Agreements

The Office of Agreements negotiates, records and publishes agreements between the Velocity Interoperability Network and organisations outside it. The Ministry concludes agreements on behalf of the Network as a whole; member organisations do not conclude them separately.

Agreements are the means by which an outside organisation connects its systems to the Network, works jointly with it, or sends its staff and students to work and study within it. Four types are in use. Each is concluded by the Ministry, and an exchange agreement is concluded jointly with the Immigration Department, which issues the permits under it.

Principles. The Office applies five principles to every agreement, whatever its type.

One party for the Network

The Ministry concludes agreements on behalf of the Network as a whole. Member organisations do not conclude agreements that bind the Network separately, although they may conduct ordinary business with outside organisations that does not bind it.

Members are consulted

No agreement is negotiated until the member organisations affected by it have been consulted and the Network's position has been settled. A member that would carry obligations under an agreement is named in the Register as the member concerned.

Network standards apply

An outside organisation connected to the Network under an interoperability agreement applies the standards of the Network to the systems that are connected. The standards committee of the Council of Members advises on the standards to be specified.

Agreements are recorded and published

Every agreement is entered in the Register of Agreements with a reference number and the date on which it came into force. The text is published unless the agreement itself provides otherwise, in which case a summary is published in its place.

Agreements are reviewed

The agreements committee reviews each agreement in force at least once every three years and recommends to the Council whether it should continue, be amended or be brought to an end.

How an agreement is made. A new agreement passes through five stages. The time taken depends on the number of members affected and the complexity of the text; a memorandum of understanding is commonly concluded within three months of the proposal, an interoperability agreement within nine.

1. 1

   Step 1: Proposal

   An organisation outside the Network, or a member organisation, proposes an agreement in writing to the Office of Agreements. The proposal states the purpose of the agreement, the parties, the systems or activities it would cover and the term sought.

2. 2

   Step 2: Consultation

   The Ministry consults the member organisations affected and settles the Network's position. Where a matter of standards arises it is referred to the standards committee.

3. 3

   Step 3: Negotiation

   The Office of Agreements negotiates the text with the other party. Negotiations are conducted in writing and, where necessary, at meetings arranged by the Office of Protocol.

4. 4

   Step 4: Conclusion

   The agreement is concluded by the Ministry on behalf of the Network at a signing arranged by the Office of Protocol, and takes effect on the date stated in it.

5. 5

   Step 5: Publication

   The agreement is entered in the Register of Agreements, announced in the Newsroom and published, unless its terms provide otherwise.

Register of Agreements. Before the Ministry was established, member organisations concluded agreements with outside organisations on their own account. On 6 September 2026 the Ministry adopted, on behalf of the Network, the eleven agreements that connect an outside organisation to the Network or otherwise bind it. Each continues in force on the terms on which it was concluded, and the member that concluded it remains the member concerned, whether it is now a full or an associate member; the rule that only a full member may be the member concerned applies to agreements concluded from that date. The Register is listed in the order in which the agreements came into force.

Agreements concluded by the Ministry are announced in the Newsroom and their texts are held as described on the Records and Publications page. Proposals may be sent to contact@ministry.gov.vin. For the meaning of the terms used here, see the Glossary.