Your travel plan to Switzerland is now a little easier. The new Schengen Visa Application Centre here will process Swiss visa applications, bringing cheer not only to tourists but also business visitors. It will also handle French visa applications.
Andhra too
Operated by VFS Global, the centre will accept French visa applications from those residing in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. However, it will accept Swiss visa applications only from those residing in Karnataka.
Hitherto, Swiss visa applications were processed by the Swiss Consulate General's office in Mumbai. The French Consulate General's office in Bangalore, which started processing the visa applications directly last year, will now receive applications only in certain circumstances.
The new facility was jointly announced by the French Consul General Dominique Causse and Swiss Consul General Rolf Frei on Wednesday.
The centre also processes applications for Austria, Belgium, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Thailand.
Mr. Causse told reporters: “We have so far processed 15,000 visas since February 2011 after the consulate opened in Bangalore. While it normally takes two or three days to process the visa, it may take 10 to 12 days in high season.”
Record numbers
Hoping that the tie-up with the VFS will help process visas faster, Mr. Frei said Swiss visa applications saw a 25 per cent jump last year to a record 75,000. He also did not forget to mention the role Bollywood has played in popularising Switzerland.
Vishal Jairath, regional head (South Asia), VFS Global, told reporters they had seen an increase in volume at the Bangalore centre over the last five years. Travel to Europe had been increasing due to change in policies of many EU countries as well as the economic conditions here. He said: “There is no slowdown in travel (to Europe) this year as business travel has not been affected like the way it happened in 2008.”
VFS Global's new Schengen Visa Application Centre is located at the Prestige Atrium on Central Street in Shivajinagar.
