‘Long-term visas win-win for travellers & consulates’: German embassy’s Georg Enzweiler

NEW DELHI: The European Union’s recent decision to issue multiple entry Schengen visas valid up to five years to Indians, has come as a relief not only to desi globetrotters but also to consulate staff. In one of the first reactions to this move by a major European country, Georg Enzweiler, deputy head of mission at the German embassy, has told TOI the same is a “win-win for both the applicants who get long-term visas.And for the visa sections of our embassy or any other Schengen mission as applicants (will need to) only come once every two or five years.”
The German embassy, and other EU states too, has now started issuing visas under the new “cascade” regime. While the primary destination the first time a person goes to Europe after getting his/her visa from a Schengen state embassy must be that visa-issuing country, there is no such requirement for subsequent visits under the long-term multiple entry visas, senior officials of the German embassy said.
According to the newly adopted visa “cascade” regime, Indian nationals can now be issued long-term, multi-entry Schengen visas valid for two years after having obtained and used two visas within the previous three years. The two-year visa will normally be followed by a multiple-entry five-year visa, if the passport has sufficient validity remaining.
“It’s an important step in the right direction. The maximum duration of a Schengen visa is five years,” Enzweiler said. “Basically all the Schengen members have to agree on new rules. One change recently was making it easier for Indian nationals to acquire long-term visas. We hope that this would not be the last step that would make it even easier. But this is something that needs to be discussed among all members,” he added.
The German embassy is seeing a sharp increase in visa applications from India. “We received over 1.3 lakh Schengen visa applications last year and issued almost 1.2 lakh visas. This is much more than the 76,000 applications received and 67,540 visas issued in 2022,” Enzweiler said.
The visa application time had fallen to 2-3 days earlier this year but the summer such has again led to the time going up significantly to 1-2 months. “It’s of course nice to see so much interest in traveling to Germany. From 2-3 days, we are back to about roughly six weeks because of the intense number of applications for the summer season.” He advises people to plan their travel well in advance to beat the seasonal rush.
With almost 8.3 lakh overnight stays by Indians (the measure of traveller numbers in Schengen states due to a common visa for 29 European countries) in 2023, the German National Tourist Office (GNTO) has reported a 32.6 per cent increase in visitors from India over 2022. It hopes to cross the 10-lakh overnight stay mark by Indians this year.
“We are thrilled to witness the growing interest among Indian tourists in exploring Germany. The remarkable growth of 32,6 per cent compared to last year is no surprise, considering Germany’s impressive ranking in the global Nation Brands Index 2023. This year is even more exciting- we have our biggest European Football event, the Euro Cup, this summer, and we have a host of offerings in the cultural and historical sphere. This growing people-to-people contact is crucial in strengthening the foundation of our bilateral partnership like never before,”. Enzweiler said.