India is the second most populated country in the world, but it is now that many people from the country are adventuring in foreign tourism. Last year was a record year as more than 920,699 Indians visited Schengen Area of Europe making India the fourth largest source market for international travelers. Schengen Europe is made up of 26 countries, which include Germany, France, Czech Republic, Italy, and the Netherlands. The information was published on Schengen Visa's official website - schengenvisainfo.com. Like always, Russia took the first place, followed by China at second, and Turkey at third. On the brighter side, India grew it rank as it was 7th in 2014 and 5th in 2016.
The report also mentioned that France was a favorite among Indians, with more 179,000 people visiting the country using Schengen Uniform Visas. Consulates of France in India received a total of 201,000 applications from Indians. There are five French consulates in India in Mumbai, Kolkata, Puducherry, New Delhi, and Bangalore. France also welcomed the most number of Indians on Short-term visas, a whopping total of 418,000. All across the globe, French consulates received 3,265,000 short-term visa applications in total. Second highest number of applications from Indian nationals was received by Germany, followed by Italy and then the Netherlands. Surprisingly, 50 percent of the applications from Indians were Multiple-Entry Visa applications.
How other countries performed?
Austria issued 28,865 multiple entry visas to Indians. Greece was close behind at 27,880, Denmark issued 17,921 visas, and Luxembourg issued 1,541 multiple entry visas to Indians. The Czech Republic issued 2,565 multiple entry visas, and Spain issued the least, which is 936 visas to Indians. Consulates in New Delhi received the most number of Schengen Visa applications in total but also had the highest visa refusal rate of 14.8 percent. Estonia refused most of the Indian visa applications it received, which was 31.8 percent of the 1,361 applications.
