10 things travellers need to know

The European Commission has implemented a fresh visa regime, known as the ‘cascade’ system, tailored for Indian nationals applying for Schengen visas.

This updated framework replaces the conventional Visa Code regulations, presenting notable benefits for Indian travelers by facilitating easier access to multiple entry visas with extended durations of validity.

Moreover, nationals from Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia, too, can now apply for a multiple-entry, five-year Schengen visas as well.

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Here are 10 things to know about the new Schengen visa rules:

1. The cascade system will provide easier access to visas with multi-year validity for Indians travellers with an established travel history, if the passport validity allows.
2. According to the new system, Indian nationals can get long-term, multi-entry Schengen visas valid for two years.
3. Indians who have obtained and lawfully used two visas within the previous three years will be eligible under this new system.
4. A five-year visa will normally follow the two-year visa, if the passport has sufficient validity remaining.
5. During the validity period of these visas, holders enjoy travel rights equivalent to visa-free nationals.
6. This decision comes in the context of strengthened relations under the EU-India Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility, which seeks comprehensive cooperation on migration policy between the EU and India, with facilitation of people-to-people contacts being of key aspect due to the importance of India as a partner for the EU.
7. Schengen visas allow the holder to travel freely in the Schengen area for short stays of a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period. The visas are not purpose-bound, but they do not grant the right to work.
8. Moreover, it was also announced that nationals from Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia can now apply for a multiple-entry, five-year Schengen visas as well.
9. Last month in Brussels, Jasem Mohamed Al Budaiwi, Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), and Luigi Di Maio, EU Special Representative for the Gulf region, discussed GCC-European bilateral relations in light of the strategic partnership between the GCC and the EU, including discussions on the visa waiver process for GCC citizens in the Schengen area.
10. The Schengen area consists of 29 European countries (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, along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

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