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Biometric data

"Biometric data helps keep visa applicants and their families safe from crime and terrorism by ensuring that we can make travelling to, and being in the UK more secure. It means that visa applicants won't be accidentally mistaken for another person with the same or similar name," Hardy says.

The Visa Information System is a central database for the exchange of data on short-stay visas between authorities of the Schengen States. It helps streamline visa application procedures and checks at the external borders of the Schengen area.

For subsequent visa applications within five years the fingerprints can be copied from the previous application file in the system. Biometric data, along with the data provided in the Schengen visa application form, will be stored in the system's central database.

According to the German embassy in Beijing, biometric technology is used commonly in the European Union and worldwide to make travel documents more secure. Initiatives will continue to be taken to make the delivery of visas for travelling to the Schengen area easier and quicker for regular travelers.

When Premier Li Keqiang visited Germany in October, both China and Germany agreed to try to shorten the visa process to 48 hours from the current three to five working days.