1.   The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall readmit, upon application by a Member State and without further formalities other than those provided for in this agreement, all persons who do not, or who no longer, fulfil the legal conditions in force for entry to, presence in, or residence on, the territory of the Requesting Member State provided that it is proved, or may be validly assumed on the basis of prima facie evidence furnished, that they are nationals of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

2.   The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall also readmit, where possible, at the same time:

3.   The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall also readmit persons who have renounced the nationality of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia since entering the territory of a Member State, unless such persons have at least been guaranteed naturalisation by that Member State.

4.   After the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has given a positive reply to the readmission application, the competent Diplomatic Mission or Consular Office of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall immediately and not later than within three working days, issue the travel document required for the return of the person to be readmitted, with a validity of 30 days. If, for legal or factual reasons, the person concerned cannot be transferred within the period of validity of the travel document that was initially issued, the competent Diplomatic Mission or Consular Office of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall, within 14 calendar days, issue a new travel document with a period of validity of the same duration. If the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has not, within 14 calendar days, issued the new travel document, it shall be deemed to accept the use of the EU standard travel document for expulsion purposes (2).

5.   In case the person to be readmitted possesses the nationality of a third state in addition to nationality of the Requested State, the Requesting Member State shall take into consideration the will of the person to be readmitted to the State of his/her choice.

1.   The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall readmit, upon application by a Member State and without further formalities other than those provided for in this Agreement, all third-country nationals or stateless persons who do not, or who no longer, fulfil the legal conditions in force for entry to, presence in, or residence on, the territory of the Requesting Member State provided that it is proved, or may be validly assumed on the basis of prima facie evidence furnished, that such persons:

2.   The readmission obligation in paragraph 1 shall not apply if:

3.   The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall also readmit, upon application by a Member State, former nationals of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia who have acquired no other nationality and whose place of birth, and place of permanent residence on 8 September 1991, was in the territory of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

4.   After the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has given a positive reply to the readmission application, the Requesting Member State where necessary issues the person whose readmission has been accepted the EU standard travel document for expulsion purposes (2).

1.   A Member State shall readmit, upon application by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and without further formalities other than those provided for in this agreement, all persons who do not, or who no longer, fulfil the legal conditions in force for entry to, presence in, or residence on, the territory of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia provided that it is proved, or may be validly assumed on the basis of prima facie evidence furnished, that they are nationals of that Member State.

2.   A Member State shall also readmit, where possible, at the same time:

3.   A Member State shall also readmit persons who have renounced the nationality of a Member State since entering the territory of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, unless such persons have at least been guaranteed naturalisation by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

4.   After the Requested Member State has given a positive reply to the readmission application, the competent Diplomatic Mission or Consular Office of the Requested Member State shall immediately and not later than within three working days, issue the travel document required for the return of the person to be readmitted, with a validity of 30 days. If, for legal or factual reasons, the person concerned cannot be transferred within the period of validity of the travel document that was initially issued, the competent Diplomatic Mission or Consular Office of the Requested Member State shall, within 14 calendar days, issue a new travel document with a period of validity of the same duration.

5.   In case the person to be readmitted possesses the nationality of a third state in addition to that of the Requested Member State, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall take into consideration the will of the person to be readmitted to the State of his/her choice.

1.   A Member State shall readmit, upon application by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and without further formalities other than those provided for in this Agreement, all third-country nationals or stateless persons who do not, or who no longer, fulfil the legal conditions in force for entry to, presence in, or residence on, the territory of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia provided that it is proved, or may be validly assumed on the basis of prima facie evidence furnished, that such persons:

2.   The readmission obligation in paragraph 1 shall not apply if:

3.   The readmission obligation in paragraph 1 is for the Member State that issued a visa or residence permit. If two or more Member States issued a visa or residence permit, the readmission obligation in paragraph 1 is for the Member State that issued the document with a longer period of validity or, if one or several of them have already expired, the document that is still valid. If all of the documents have already expired, the readmission obligation in paragraph 1 is for the Member State that issued the document with the most recent expiry date. If no such documents can be presented, the readmission obligation in paragraph 1 is for the Member State of last exit.

