Visa is an endorsement on the passport which indicates that the respective person is allowed by the government to stay, enter or leave the country for a specific period of time. When we talk about visas, the fees for UK visa is highest in India among all the countries. Therefore, if the Schengen priority visa services are introduced in India it would cost much fewer fees than the present.
According to the news report, a group of 26 European nations, popularly known as Schengen states are planning to introduce priority visas in India very soon. At present, UK charges are Rs 90,000 for the “super priority” category ( visa decision in a day) and Rs 20,000 for the” priority” category ( visa decision within 7 days) which includes the fees of visa.
According to Zubin Karkaria, CEO of VFS Global group, the Schengen states are also pondering on the thought of introducing the super priority visa services. A year back, UK started the super priority visa services thinking of the people like businessman and investment bankers, who most of the times need to travel on short notice. Zubin Karkaria works for 139 countries as he collects visa documents for about 60 client governments.
Zubin Karkaria said that the foreign consultants are trying to woo a huge number of Indians, which not only includes the tourists but also the students. Since every year a huge bunch of India students comes for their further studies to countries like UK and Australia. The foreign consultants are working harder to reach out to a maximum number of Indians as early as possible.
The overall growth in the number of visa applications is increasing each year. The percent increase is of 10 to 15 percent. If we talk about the Tier 2 and 3 cities of India, the percent increase in no. of application is just the double, that is, about 20 to 30 percent. The application centers in Delhi and Mumbai are open for 24 hours on weekends in the peak travel times.
According to the survey, places like Croatia, the Czech Republic, and Cyprus are the places which the Indians are mostly visiting these days. These places are the ones which are considered not to be the run of the mill. In India, the holiday has become a necessity for the citizens rather than a luxury. People crave to spend time with family because of the job pressures and this the reason for a no. of short domestic or international trips in a year.