Schengen visa appointments for Indian tour groups not suspended: Swiss embassy

The Swiss embassy has processed more visa applications this year than it did in 2019 and people-to-people contacts are the core of the Swiss-Indian relationship

NEW DELHI: Switzerland said on Thursday that its embassy in New Delhi hasn’t suspended Schengen visa appointments for Indian tour groups, and that the visa processing level has surpassed the figures recorded before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Several measures have been implemented since the beginning of this year to further ease the visa application process for Indian applicants (File)

During 2023, the Swiss embassy in India processed more visa applications than it did in 2019 and people-to-people contacts are the core of the Swiss-Indian relationship, a spokesperson for the mission said in a statement.

“The embassy of Switzerland in India has not suspended Schengen visa appointments for Indian tour groups. We have almost 800 daily appointments through the end of September 2023. These include 22 groups,” the spokesperson said.

“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% increase,” the spokesperson added.

Several measures have been implemented since the beginning of this year to further ease the visa application process for Indian applicants. Applicants can now apply for their visas six months before the date of travel, as against one month in the past.

The Swiss embassy has increased its overall visa processing capacity in India. “With a new Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Lucknow, there are now 13 VACs all over India where applications can be submitted,” the spokesperson said.

It currently takes no more than 13 working days between the visa appointment by VFS and the embassy’s decision on the application, the spokesperson added.