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The EU Is Weighing a New Surcharge on Top of the €90 Schengen Visa Fee
A European Council working group has begun discussing a 'harmonised European surcharge' on the standard €90 Schengen visa fee, with one scenario adding around €18 per application; no decision has been made and there is no confirmed date.
Sep 26, 2026 · BigTravel.in%2021.jpg?width=1000 "The EU Is Weighing a New Surcharge on Top of the €90 Schengen Visa Fee")
A working group of the Council of the European Union met on 14 September 2026 to discuss a possible new surcharge on top of the standard Schengen visa fee, according to a European Commission discussion paper circulated ahead of the meeting and reported by several visa-industry outlets in the days since. The proposal remains at an early, exploratory stage, and no decision on whether, or by how much, fees will rise has been taken.
What the discussion paper proposes
The paper explores a 'harmonised European surcharge' added to the current €90 adult fee, using a scenario of a 20 percent increase, or roughly €18 per application, as a working example. Based on the 12.2 million Schengen visa applications recorded across the bloc in 2025, the Commission estimates such a surcharge could generate around €187 million a year in additional revenue for the EU budget.
Where the current €90 fee came from
The standard adult Schengen visa fee has stood at €90 since June 2024, when the European Commission raised it from €80, with a €45 rate for children aged six to eleven. That earlier increase already followed a built-in mechanism allowing periodic adjustment, and this new discussion is a separate, additional surcharge layered on top rather than a revision of the base fee itself.
What happens next
The Commission has invited EU member states to give their views on the surcharge's level, whether it should be a fixed amount or a percentage, and how it would be collected, before any formal proposal is drafted. That consultation process typically takes months, and any change would still need to clear the EU's normal legislative procedure before taking effect.
Traveller tips
- No surcharge is in effect yet; the current Schengen visa fee remains €90 for adults and €45 for children aged six to eleven.
- This is a proposal under discussion, not confirmed policy; confirm the current fee on the relevant embassy or VFS Global website before applying.
- Given the early stage of talks, any change is unlikely to take effect within the next few months at the earliest.
- Always check official EU or national embassy sources closer to your travel date, since visa fee proposals can change substantially before adoption.
Where this is
Brussels, Belgium