the diplomatic or consular missions shall act as diligently as if processing visas on their own behalf. However, there is no liability of one Contracting Party for activities performed on behalf of the other Contracting Party.
3. Acting under Article 7 of this Agreement, the Slovene and Polish Party shall apply the relevant legal norms of the European Community, including Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, as well as, respectively, Slovene and Polish internal laws.
Chapter 3
Interim and closing provisions
Article 9
Disputes related to the interpretation or the implementation of this Agreement shall be resolved by the Contracting Parties through negotiations.
Article 10
The Contracting Parties may modify this Agreement at any time by the exchange of diplomatic notes.
Article 11
1. This Agreement shall enter into force on the day of the receipt of the last notification by which Contracting Parties officially notify each other through diplomatic channels that their constitutional requirements for the entry into force have been fulfilled. The Agreement, however, enters into force temporarily as of the date of its signature.
2. This Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period. Either of the Contracting Parties may terminate it at any time in writing, communicated through diplomatic channels. In case of termination, the Agreement shall remain in force for thirty (30) days following the receipt of the notification by the other Contracting Party.
3. The Contracting Parties may suspend the application of this Agreement wholly or partly at any time. The starting and closing date of the suspension shall be notified through diplomatic channels. In case of suspension, the Agreement shall stay in force for the period of thirty (30) days after notification, unless agreed otherwise by the Contracting Parties.
Done in Warsaw on 14. 3. 2008 in two original copies, each in the Slovene, Polish and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of differences in interpretation of this Agreement, the English version shall prevail.
For the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Slovenia
Jožef Drofenik (s)
For the Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Poland
Jan Borkowski (s)
Annex to the
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA AND THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND ON THE COOPERATION IN VISA ISSUANCE
Visa representation
The Republic of Poland shall represent the Republic of Slovenia in the following third countries:
REPUBLIC OF ANGOLA – Luanda,
REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA – Yerevan,
REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN – Baku,
KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA – Phnom Penh,
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO – Kinshasa,
GEORGIA – Tbilisi,
DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA – Pyongyang,
LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC – Vientiane,
MONGOLIA – Ulan Bator,
REPUBLIC OF PANAMA – Panama City,
UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA – Dar-es-Salaam,
EASTERN REPUBLIC OF URUGUAY – Montevideo,
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN – Sana'a.
The Republic of Slovenia shall represent the Republic of Poland in:
MONTENEGRO – Podgorica.