Important Information for Citizens of the New Member States of the EU

This information is for citizens of the new member states of the European Union (Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Malta and Cyprus).

Since 1 May 2004 (or since 1 January 2007 for citizens of Bulgaria and Romania) data of the Schengen Information System (SIS) concerning alerts for refusing entry are processed by Austria according to the following guidelines:

1. Since 1 May 2004 (or since 1 January 2007 for citizens of Bulgaria and Romania) citizens of the new member states are no longer "Aliens" pursuant to Art 1 of the "Convention implementing the Schengen agreement" (SDÜ in German).

2. Data according to article 96 SDÜ concerning alerts for the purpose of refusing entry (e.g. effective Austrian residence bans, in German Aufenthaltsverbote) are no longer being processed in the SIS.

3. Austrian authorities are still entitled to process data relating to non-Austrian citizens on basis of national law (e.g. Sect. 96-102 of the Austrian aliens act 1997, federal law gazette Part I No 75/1997) and use this data for the purpose of border controls. This means that data relating to specific categories of Austrian residence bans [Aufenthaltsverbote] are still accessible for Austrian border crossing checkpoints (among others).

4. The federal ministry of the interior has communicated that data on specific types of Austrian residence bans (e.g. for reasons of illicit work or poverty) have been deleted by 1 May 2004. These residence bans are no longer enforced. All police and immigration authorities have been instructed accordingly. This relates to residence bans that may no longer be imposed on citizens of the new member states. The data protection commission strongly suggests to contact the Austrian authorities well before the journey in any case of doubt. The data protection commission does not decide on the question whether an effective residence ban may still be enforced. This falls entirely into the competence of the authority that imposed the residence ban.

5. All Austrian residence bans which are not processed in the SIS apply only on Austrian national territory and do not legally infringe the right of persons affected by such measures to enter any other member state of the European Union.