4.   After the Member State has given a positive reply to the readmission application, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia where necessary issues the person whose readmission has been accepted the travel document required for his or her return.

1.   Subject to paragraph 2 of Article 6, any transfer of a person to be readmitted on the basis of one of the obligations contained in Articles 2 to 5 shall require the submission of a readmission application to the competent authority of the Requested State.

2.   No readmission application shall be needed where the person to be readmitted is in possession of a valid travel document and, where applicable, a valid visa or residence permit of the Requested State.

3.   If a person has been apprehended in the border region (including airports) of the Requesting State after illegally crossing the border coming directly from the territory of the Requested State, the Requesting State may submit a readmission application within two working days following this person's apprehension (accelerated procedure).

1.   To the extent possible, the readmission application is to contain the following information:

2.   To the extent possible, the readmission application shall also contain the following information:

3.   A common form to be used for readmission applications is attached as Annex 6 to this Agreement.

1.   Without prejudice to respective relevant national legislations, proof of nationality pursuant to Article 2(1) and Article 4(1) can be furnished through the documents listed in Annex 1 to this Agreement. If such documents are presented, the Member States and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall mutually recognise the nationality without further investigation being required. Proof of nationality cannot be furnished through false documents.

2.   Prima facie evidence of nationality pursuant to Article 2(1) and Article 4(1) can be particularly furnished through the documents listed in Annex 2 to this Agreement, even if their period of validity has expired. If such documents are presented, the Member States and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall accept a presumption of nationality to have been established unless they can prove otherwise. Prima facie evidence of nationality cannot be furnished through false documents.

3.   If none of the documents listed in Annexes 1 or 2 can be presented, the competent diplomatic and consular representations of the Requested State concerned shall, upon request, make arrangements to interview the person to be readmitted without delay, at the latest within three working days from the requesting day, in order to establish his or her nationality.

1.   Proof of the conditions for the readmission of third-country nationals and stateless persons laid down in Article 3(1) and Article 5(1) shall be particularly furnished through the means of evidence listed in Annex 3 to this Agreement; it cannot be furnished through false documents. Any such proof shall be mutually recognised by the Member States and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia without any further investigation being required.

2.   Prima facie evidence of the conditions for the readmission of third-country nationals and stateless persons laid down in Article 3(1) and Article 5(1) shall be particularly furnished through the means of evidence listed in Annex 4 to this Agreement; it cannot be furnished through false documents. Where such prima facie evidence is presented, the Member States and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall accept a presumption of the conditions to have been established, unless they can prove otherwise.

3.   The unlawfulness of entry, presence or residence shall be established by means of the travel documents of the person concerned in which the necessary visa or other residence permit for the territory of the Requesting State are missing. A statement by the Requesting State that the person concerned has been found not having the necessary travel documents, visa or residence permit shall likewise provide prima facie evidence of the unlawful entry, presence or residence.

4.   Prima facie evidence of the conditions for the readmission of former nationals of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia laid down in Article 3(3) shall be particularly furnished through the means of evidence listed in Annex 5 to this Agreement; it cannot be furnished through false documents. Where such prima facie evidence is presented, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall deem the conditions to be established, unless they can prove otherwise.

5.   If none of the documents listed in Annex 5 can be presented, the competent diplomatic and consular representations of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall, upon request, make arrangements to interview the person to be readmitted without undue delay or at the latest within three working days from the requesting day, in order to establish his or her nationality.

1.   The application for readmission must be submitted to the competent authority of the Requested State within a maximum of one year after the Requesting State's competent authority has gained knowledge that a third-country national or a stateless person does not, or does no longer, fulfil the conditions in force for entry, presence or residence. Where there are legal or factual obstacles to the application being submitted in time, the time limit shall, upon request by the Requesting State, be extended but only until the obstacles have ceased to exist.

2.   A readmission application must be replied to in writing:

These time limits begin to run with the date of receipt of the readmission request. If there was no reply within these time limits, the transfer shall be deemed to have been agreed to.

