Schengen visa with longer validity for Indians

Here is good news for frequent Indian travelers to Europe. The European Commission has effected certain changes in existing rules for Schengen visa.

In the result, frequent Indian travelers to Europe will now be able to apply for multiple entry Schengen visa of up to five years.

European Union’s ambassador to India Herve Delphin described the new visa regime as another step towards enhancing people-to-people contact between the two sides.

“On April 18, the European Commission adopted specific rules on the issuing of multiple entry visas to Indian nationals, which are more favourable than the standard rules of the visa code that applied to date,” an EU readout said.

It said this new visa ‘cascade’ regime for Indian nationals residing in India who apply for Schengen (short-stay) visas in India will provide easier access to visas with multi-year validity for travelers with an established travel history.

“According to the newly adopted visa ‘cascade’ regime for India, Indian nationals can now be issued long-term, multi-entry Schengen visas valid for two years after having obtained and lawfully used two visas within the previous three years,” the readout said.

“The two-year visa will normally be followed by a five-year visa, if the passport has sufficient validity remaining. During the validity period of these visas, holders enjoy travel rights equivalent to visa-free nationals,” it said.

The changes in the visa norms came in the context of “strengthened” relations under the EU-India common agenda on migration and mobility, which seeks comprehensive cooperation on migration policy between the two sides, it added.

The Schengen area consists of 29 European countries of which 25 are EU states.