New premises for Malta’s Central Visa Unit, was inaugurated this morning by Foreign Minister Tonio Borg near police headquarters in Floriana.

The Unit, established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2006, is equipped to forward and process visa requests rapidly, via the VMS – Visa Management System – between all of Malta’s diplomatic missions and consular posts.

Paul Demajo Albanese, who heads the unit, said the unit was committed to ensuring that all those who had a genuine reason to come to Malta, did so with as little inconvenience as possible.

The Central Visa Unit has 12 employees, ranging from management positions to information clerks, visa officers, visa monitoring officers, procurement and security personnel.

Dr Borg said that Malta had 26 diplomatic missions and consular posts and, through the offices of Italy, Austria and Spain, was also represented in 87 other countries.

The Foreign Ministry is currently in the process of opening consulates in Turkey, Tel Aviv and Ramallah.

In countries without a Maltese diplomatic representation, efforts are being directed towards facilitating visa issuance through the representations of other countries. A case in point is the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Spanish Government last year.

The ministryis also strengthening security features within Maltese embassies in line with the regulations laid down by the Schengen Treaty.

"Enhanced security is liable to bring about increased burdens. Nonetheless, attention is being directed towards achieving a user-friendly system for both visa applicants and general customers alike. This investment should also result in increased efficiency on behalf of embassy employees," the minister said.

This project is jointly co-financed by the European Union and the Maltese Government, totalling to €2.4 million with the estimated completion expected towards the end of 2009.