3.   Reasons shall be given for the refusal of a readmission request.

4.   After agreement has been given or, where appropriate, after expiry of the time limits laid down in paragraph 2, the person concerned shall be transferred without delay and at the latest within three months. On request of the Requesting State, this time limit shall be extended by the time taken to deal with legal or practical obstacles.

1.   Before returning a person, the competent authorities of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Member State concerned shall make arrangements in writing in advance regarding the transfer date, the point of entry, possible escorts and other information relevant to the transfer.

2.   Transportation may take place by air or land. Return by air shall not be restricted to the use of the national carriers of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or the Member States and may take place by using scheduled or charter flights. In the event of escorted returns, such escorts shall not be restricted to authorised persons of the Requesting State, provided that they are authorised persons from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or any Member State.

1.   The Member States and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia should restrict the transit of third-country nationals or stateless persons to cases where such persons cannot be returned to the State of destination directly.

2.   The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall allow the transit of third-country nationals or stateless persons if a Member State so requests, and a Member State shall authorise the transit of third-country nationals or stateless persons if the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia so requests, if the onward journey in possible other States of transit and the readmission by the State of destination is assured.

3.   Transit can be refused by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or a Member State:

4.   The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or a Member State may revoke any authorisation issued if circumstances referred to in paragraph 3 subsequently arise or come to light which stand in the way of the transit operation, or if the onward journey in possible States of transit or the readmission by the State of destination is no longer assured. In this case, the Requesting State shall take back the third-country national or the stateless person, as necessary and without delay.

1.   An application for transit operations must be submitted to the competent authority of the Requested State in writing and is to contain the following information:

A common form to be used for transit applications is attached as Annex 7 to this Agreement.

2.   The Requested State shall, within five calendar days and in writing, inform the Requesting State of the admission, confirming the point of entry and the envisaged time of admission, or inform it of the admission refusal and of the reasons for such refusal.

3.   If the transit operation takes place by air, the person to be readmitted and possible escorts shall be exempted from having to obtain an airport transit visa.

4.   The competent authorities of the Requested State shall, subject to mutual consultations, assist in the transit operations, in particular through the surveillance of the persons in question and the provision of suitable amenities for that purpose.

1.   This Agreement shall be without prejudice to the rights, obligations and responsibilities of the Community, the Member States and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia arising from International Law and, in particular, from:

2.   Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent the return of a person under other formal or informal arrangements.

1.   The Contracting Parties shall provide each other with mutual assistance in the application and interpretation of this Agreement. To this end, they shall set up a joint readmission committee (hereinafter referred to as ‘the committee’) which will, in particular, have the task:

2.   The decisions of the committee shall be binding on the Contracting Parties.

3.   The committee shall be composed by representatives of the Community and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; the Community shall be represented by the Commission.

4.   The committee shall meet where necessary at the request of one of the Contracting Parties.

5.   The committee shall establish its rules of procedures.

1.   Upon request of a Member State or the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and a Member State shall draw up an implementing Protocol which shall cover rules on:

2.   The implementing Protocols referred to in paragraph 1 shall enter into force only after the readmission committee, referred to in Article 18, has been notified.

3.   The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia agrees to apply any provision of an implementing Protocol drawn up with one Member State also in its relations with any other Member State upon request of the latter.

1.   Subject to paragraph 2 of Article 21, this Agreement shall apply to the territory in which the Treaty establishing the European Community is applicable and to the territory of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

2.   This Agreement shall not apply to the territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

1.   This Agreement shall be ratified or approved by the Contracting Parties in accordance with their respective procedures.

2.   This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the Contracting Parties notify each other that the procedures referred to in the first paragraph have been completed.

3.   This Agreement is concluded for an unlimited period.

4.   Each Contracting Party may, by officially notifying the other Contracting Party and after prior consultation of the committee referred to in Article 18, completely or partly, temporarily suspend the implementation of this Agreement with regard to third country nationals and stateless persons, for reasons of security, protection of public order or public health. The suspension shall enter into force on the second day following the day of such notification.

5.   Each Contracting Party may denounce this Agreement by officially notifying the other Contracting Party. This Agreement shall cease to apply six months after the date of such notification.