Bordering the COVID-19 Pandemic Through Schengen Visa: Contested Policies and Persistent Effects for Mobility Rights

Abstract

Visa regimes were key global mechanisms of the COVID-19 pandemic governance. Many nationals, both from the Global South and North, were subject to the several visa regulations during the pandemic. Whilst nationals of the Global North could regain their visa-free travel rights in the further phases, the others are still entrapped in the visa regimes, just like the pre-pandemic period. Considering visa’s global importance for border regulations in the (post-) pandemic period, what has changed for mobility rights of the visa applicants? This study examines changes in mobility rights for visa applicants during and after the pandemic, focusing on Schengen visa regime from March 2020 to June 2023. Our argument is twofold: first, the EU temporarily but substantially changed visa policies in the name securing the public health and free movement in(to) the Schengen area. However, these policies for securing mobility also created administrative gray zones that include new travel restrictions, confusions as well as strategic spaces for accessing to the mobility rights. Second, ongoing visa issuance practices and application process problems since the pandemic reveal a regression in the mobility rights lasting in the (post-)pandemic period. Hence, this article offers a more nuanced account of mobility rights by shedding light on the Schengen visa regime which will continue to play substantial roles in the EU’s border management system in the post-pandemic period.