INVITATION TO TENDER FOR THE PROVISION OF SERVICES RELATED TO THE RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS FOR SCHENGEN VISAS
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
Invitation to tender for the provision of services related to the receipt of applications for Schengen visas
General Information
To simplify the issue of visas and to create favorable conditions for persons applying for Schengen visas, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania seeks to develop the cooperation with external service providers. In line with the Articles 40, 43 and 44 of the EC Regulation No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (hereinafter: Visa Code) (OL L 243, 2009 9 15, page 1-58) as well as with the Order No 1V-280/V-109 of the Minister of the Inferior and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of 2 September 2004 (Legal Gazette Valstybės Žinios 2004, No 136-4961; 2009, No 36-1392; 2011, No 38-1832, 2013, No 22-1085), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs invites to tender for the provision of services related to the receipt of applications for Schengen visas. A fixed-term contract (hereinafter: the Contract) will be signed with a winner applicant not earlier than 45 days after the decision on the results of the selection.
1. Objective
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter: the Ministry) invites to tender for the provision of services stated in the Article 43 (6) a-f of the Visa Code. In 2011 the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the Republic of Azerbaijan has received 2100 applications for Schengen visas, in 2012 –1900 applications, and in 2013 – 2300 applications.
2. Description of Services
Place of performance: Republic of Azerbaijan
Applications for visas are transferred to the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the Republic of Azerbaijan (hereinafter: the Embassy). The external service provider (hereinafter: the Provider) can accept applications for visas also in other cities, in addition to the one where the Embassy resides.
The provision of services includes the execution of these tasks:
- develop a website with a continuously updated information on the legal basis and procedures related to the issue of Schengen visa in Azerbaijani, Russian and English;
- provide general information by phone and at the premises of the Provider on the legal requirements for visa issue, application forms, status of the application; constantly update the related information;
- accept applications for visas and transfer them to the Embassy together with corroborative documentation;
- manage the schedule for visa applicants’ to arrive to the Embassy and coordinate it with the Embassy;
- inform a person applying for visa on the requirements for corroborative documentation in line with the checklist;
- collect a visa fee and transfer it to the bank account of the Embassy;
- collect biometric identifiers (photos and finger prints) and safely transfer them to the Embassy;
- check whether the application is filled correctly, whether the corroborative documents are proper – issued by the indicated person, company, institution – and sufficient;
- collect the travel documents from the Embassy, including decisions to refuse a visa, and return them to a person applying for the visa;
- train the staff to check and accept the applications for visas.
The Provider does not make the decision on visa issue.
The Ministry indicates the conditions for the equipment for the collection of biometric identifiers.
3. Fees for Processing Visa Applications
Persons applying for visas pay a fee for processing visa applications in line with the Article 16 of the Visa Code (administration fee). A person applying for visa receives the receipt acknowledging the payment of the fee. In case there is an additional service fee in line with the Article 17 of the Visa Code, the receipt clearly identifies administration fee and service fee. The Provider submits the copies of the receipts on administration and service fees to the Embassy.
4. Procedure for Transferring the Fees for Processing Visa Applications
Collected visa fees are transferred to the bank account of the Embassy in line with the procedure set in the Contract.
5. Settlement and Financial Control
The Provider does not receive any remuneration from the Ministry or the Embassy. The Provider can collect an additional service fee in line with the Article 17 of the Visa Code. The Provider specifies the service fees in the tender. Such fixed fees are included in the Contract, recognized as valid and can be changed by common agreement of both sides of the Contract. The Provider can also provide additional services to the persons applying for visas: duplication, photos for passports, delivery of the decision of the consul and related documents to the applicant. The Provider can charge additional fee for these services. The Provider must clearly inform the concerned persons that these additional services are not mandatory or managed by the Ministry or the Embassy.
The Provider does not collect a service fee from persons under the age of 12, as well as in the cases when a person applies for a visa due to humanitarian reasons.
6. The Control of the Safety and Activities of the Provider
To ensure that the Provider follows the requirements and conditions of the Contract, the Embassy:
- organizes regular meetings with the representatives of the Provider, discusses the activities of the Provider;
- directly communicates with the representatives of Visa Application Centers;
- carries out regular and ad hoc check-ups to Visa Application Centers.
7. Qualificatory Requirements for the Providers and Documents to Confirm the Compliance with these Requirements
7.1 Economic and financial capacity
1) documents confirming the solvency and credibility of the company;
2) licences;
3) credit agreements with the banks during the past 6 months;
7.2 Legal status
1) confirmation of the registration with the Register of Legal Entities;
2) statute of the company;
3) information on the size and structure of the company of the Provider, indicating the proportion to the main/subsidiary companies;
7.3 Technical capacity
1) detailed information about the experience carrying out the activities of the Provider;
2) list of services provided during the last three years, indicating the Schengen countries where the services are currently provided, the area of the activities, the start dates of the cooperation;
3) information about IT systems and technical equipment necessary for the provision of services;
4) information on the staff’s linguistic skills in Azerbaijani and Russian.
If tender is submitted by the group of Providers, every candidate provides separate information on the compliance with qualificatory requirements.
8. General Requirements for the Providers
- proposed premises must be suitable to provide services for persons, secure, adapted for persons with disabilities;
- staff must be chosen considering the qualification, skills, integrity. The Provider ensures that the staff will be properly trained and will receive the applicants politely. The staff will not discriminate persons on the grounds of sex, race, ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation or other personal circumstances. The staff will continue to observe the confidentiality after the termination of the work contract.
