Schengen visa delays portend a summer of discontent

While some travel operators attributed delays to visa-processing companies such as VFS Global and BLS International, others said the European embassies failed to anticipate the growing demand among Indians to travel abroad.

Recently, a Delhi-based couple planning a honeymoon trip to Spain and other parts of Europe were told by their travel agent that six weeks would not be sufficient to secure a tourist visa for the Schengen area. So, with no other option available, the couple chose to visit Mauritius.

In fact, travel agents have seen a fourfold increase in demand for holidays to Europe but have had to decline many due to the lack of slots for visa appointments. “This year, the travel load was expected to go up since it’s the first big year after covid-19 restrictions were completely lifted. However, at least 800 appointments by our clients are pending due to “technical issues” at the VFS office. Note that we are not even in April. Who knows how the season will pan out,” a senior executive of a travel company said, seeking anonymity.

Although many embassies expected an additional load for visa services and had prepared to handle it, some are having issues with manpower, he said.

While some embassies anticipated increased demand for visa services and made arrangements to cope with it, others are experiencing manpower issues, the person said.

While BLS issues visas for Spain, VFS manages visas for most other Schengen countries. On average, BLS processes 500 Spain-related visa appointments per day. However, as the travel season starts, this number is anticipated to triple to 1,500 per day. The processing time is between 5-7 working days.

In an email response, VFS said fraudulent attempts are being made to block appointments by third-party entities, using human intervention as well as bots, leading to a slowdown. Prabuddha Sen, chief operating officer, South Asia, VFS Global, said various steps were taken to manage the peak season volumes.

Thomas Cook India, too, has witnessed higher demand for European destinations despite the visa challenges. “March is a peak booking season, but the lack of slots for visa appointments and huge turnaround time for visa processing is a significant concern. There are also technical issues in online appointment booking for European destinations,” said Rajeev Kale, president and country head, holiday, MICE, Thomas Cook.

Sabina Chopra, chief operating officer of corporate travel and head of industry relations of online tour operator Yatra.com, said there are no appointment slots available for Italy, and there is no visibility when they will be opening next.

For France, it takes 35-40 days to process visas, while for Germany, there are no appointments available from Delhi at all, and across other cities, they are available only after 2-3 months. “The travel sentiment is at an all-time high, and travel searches have increased remarkably across all verticals of our platform, and delays like this usually happen due to an increase in demand for international travel. But there has been little clarity and support from the respective embassies. At this point, the delay is being caused by both vendors, VFS and BLS, and the embassies,” Chopra said.

Countries like Switzerland, Denmark and Austria are still relatively smooth in terms of getting slots for appointments, but even those are taking several weeks to turn around.

One travel agency in Delhi has resorted to another option. HMA Spectrum Handcrafted Holidays is now encouraging its travellers to apply for a visa 3-4 months in advance. “For the late planners, we are only recommending destinations offering e-visa or visa on arrival,” said Arshdeep Anand, the company’s CEO. However, she added that despite the wait, Europe is still selling well.

“We are offering packages for Norway, Greenland, Iceland and New Zealand for the guests who have time in hand. Mauritius and Vietnam are being offered as an alternative, which is also selling well as there is a visa on arrival in both countries,” she added.

The sheer volume of outbound travellers from India has left both vendors and embassies struggling to keep pace, resulting in delays. “But some countries, like Sweden, have learnt their lessons from last year and are making improvements in their systems, hence are able to offer quicker processing time,” Anand said.