The Swiss Embassy in New Delhi said that will not accept Schengen visa applications from Indian tour groups until October.
As explained by the embassy, such a decision was made because of the high volume of applications that they still need to process, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.
In an announcement by the embassy, the tourism officials said they were asked to reschedule the group’s trip for another day so that the visa can be transferred and issued in time before the date of the trip, Temedia explains.
Although the embassy said that they are unable to process the high number of applications they receives, the tourists are not happy about this.
Group tours outside the country are the most profitable for tourists in India and for this reason, they try to let those who are interested in the bloc without delay.
Speaking on the matter, the director of tourism marketing of Switzerland, Simon Bosshart said that he is aware of the problem and explained that the Swiss embassy is currently facing a shortage of staff. Bosshart is an Asian market manager and said that apart from Indians, the labor shortage is also affecting travelers from China who want to travel to Switzerland as a group.
According to him, before the coronavirus pandemic, there were about 17 visa processing centers in China. However, due to the pandemic, the work was stopped suddenly and since then the representative offices were facing problems and they could not process the high number of applications in time.
In support of these words, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said that the country processes 94% of visa applications made in 2019.
Although Switzerland is already processing 94 per cent of the visa applications made available in 2019, many other Schengen countries at various locations have not yet been able to restore their visa capacities from 2019,” the statement of the Department reads.
All foreigners applying for a Schengen visa must bring several documents. They must submit a completed and signed Swiss visa application form, their passport, two passport photos and a previous visa issue.
In addition, applicants must also submit a round-trip flight itinerary, proof of having booked a place to stay in Switzerland, proof of sufficient financial means, and proof of having purchased travel health insurance, among others.
