Schengen states may soon offer priority visas in India

NEW DELHI: Schengen states, a grouping of 26 European nations, may soon offer priority visas in India.

At present, UK offers this service and charges, in addition to the visa fees, almost Rs 90,000 for the “super priority” category (visa decision in a day), and Rs 20,000 for “priority” (visa decision in less than a week).

However, UK visa fees are among the highest for all countries in India and the Schengen priority service charges could be much lower.


“A lot of people like businessmen and investment bankers have to travel at very short notice. The UK started the super priority service about a year back. Schengen states are also looking at the same,” said Zubin Karkaria, CEO of VFS Global Group, which collects visa documents for 60 client governments in 139 countries.

“Foreign consulates want to reach out to more and more Indians. They are wooing not just tourists but also other categories. Students from India are a big category, second only to the Chinese for places like UK and Australia,” he said.

“Our overall growth in number of visa applications in India is 10% to 15% but the growth in Tier II and III cities is almost double, between 20% and 30%. The growth is such that in peak (travel) times we have had to keep our application centres in Delhi and Mumbai open on weekends, 24 hours a day.”

Karkaria said the concept of holiday has changed in India. “Earlier holiday used to be a luxury, today it is a necessity. Because of job pressure, people need time with family. What used to be a 15-20-day annual vacation is now three to four domestic and international short breaks. Instead of the usual destinations, Indians are now going to places that are not run of the mill like the Czech Republic, Cyprus and Croatia,” he said.