Throughout the year since the entry into force of a visa-free regime for Ukraine, some 555,000 Ukrainian nationals have traveled to the European Union under a simplified procedure, as reported by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
It is reminded that on this day a year ago, citizens of Ukraine holders of biometric passports were granted a right to a visa-free travel to the countries of the European Union, except for the UK and Ireland, as well as to Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland - members of the Schengen zone that are not part the EU.
Since the visa-free travel start, almost 20.3 million citizens have left for the EU countries, of whom almost 4.8 million used their biometric passports and more than 555,000 took full advantage of the visa-free benefits.
A certain excitement among those willing to travel with no visas required was recorded in the first months of the visa-free regime: on average, border guards reported up to 90,000 Ukrainians per month.
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In November last year, this figure was already down to 32,500. With the onset of another holiday period this summer, the increase in passenger traffic is expected.
Most often, Ukrainians choose to travel by air routes, least - by sea.
A major "window to Europe" for Ukrainians remains Poland that is used as a transit country for Ukrainians to get to the rest EU member states. The lowest flow of travelers from Ukraine to the EU was through the Slovak border.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on June 11, 2017, came into force the decision of the Council of the European Union to introduce a visa-free regime regarding short trips by Ukrainian citizens to 30 EU countries and the Schengen zone.
The visa-free regime allows Ukrainians to stay in the EU states for up to 90 days during each 180-day period. In total, today, citizens of Ukraine who are holders of biometric passports can visit 117 countries.
