National Visa Management System (N-VIS)

The N-VIS project will help the FYR of Macedonia efforts to modernize its administrative processes as a result of the country's intentions for becoming a part of the EU community. The goal of the N-VIS project is to improve the visa issuing process by both developing a new internet-based solution that will connect the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with its diplomatic and consular offices and providing the neccessary technical infrastructure.

Policy Context

The system is part of the The National Integrated Border Management Strategy

Description of target users and groups

The primary users are the people who work in the diplomatic offices.

Description of the way to implement the initiative

All visa issuing procedures are recorded and monitored, thus allowing auditing at a later stage and strict record keeping of visa stickers. The National Visa Management System has a flexible design, simple upgrades of the system processes with control database, support for integration and connectivity to other IBM information systems. Access to a database of issued visas, against which the details of persons entering the country may be compared, would be a vital tool in detection of discrepancies by those involved in control and checking of persons at the border. Such a system would also make statistical analysis of visa applications easier, help issue and detect abuses and facilitate strategic guidance of the country’s visa policy.

Technology solution

Data type: documents, database, images, statistical dataset IT components: executive information system, financial system modules Standard: 'XML', 'SOA', 'SOAP', 'WSDL', 'PDF' Technology choice: Open source software

Main results, benefits and impacts

Once operational, N-VIS will significantly enhance the border control and will contribute towards its aligning with the EU acquis and the National Integrated Border Management Strategy. The N-VIS visa management system will be fully harmonised and functionally linked to the Ministry of Interior’s planned integrated border management IT system.

Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Lessons learnt

No lessons learnt at the moment, because the system is about to be implemented. Scope: National