Upvote:4
According to https://ch.tlscontact.com/gb/lon/page.php?pid=faq the timescale is 59 months, not five years.
If your finger scans were collected within the last 59 months, then you wonβt have to give new fingerprints for your next visa application(s) and personal appearance is not necessary. However, you have to provide a copy of your visa sticker issued after 20.11.2015. If you are not sure or do not remember whether your fingerprints have been captured for a Schengen visa within the last 59 months, you have to appear in person.
By extension of the final point above, declaring that you havenβt submitted fingerprints in the last 59 months will have zero consequences - it will simply mean youβll need to provide biometrics. The relevant date of collection as I interpret the above-quoted guidance is therefore the date you attended your visa application appointment.