Delays in Schengen visa slots hit Europe travel plans

PUNE: Tourists and other travellers to Greece, Spain, France and Italy in particular, among other Schengen countries, are facing a hard time getting visa appointments.

Without a fast-tracked system, they have had to postpone plans or cancel them altogether because of the delay.

Travel firms said visa seekers have had to wait for weeks and they are diverting last-minute clients to southeast Asian countries where visas are relatively faster.

Mehboob Shaikh, treasurer, Travel Agents’ Association of India, Pune, and director, Travel Elect Private Limited said the visa application centre for Italy has been unable to give appointments to clients due to excess workload.

“The catch is that clients have to make hotel and airline bookings months in advance. No clarity on visas till the travel date has affected plans for many, with the possibility of cancellation of bookings in case visas fail to arrive on time,” he said.

The appointments come late in some cases, while in others, the processing takes time, Shaikh said.

Vijay Thakkar, director at Hasmukh Travels, said the highest delay is for Italy. “If a client has to travel on May 25 to Italy, he can only apply for a visa 15 days before the date. One cannot make advance airline and hotel bookings. Last-minute bookings are costly and one cannot be sure till the very end if or not the visa will arrive,” he said.

It is taking at least 15-20 days to get an appointment for submitting the visa application in case of many countries in Europe, and then an additional three to four weeks to get the visa, Thakkar added. His firm has diverted around 5-10% of its last-minute leisure travel clients to southeast Asian countries.

Santosh Gupta of Shree Vinayak Holidays said one of his clients had to go to Italy in May and had sought an appointment for visa in early April.

“He got the appointment for May last week and had to postpone his entire travel plans to July. A visa for Italy, and most Schengen countries, has been difficult as all the slots are full at the visa application centres. Another client got a delayed appointment for a visa to Switzerland. He had to travel in June but he postponed it to September,” Gupta said.

Working professional Vikas Ahuja said he was planning to visit Switzerland in May along with his family. “But there are delays and our travel firm suggested we skip Switzerland this year and go to Mauritius instead. We do not need a visa to enter the island nation,” he said.