Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and the Government of the Republic of Finland on the Readmission of Persons Entering a Country and Residing There Without Authorization

The Government of the Republic of Lithuania and the Government of the Republic of Finland, hereinafter referred to as the Contracting parties,

desirous, in a spirit of co-operation and on the basis of reciprocity, of facilitating the readmission of persons entering a Contracting Party's territory and residing there illegally,

taking into account the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted on 10 December 1948 by the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Convention of 4 November 1950 for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Convention of 28 July 1951 on the Status of Refugees, as amended by the Protocol of 31 January 1967 on the Status of Refugees,

have agreed as follows:

Article 1
Definitions

In this Agreement the following definitions have the following meaning:

1. an alien-a person who is neither Lithuanian nor Finnish citizen;

2. a visa-a valid permission issued by a competent authority of the Contracting Party, entitling the alien to enter the country and to reside there without interruption for a period not exceeding three months;

3. a residence permit-a valid permission issued by a competent authority of the contracting Party, entitling the person to enter the country repeatedly and to reside in the country. The residence permit does not mean a visa nor a possibility to stay in the territory of a Contracting Party during the treating of an application for asylum or for residence permit or during a expulsion procedure.

Article 2
Readmission of own citizens

1. Each Contracting Party shall readmit without any formality its own citizens as well as persons who have been deprived of the nationality of the Contracting Party since entering the territory of the other Contracting Party, without acquiring the nationality of any state

2. If it turns out that the readmitted person is an alien and the provisions of Article 3 and republic to this Agreement cannot be applied to him, the other Contracting Party shall readmit this person again without delay.

Article 3
Readmission of an alien on the basis of an advance notification

1. The Contracting Party shall readmit without any formality an alien who has entered the territory of the other Contracting Party directly from its territory, on the basis of an advance notification by the competent authority of the other Contracting Party, if no more than seventy-two hours have passed since the entry.

2. It is considered that the alien has entered the territory directly from the territory of the other Contracting Party it this can be proved or if it may be validly considered to be sufficiently probable.

Article 4
Readmission of an alien of the basis of a request

1. The Contracting Party shall, at the request of the other Contracting Party, readmit an alien who has arrived in the territory of the other Contracting Party directly from the territory of the Contracting Party and the entry or residence of whom does not fulfil the previsions in the legislation of the other Contracting Party. However, this shall not apply if the alien has been granted a resident permit by the other Contracting Party after his entry into the county in question.

2. The Contracting Party shall, at the request of the other Contracting Party, readmit an alien who resides illegally in the territory of the other Contracting Party and who is in possession of a valid residence permit or a visa issued by the Contracting Party, other than a transit visa.

3. The Contracting Party shall, at the request of the other Contracting Party, readmit also a stateless alien who has entered the territory of the other Contracting Party by means of a travel document issued by the Contracting Party, entitling the return to the territory of the Contracting Party which issued that document, or who has immediately before his entry into the territory of the other Contracting Party resided in the territory of Contracting Party and arrived directly from the territory of the Contracting Party after the entry into force of this Agreement.

Article 5
Time limits

1. The Contracting Party shall reply to the written readmission requests addressed to it without delay and, in any event, at the latest within twenty days from the presentation of the request. It is possible to male the readmission request by mail, by handing the request directly to the competent authority of the other Contracting Party or through other means of communication.

2. The requested Contracting Party shall take charge of persons immediately after the request has been approved and, in any event, at the latest within three months from the approval. Upon notification by the requesting Contracting Party this time limit shall be extended by the time necessary for the clearing of legal or practical obstacles.

Article 6
Expiry of the readmission obligation

The readmission request shall be submitted to the competent authority of the other Contracting Party at the latest within six months from the noting of the illegal entry or presence of the said person by the competent authorities of the Contracting Party. Upon notification by the requesting Contracting Party made within the said period of six months this time limit shall be extended by the time necessary for the clearing of legal or practical obstacles.

Article 7
Transit in the case of removal

1. The Contracting Party shall allow aliens to pass through their territory in transit in the case of removal, if the other Contracting Party so requests. The Contracting Party may require that by the common consent of the Contracting Parties for the reasons of state security or public health.

2. The requested Contracting Party shall issue free of charge a transit visa to the escorted person and to the escorts in accordance with its national legislation.

3. Notwithstanding any authorization issued, the Contracting Parties shall readmit an alien if his entry into a third state is not admitted or if the onward journey is otherwise impossible.

Article 8
Costs

1. The transport costs pursuant to Articles 2,3 and 4 shall be borne by the Contracting Party as far as to the border of the other Contracting Party, subject to the provision in the national legislation.

2. The costs of the transit in accordance with Article 7 as far as to the borne by the requesting Contracting Party.

3. The Contracting Party shall bear the costs arising from the possible executive assistance given by their own authorities during the transit through their territory.

Article 9
Providing information

Insofar as information on individual cases has to be provided to the other Contracting Party in order to implement this Agreement, such information may concern only the following:

a)the particulars of the person and, where necessary, of the members of the person's family (surname, given name, any previous names, nicknames or pseudonyms, aliases, date and place of birth, six, current and any previous nationality/citizenship);

b)passport, identity card or other travel documents (number, date of issue, issuing authority, place of issue, period of validity, territory of validity);

c)other details needed to identify the persons;

d)residence permits and visas issued by the Contracting Parties or by third states, itinerary, stopping places, travel tickets and other possible travel arrangements.

Article 10
Implementing provisions

1. Upon acceptance of this Agreement the Contracting Parties shall inform each other through diplomatic channels of the competent authorities responsible for the implementation of this Agreement and of their addresses and other information facilitating communication. The Contracting Parties shall also inform each other of changes with respect to these authorities.

2. The competent authorities shall meet as the need arises and they shall decide on practical arrangements required for the implementation of this Agreement.

3. The competent authorities shall decide on other arrangements required for the implementation of this Agreement, regarding, for example,

-the particulars, supporting documents and evidence required for the transfer and the measures to carry out the transit,

-the determination of the border-crossing points and the arrival times in order to carry out the readmission,

-the conditions for the transport in transit of third-country nationals under escort of the competent authority and

-evidence or grounds on the basis of which it is possible to show or validly assume that the alien has arrived directly from the territory of the Contracting Party to the territory of the other Contracting Party.

Article 11
Relation to other international agreements

Nothing in this Agreement shall affect in any way the rights and obligations of either Contracting Party arising form other international agreements.

Article 12
Final provisions

1. This Agreement shall enter into force ninety days after the date on which the Contracting Parties have notified each other in writing that the necessary internal procedures for its entry into force have been completed.

2. Each Contracting Party may temporarily suspend this Agreement on the grounds of the protection of State security, public order or public health, by notifying the other Contracting Party in writing.

3. Each Contracting Party may denounce this Agreement by notifying the other Contracting Party in writing. The denunciation shall become effective on the first day of the month following the month in which the notification thereof was received by the other Contracting Party.

 

Done at Vilnius on March 18, 1997 in two originals, both in the Lithuanian, Finnish and English languages, all three texts being equally authentic. In case of discrepancies between the texts, the English version shall prevail.

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Finland

 

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