New Delhi:

Indian residents can now apply for a a number of entry Schengen visa with longer validity, the European Union (EU) stated in a press release right now.

This new visa ‘cascade’ regime for Indian nationals residing in India who apply for Schengen (short-stay) visas in India will present simpler entry to visas with multi-year validity for travellers with a longtime journey historical past, if the passport validity permits, the EU stated.

The European Fee on April 18 adopted particular guidelines on issuing a number of entry visas to Indian nationals, that are extra beneficial than the usual guidelines of the Visa Code that utilized to this point.

In accordance with the newly adopted visa “cascade” regime for India, Indian nationals can now be issued long-term, multi-entry Schengen visas legitimate for 2 years after having obtained and lawfully used two visas throughout the earlier three years.

The 2-year visa will usually be adopted by a five-year visa, if the passport has ample validity remaining. Through the validity interval of those visas, holders take pleasure in journey rights equal to visa-free nationals, the EU stated.

This determination comes within the context of strengthened relations underneath the EU-India Frequent Agenda on Migration and Mobility, which seeks complete cooperation on migration coverage between the EU and India, with facilitation of people-to-people contacts being of key side because of the significance of India as a associate for the EU.

Schengen visas enable the holder to journey freely within the Schengen space for brief stays of a most of 90 days in any 180-day interval. The visas will not be purpose-bound, however they don’t grant the proper to work.

The Schengen space consists of 29 European nations (of which 25 are EU states): Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden, together with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.