Travel plans to Europe during the summer holidays is getting jeopardised for many Kolkatans because of delays in obtaining visas for some of the popular destinations.
Tour operators and some of those affected by the delays said visa appointment slots for several of the 27 Schengen countries — including France, Italy and Germany — were not available and there was an inordinate delay in visa processing.
Travel industry sources blamed shortage of personnel and high demand for international travel for the lack of appointment slots and the long time taken to process visa applications.
Some tour operators and those planning summer holidays said visa appointment slots for some of the Schengen countries are available through personalised services like Visa At Your Doorstep, though they are not available through the portal.
The delay in obtaining visa for Schengen countries like France and Italy has added to the woes of many who want to visit the US but are unable to do so because of lack of appointment slots.
Now, many are tweaking their travel plans.
Prince Dey, a businessman from Howrah, was planning to go on a holiday to Paris with four of his family members.
“The five of us wanted to go in May or June but there are no visa appointment slots available for France,” said Dey. “So, I have asked my travel agent to book me a trip in southeast Asia or Gulf countries.”
A Kolkatan, who is planning a vacation in France, had tried to book a visa appointment on Tuesday through VFS Global, the outsourcing and technology services specialist that processes visas for 67 governments across the world.
“No appointment slots are currently available. Please try another application center if applicable,” said the message on the website of VFS Global for booking appointments.
“Now, my travel agent is trying for visas for Switzerland. Visa appointment slots for Switzerland are closed, too, (through the portal) but are available through the Visa at Your Doorstep service,” said the Kolkatan.
Visa at Your Doorstep is a personalised service that allows an applicant to submit visa documents from home for a fee. VFS Global officials have said there is a two-fold increase in demand for the service after the Covid pandemic, compared with 2019.
On an average, an applicant has to pay an additional Rs 10,000, along with travel charges, for the service that was introduced in 2016. The service enables the collection of the visa application and biometric details of the applicant from a location of his or her choice.
VFS Global is offering the service for 16 countries, including the UK, Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland and Austria.
Travel agents said shortage of personnel for processing visa applications at some of the embassies and an increase in leisure travel to international destinations are causing the problems.
“Embassies of several countries have told us that they are yet to get back to their pre-Covid personnel strength. We are requesting them to increase manpower and open more slots for visa applications to help the travel industry,” said Manav Soni, chairman, eastern region, Travel Agents Association of India.
“It takes about three weeks to process a visa application. Since the appointment slots for the summer travel season in May and June are not opened now for many Schengen countries, many tourists from Kolkata are forced to reschedule their plans,” said Soni.
“The problem in procuring a UK visa is now resolved. Applicants are getting UK visas within a week. So, some travellers are changing destinations to the UK instead of Schengen countries,” said Avijit Das, director, of Hermes Voyages Pvt Ltd. “We are appealing to the Schengen countries to look into the issue.”
VFS Global officials said they have no role in the time taken to process visa applications. “We have no role in the time taken for visa application processing,” said an official of VFS Global.
The agency had earlier said the number of visa applications that it had handled pan-India in 2022 was about 80 per cent of the figure in 2019. The 2022 figure was 140 per cent compared with 2021, when international travel was still rare because of Covid. In Kolkata, the growth was 160 per cent compared with 2021.
