There is bad news for those who are planning to travel to Europe in the summer. Schengen visa appointment dates for Europe are not available until the end of June. Anil Kalsi, Joint Secretary, Travel Agents Federation of India, says that the process of Schengen visa application takes at least 15 days to complete, but at present the waiting time is more than a month.
New Delhi: The wait for a valid Schengen visa in 26 EU countries can be long. Schengen visa appointment dates are not till the end of June for those who wish to travel to cold European countries away from the heat of India. Anil Kalsi, Joint Secretary, Travel Agent Federation of India, says that it takes at least 15 days to complete the process of Schengen visa application.
But in many cases the passports taken for visa are not returned even after a month. In such a situation, many people are losing lakhs, because the confirmation receipt of air ticket and hotel booking is also put in the visa application. In such a situation, that money is being wasted due to not getting visas to people in time.
The Embassy of Switzerland in India, in a message to all travel agents on May 19, had said that due to plethora of visa applications, only the Embassy and Swiss Visa VFS Center in New Delhi would accept visa applications. Only those visa applications should be given, which have at least 15 days left in the date of travel. The situation for Schengen visas could be worse.
The Danish Embassy in New Delhi has stopped giving fresh visa appointments for the time being due to the influx of visa applications and shortage of staff. At present, 20 thousand applications are coming daily for visas from European countries, which is close to the number before the Corona-era. Travel agents say that visa processing in the UK has a waiting period of 2 months. But if you pay more than 25 thousand rupees for priority visa, then visa can be obtained within a week.
