The EU authorities will now be waiting for a response on the topic as the Commission claims that letters of formal notice for the opening of the processes have already been delivered to these four countries, according to EU Helpers.

To stop visa sticker fraud and counterfeiting, the 2D barcode was first introduced in 2020.

The adoption of a 2D barcode on the standard format for visas, specifically on April 30, 2020, was immediately communicated to the Member States.

The deadline for implementing the 2D barcode was May 20, 2022, giving them two years to do it.

The Commission observes that none of the four Member States in question—Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, and Lithuania—have printed the 2D barcode on the stickers they provide for visas.

As a result, the Commission initiated the procedures, and these nations now have two months to reply to the letter and fix the problems that the Commission has pointed out.

When the Commission first made the implementing decision public in 2022, it claimed that the most recent batch of visa stickers had been corrupted and that several forgeries had been found in the Member States.

It recommended that more regulations and controls be put in place in order to further improve the security of the visa sticker and thwart any potential future forgeries.

Adding a cryptographically signed digital stamp allows the authorities to control and confirm the authenticity of visas by comparing printed data to data on the digital seal, as the Commission indicated at the time.

It also mentioned the need of the digital seal in situations where access to the Visa Information system is not accessible.

The same highlighted that all information required by the Technical Report should be embedded in the digital seal and that the cryptographically signed digital seal should adhere to the requirements of ICAO Technical Report Visible Digital Seals for Non-Electronic Documents.