New Delhi, Aug 3 (PTI) The Swiss Embassy here said on Thursday that it has not suspended Schengen visa appointments for Indian tour groups and has almost 800 daily appointments through the end of September 2023.

The mission asserted that people-to-people contact is at the core of Swiss-Indian relationship.

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Amid some media reports claiming that the Swiss embassy has suspended Schengen visa applications for Indians for the next few months, a spokesperson for the Embassy said the mission has not suspended Schengen visa appointments for Indian tour groups.

"We have almost 800 daily appointments through the end of September 2023. These include 22 groups," the spokesperson said.

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"In 2023, the Embassy of Switzerland in India has processed more visa applications than it did in 2019. We have surpassed our pre-pandemic times processing level. From January until June, we handled 129,446 applications, as against 120,071 during the same period in 2019 – a 7.8 per cent increase," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said mission has adopted various measures since the beginning of this year to further ease the visa application process for Indian applicants.

"First, it is possible for the applicants to apply for their visa six months before their date of travel, as against one month in the past. So, someone wishing to travel in June can already apply for a visa in January," the spokesperson said.

Second, the Embassy has increased its overall capacity in India with a new Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Lucknow, the spokesperson said adding that there are now 13 VACs all over India, where applications can be submitted.

"Third, currently, it takes no more than 13 working days between the appointment by our partner VFS and the Embassy's decision on the application," the spokesperson said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)