With the European Union recently announcing that Indian nationals will be issued long-term multi-entry Schengen visas, the decision has received positive response from travel consultants of the country.

As per the new visa ‘cascade’ regime, Indian nationals will be able to apply for long-term multi-entry Schengen visas valid for two years “after having obtained and lawfully used two visas within the previous three years”.

In short, this two-year visa can be followed by a five-year visa, if the passport has sufficient remaining validity.

Madhavan Menon, executive chairman, Thomas Cook India Group, while welcoming the new visa ruling, commented: “Such a move will ensure greater convenience and timeliness to customers and inspire repeat visits – with a force multiplier impact to the overall travel and tourism eco-system. As a potential outcome of this announcement, we look forward to an expansion in travel between India and the Schengen region across all categories of travellers – leisure, business and MICE.”

“The new ruling is surely going to encourage Indians to travel more frequently to European countries. I believe many frequent travellers will rush to obtain Schengen visas for their vacations as there is a long waiting period for visas to destinations like the US,” said Travel Oyster India’s founder Ajay Jaipuria.

However, as per the section of the travel trade, even though the move is a right step in the right direction, the first thing required is to streamline the process of Schengen visas.

“It was long overdue. The whole world realises that the Indian tourists are high spenders and want a share of them. Countries like the US, Canada and the UK have been giving long term visas to Indians but the Schengen countries were behaving in a draconian manner in terms of their approach in granting visas. However, the problem lies in the fact that there are no appointments available. Unless this issue is tackled, the new visa regime alone won’t help to tap the vast Indian outbound market,” noted Ajay Prakash, president, Travel Agents Federation of India.

“Some of the consulates have bizarre rules, for example, the German consulates want you to have individual email IDs for every applicant even if it is four members of a family travelling together. So, you need to create four different email IDs… that’s senseless. There has to be some sort of consistency across the Schengen consulates if we have to look to increase outbound. Schengen countries can consider getting more staff if required for a quicker turnaround time and to accept more visa applications,” added Prakash.