Germany has earmarked an investment of about INR 4.5 crore on marketing activities in India, to showcase itself as the preferred destination to Indian tourists. Germany is also working to speed up the visa process, which is still taking up to eight weeks, said Georg Enzweiler, Deputy Head of Mission, German Embassy.
“Visa is an important issue and getting better with application times is important, but sometimes bureaucracy takes time. To cope with an increased number of applications, we have increased our staff in Mumbai. It still roughly takes eight weeks right now to get a visa and we are hoping this will get better, But bureaucracy takes time,” he said.
He added that the country had a disproportionately higher number of tourist applications from India since it is one of the most popular nations in the Schengen countries. As a result, it has changed rules for visa application from India. Unlike earlier, those travelling can apply for a visa from any domestic centre from the VFS Global offices around the country.