- computer equipment used by the Provider will properly protect the collected data;
- staff will provide information in local language and in English;
- in the premises where applications for visas are accepted, a security system will be installed and constantly monitored.
The tender will not be evaluated if the applicant does not comply with indicated qualificatory and/or general requirements.
9. Safety Requirements
Safety of the premises
The premises proposed by the Provider must be protected from criminal activities by metal detectors, coded locks etc. The safety of premises must be ensured without breaking cultural and religious traditions (e.g. related to the search of the person).
Protection of data
The Provider must ensure a high level of data protection. The information given in the application for visa is confidential and it must be protected from fraud, destruction and corruption.
Physical safety of data
The Provider must ensure a high level of physical data protection. The passports and corroborative documents during the night must be kept in the locked safes. All the documents must be transported using protected means of transport. CCTV cameras must be installed in the premises, in line with the requirements of the national legislation. The tender must indicate what means will be used to protect IT equipment, passports and documents from accidents (fire, damage from water, destruction of data).
The tender will not be evaluated if the applicant does not ensure the necessary level of the safety of the premises and data.
10. Form Requirements for Tenders
Provided documents:
10.1 Application to participate in the selection, which indicates:
- official name of the company;
- address, the number of the registry with the Register of Legal Entities;
- contact person (name, surname, address, phone number, email address);
- authorized representative of the interests of the group members, in cases when the tender is submitted by the group of providers of joint liability.
10.2 Related documents:
- documents confirming the compliance of the Provider with the qualificatory requirements indicated in part 7 of this Invitation;
- documents confirming the compliance of the Provider with the qualificatory requirements indicated in part 8 of this Invitation;
- detailed service fee for one application for visa in line with the Article 17 of the Visa Code (in Euros and in local currency);
- confirmation that all the information and data in the tender and related documents is correct and accurate.
Tenders and related documents are submitted in Lithuanian or in English. In cases when the documents are submitted in other language than stated above, there should be a certified translation of the document into Lithuanian or English. The copies of the documents must be certified by the notary.
The documents issued by the foreign countries must be legalized according to legal requirements or approved by the certificate (Apostille), unless the international treaties of the Republic of Lithuania or legal acts of the European Union provide otherwise.
The tender will not be evaluated if it does not comply with the indicated requirements for its form.
11. Procedure for Submitting the Tenders
The tenders must be submitted in the envelope that is closed and sealed. The envelope must state the name “Tender for the provision of services related to the receipt of applications for Schengen visas”.
The tenders that will be accepted and evaluated should be:
- personally delivered to the indicated address by the responsible manager or the authorized person (please bring confirmation documents);
- sent by registered mail or by courier.
Tenders must be submitted to this address:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
CONSULAR DEPARTMENT
J. Tumo-Vaižganto str. 2,
LT-01511 Vilnius, LITHUANIA
12. Term for the Submission of Tenders
The invitation is in force and the tenders must be submitted within 45 days after the invitation becomes valid – after the invitation is published in the Annex Informaciniai pranešimai (Information publication) to the Legal Gazette Valstybės Žinios.
When sending by registered mail, the date of the post stamp of the dispatch place must not be later than the term indicated in this invitation.
The tender sent using other means or to different addresses, or after the term indicated in the invitation will not be evaluated.
13. Tender Evaluation Criteria and Procedure
The tender will be given a total amount of marks considering these evaluation criteria:
|
Evaluation criteria |
Mark |
|
1. Geographical distribution of Visa Application Centers, the compliance of the proposed premises to the standards of providing proper services to persons |
1-5 |
|
2. Experience of the applicant in carrying the activities of the Provider, in cooperation with other Schengen countries |
1-5 |
|
3. Service fee for one person applying for visa 3.1 without collecting biometric identifiers; 3.2 collecting biometric identifiers |
1-5 |
|
4. Technical capacity of the Provider regarding the collection and transfer of biometric identifiers |
1-5 |
|
5. Detailed schedule of the opening of Visa Application Centre and the start of providing the services |
1-5 |
|
6. Timeliness of the transfer of the applications for visa and related documents to the Embassy, collection from the Embassy and delivery to the applicant |
1-5 |
The applicant whose tender is not being evaluated will be informed about such a decision not later than 10 days after the decision not to evaluate the tender is made.
14. Term for Evaluation of the Tenders
The Ministry will make a decision on the results of the selection within 45 working days after the end of the term of the invitation and submission of the tenders.
All the applicants will be informed about the results in written not later than 10 working days after the decision is made. The negotiations will immediately start with the winner applicant on signing the Contract and the start date of the provision of services.
The Ministry has the right to declare the tender partially or fully improper if it does not comply with the requirements indicated in this invitation.
15. Conditions and validity of the Prospective Contract on Cooperation
Not earlier that 45 days after the decision on the results of the selection, a fixed-term contract will be signed with the winner in line with the main requirements for legal documents indicated in the Annex X of the Visa Code. In accordance with the Article 9 of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the State Language (Legal Gazette Valstybės Žinios, 1995, No 15-344), the Contract will be concluded in Lithuanian and other language acceptable to both sides. The Contract will be concluded for the period of 3 years with the possibility of extension every year. The copy of the Contract will be submitted to the European Commission.
16. Contact person
Agnė Kriščiūnaitė
Tel. +370 5 236 2615
E-mail agne.krisciunaite@urm.lt
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