 "visa, passport, approval, immigration")
Embassies of European countries in New Delhi are putting in measures to handle a surge of visa applications that have resulted in long wait times for appointments and trip deferrals.
While some diplomatic missions have increased staff to cut down on processing time, Sweden is allowing walk-in visa applications at the facilitation centres in India and Nepal to address the issue of long waiting periods.
Overseas travel has seen a rebound despite high airfares and visa challenges.
Tour operator Thomas Cook said it has seen a 300 per cent jump in demand for summer holidays in Europe. Overall visa applications (including non-European countries) touched 73 per cent and 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in 2022 in Mumbai and Delhi, respectively, according to VFS Global — a visa outsourcing and technology company.
Travel agents complain that the current visa processing systems are not optimised to meet demand, resulting in long wait times. As regards certain European countries, the wait time for appointments ranged between 10 days and 90 days as of April 5. Besides, visa applicants are encountering error messages while filing applications, compounding their woes.
On their part, embassies say they have taken steps to reduce the turnaround time, while VFS Global said it has deployed robust security solutions after detecting fraudulent attempts to block appointments.
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“The visa section of the Swiss Embassy in India is taking all possible measures to be prepared to meet pre-pandemic demand levels. As of Wednesday morning (April 5), applicants could book slots in most cities for the second half of April. The average processing time is 15 working days,” said an embassy spokesperson.
The Spanish consulate in Mumbai has increased its Schengen visa processing capacity by more than 55 per cent in the first quarter of 2023, compared with 2019, and applicants receive their passports and visas at home in 48-72 working hours after submission at BLS International (visa application centre), said Consul General Fernando Heredia Noguer.
The Swedish embassy said it is well aware of the current situation with the appointment slots and it has given clear instructions to VFS Global centres across India and Nepal to allow applicants to apply walk-ins as well between Monday through Friday. The embassy said applicants have not faced difficulties in lodging applications after the introduction of this procedure.
Four extra decision makers have been brought in from the Swedish migration agency as reinforcement in summer, in addition to four locally employed migration assistants in Delhi. The processing time is a maximum of 15 days, which is in accordance with the visa code, it said.
Sweden’s neighbour Norway, too, has fortified its Delhi embassy staff temporarily. Employees work overtime as and when needed, a spokesperson said.
“We are expecting an increase in demand from 2022 of at least 20 per cent. VFS Global is responsible to give an appointment within three working days for all applicants applying for a visa to Norway. If the applicant is unable to get it, we encourage them to contact the visa section,” she added.
About 30 per cent of all visit visas in 2022 were issued to Indians, and the British High Commission in Delhi expects travel demand in summer to remain high.
“The waiting time for a standard UK visitor visa is currently within the normal service standard of 15 working days. This means customers can expect a decision to be made on their visa within approximately three weeks of attending an appointment at a visa application centre,” a spokesperson said.
