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1. When the application is admissible according to Article 19 of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 ◄ , the visa authority shall create without delay the application file, by entering the data referred to in Article 9 in the VIS, as far as these data are required to be provided by the applicant.

2. When creating the application file, the visa authority shall check in the VIS, in accordance with Article 15, whether a previous application of the individual applicant has been registered in the VIS by any of the Member States.

3. If a previous application has been registered, the visa authority shall link each new application file to the previous application file on that applicant.

4. If the applicant is travelling in a group or with his spouse and/or children, the visa authority shall create an application file for each applicant and link the application files of the persons travelling together.

5. Where particular data are not required to be provided for legal reasons or factually cannot be provided, the specific data field(s) shall be marked as ‘not applicable’. In the case of fingerprints, the system shall for the purposes of Article 17 permit a distinction to be made between the cases where fingerprints are not required to be provided for legal reasons and the cases where they cannot be provided factually; after a period of four years this functionality shall expire unless it is confirmed by a Commission decision on the basis of the evaluation referred to in Article 50(4).