The Embassy has also opened a new Visa Application Centre in Lucknow.
By Mewati Sitaram
In the past few days there was news about the temporary suspension of visas for Indian tourists by the Swiss Embassy. The Embassy of Switzerland in India has released a press communique and denied reports that it has suspended Schengen visa appointments for Indian tour groups until October due to high volume of applications.
The embassy has mentioned that they have almost 800 daily appointments through the end of September 2023 which also include 22 groups. The mission said in a statement released on Thursday. Asserting that people-to-people contact is at the core of Swiss-Indian relationship.
The press communique mentioned that they have processed more visa applications in the current year than they did in the year 2019. The communique also highlighted that “We have surpassed our pre-pandemic times processing level. From January until June, we handled 129,446 applications, as against 120,071 during the same period in 2019, a 7.8 percent increase.”
The communique also mentioned that “In addition, various measures have been implemented since the beginning of 2023 to further ease the visa application process for Indian applicants. As per these measures, it would now be possible for the applicants to apply for their visa six months prior to their date of travel, as against one month in the past. So, someone wishing to travel in June can already apply for a visa in January.
As per press release, “The Embassy has opened a new Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Lucknow. Now there are 13 VACs all over India, where Visa applications can be submitted. The mission also informed that at present it takes “no more than 13 working days between the appointment by our partner VFS Global and the Embassy’s decision on the application”.
The statement of clarification came following media reports on Tuesday which said that Indian tour operators were informed by the Swiss embassy to reschedule group trips to allow ample time for visa processing.
It may be noted that A Schengen visa is a short-stay visa granting individuals an opportunity to travel to any member country within the Schengen Area for tourism or business purposes for up to 90 days. One Schengen visa application costs 80 euros or Rs 7,260 in India.
Editor in Chief : Mewati SItaram
