Swiss stop issuing visas to Indian tour groups

Two tourists pose on the Jungfraujoch Keystone / Alessandro Della Bella

A lack of resources is making the granting of Schengen visas more difficult. Tour operators are feeling the pinch.

On July 19, Swiss tour operators received a notification from the Swiss embassy in New Delhi saying that, owing to the high volume of visa applications, no more applications could be accepted for group travel by company employees until and including September.

Tour operators have been asked to plan such trips for a later date so that visas can be submitted and issued in time, according to an articleExternal link in Tamedia newspapers on Saturday.

For many tour operators these trips are among the most profitable in their business. They often involve hundreds of people at a time who, for example, get the trip donated by their bosses as a reward for success. In 2019, for example, 12,000 Chinese received the trip as a present from their company and descended on Switzerland in three groups.

Schengen refers to the EU passport-free zoneExternal link that covers most European countries, including Switzerland. All nationals of third countries which have not yet reached a visa-liberalisation agreement with the Schengen member states must obtain a visa before arriving in Europe.

Black market

Although the Covid pandemic has been over for some time, the offices responsible for issuing Schengen visas in the embassies of the respective countries are still far from working at pre-Covid levels, the article said.

According to information from the industry, this mainly affects classic group travellers from Asian countries such as China or India.

As a result, these travellers, despite their desire to travel, still have not returned to Switzerland or Europe to the same extent compared to before the pandemic. Instead, they are going on holiday to countries in Southeast Asia, where entry is not a problem.

In addition, because demand currently clearly exceeds supply, a lively visa black market has developed, the article said. Especially in India, some companies or individuals are booking the few slots for visa issuance in advance and then selling them to tour operators. This is sometimes done at “horrendous prices”, according to industry insiders. 

On August 3, 2023 the Swiss Embassy of India said “it has not suspended Schengen visa appointments for Indian tour groups”.