Plan to visit Europe soon will meet Schengen Visa crunch till Sep. 2022

News highlights

• A change in plans is on the cards for non-EU nationals planning to visit Europe.
• Those who haven’t applied for a Schengen Visa yet could find it impossible to get one till September 2022.
• Slots for Schengen Visa are completely booked for July and August 2022.

The chances to obtain a Schengen Visa to travel in Europe look impossible for non-EU nationals who haven’t applied for their Schengen Visa to visit Europe yet. In fact, there’s an overwhelming number of bookings for the limited number of the visa.

The EU/Schengen Area had decided to relax their COVID-entry restrictions for the summer season. This was to help promote significant tourist arrivals in the EU/Schengen areas. These tourists largely include third country citizens who are also looking to spend the summer break in Europe after 2 years of travel restrictions imposed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Schengen Visa – The pathway for non-EU nationals to visit Europe

The Schengen Visa is a document that’s issued by a Schengen state to allow non-EU nationals to:

• Make a planned stay of up to 90 days in any 180 days on the territory of the Schengen states and travel there
• Travel in the Schengen states’ international transit points (airports)

Any person who's a national of a country that hasn’t drawn a visa-liberalization agreement (or a similar one) with the Schengen Area countries is required to get a visa before traveling to the EU. The type of visa a traveler can apply for depends on the reason for the trip, one can apply for different types of visas.

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If you are planning to travel to the EU for the purpose of tourism, you will need to file an application for a tourist visa.

Currently, the high demand for the Schengen Visa has led to the lack of appointments for those who want to now apply for a visa. Schengen Area countries simply don’t have slots available for the months of July and August 2022. So, the next opportunity to get a Schengen Visa is in September only.

The after-effects of the situation

It’s now revealed by travel agents that many third-country nationals who had plans to travel to Europe have in fact started changing their plans. They are considering other travel destinations like Egypt, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Turkey.

Now, this may sound like an opportunity for others still planning to visit Europe. This is because Europe might register a lower number of visitors this summer who are seeking a visa in 2022 itself. Nevertheless, the plans for Europe don’t need to be given up as the wait could well be worth it.

Solving the issue with the visa

In the last few months, embassies of EU/Schengen member states had to face delays in the processing of visa applications. But a majority of EU member states have tried to solve the problem by hiring additional staff. Also, the response time to visa applications under process has been increased. Now the response is given within 15 days.

If you are willing to visit Germany or other European countries, talk to Y-Axis, the leading immigration and career consultant in the UAE.

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