Schengen Visa: Indians planning to visit the Schengen Area this summer are facing significant hurdles in securing visa appointment slots, leading to frustration and travel plan disruptions.
Reports indicate a shortage of available appointment slots for Schengen visas, prompting many Indian applicants to postpone or cancel their travel plans to Europe.
Schengen Visa Problems..
The Travel Agents Federation of India has also voiced dissatisfaction with the situation, highlighting that there are currently no available appointments until summer for most Schengen member states.
Anil Kalsi, Vice-President of the Travel Agents Federation of India, emphasized the widespread impact, particularly noting the unavailability of slots for German and Italian Schengen visas for travel in June or July.
The European Commission recently introduced a new visa cascade regime aimed at simplifying the process for Indian nationals applying for Schengen visas.
This regime facilitates easier access to multiple entry visas with extended validity periods, intended to streamline the visa application process.
However, despite these efforts, the shortage of appointment slots remains a pressing issue for Indian travellers, hindering their plans to visit the Schengen Area this summer.
The situation underscores the challenges in visa processing faced by applicants and the need for authorities to address capacity issues to accommodate the high demand from Indian travellers seeking to visit Europe.
As the summer travel season approaches, stakeholders are hopeful for measures that will alleviate the appointment slot shortage and facilitate smoother visa processing for Indian visitors to the Schengen Area.
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