[2] New applicants for a VIS Schengen visa have to travel to the nearest EU consulate to give their biometric information (10 fingerprints and a facial image), which is then entered into the system and remains valid for five years.
Two types of searches are possible: verification and identification, both carried out by the separate Biometric Matching System (BMS).
Verification consists of a check that the fingerprints scanned at the border crossing point correspond to those associated with the biometric record attached to the visa (duration approx.
Identification consists of comparing the fingerprints taken at the border crossing post with the contents of the entire database (duration up to 10 minutes).
VIS aims to prevent visa fraud and visa shopping by applicants between EU member states and to facilitate checks at external border crossing points and within territory of member states, assisting in the identification of listed persons.