France reduces visa delivery time to two days for Indians, seven other countries’ nationals

Edouard Philippe, Prime Minister of France, said on 27 July that it would hasten visa delivery time to two days for nationals of India, Russia and six other Asian countries in a move to encourage tourism. The European country witnessed a drop in tourist arrivals after Paris and Nice were hit by attacks in 2016. The tourist numbers are said to be in a recovery mode this year. France is expecting to welcome around 89 million foreign tourists on its shores, an increase from 83 million in 2016, and has set itself a goal of seeing 100 million foreign visitors enter their shores in 2020. Effective from 1 November, citizens of Thailand, Russia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines and India will see their tourist visas getting delivered in two days as against around 10 days, and even more in peak season. Reuters said that this initiative, which has been introduced already for a few countries, including Qatar, could be extended to Vietnam and Saudi Arabia next year, provided a change in visa procedures of EU for these countries are allowed. The French government also said that more staff would be assigned to airport passport checks to reduce waiting time to 30 minutes and 45 minutes for EU citizens and non-EU citizens, respectively. Tourism contributes seven percent to French gross domestic product and provides employment to two million people. If you are planning to visit France, get in touch with Y-Axis, a renowned consultancy company for immigration services to apply for a visa.