Many more countries have opened up their consulates for visa processing since our last update in August. Here is a summary of the key countries that have resumed visa operations.

Belgium:

The Belgium embassy has opened the Category C & D Visa for Indian travellers who have been fully vaccinated with Covishield and any other vaccine which is approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

For travellers who are not fully vaccinated with Covishield, the previous travel rules continue to apply where only essential travel to Belgium is permitted.

Netherlands:

Announcing some relief for Indian travellers, the Embassy of the Netherlands in India announced that fully vaccinated travellers can apply for any visa category with prior appointments from 14th August ‘21. This facility is only available to those jabbed with Covishield vaccine as it is currently the only vaccine recognised by the Dutch government. Please click here to check for proof of vaccination requirements

Travelers who have been vaccinated with Covaxin or who have not been vaccinated can only travel if they fall under one of the EU entry ban exemptions.

Carrying recent negative RT_PCR test report is necessary while travellers will mandatorily have to self-quarantine for 10 days even if they are vaccinated.

Austria:

Effective 15th August, double vaccinated Indian travellers with Covishield can travel to Austria without any requirement of mandatory quarantine after the authorities removed India and several other countries from the virus variant areas list. In addition, Austria has resumed visa processing for all categories.

All travellers need to show either a negative Covid test or proof of vaccination/past infection upon entry. Full vaccinated travellers do not need to self-isolate and do not need to register for pre-travel clearance.

Italy:

Italy has also resumed processing visas for multiple categories including Business Visa (Type C), Study (Type C & D), Family Member of EU citizen (Spouse, Parents, Children if under 21) – Type C, Invitation (Type C & D) and more.

Ireland:

From 13th September 2021, Ireland will start accepting short stay visa applications at VFS centres across the country.

Germany / France / Switzerland / Spain:

As explained in our last visa updates newsletter, these four countries have resumed short stay visa applications (all types of visa categories) for Indian nationals who have been fully vaccinated with Covishield. Proof of vaccination is required at the time of application that needs to meet certain criteria.

UAE has resumed tourist visa applications from 30th August 2021. Indian nationals who have been fully vaccinated with both doses of Covishield can now apply for tourist visas and travel to the UAE.

However, passengers arriving in DUBAI from India must follow specific protocols and entry requirements as stated below:

• A valid negative COVID 19 PCR test certificate with a QR code issued within 48 hours of the time the sample was collected from an approved health facility.
• A rapid PCR test report with a QR code for a test conducted at the departure airport within six hours of departure.
• Passengers arriving in Dubai from India will be required to take another COVID 19 PCR test on arrival at Dubai International airport.

All visa categories have resumed and quarantine requirement has been removed for WHO approved fully vaccinated travellers.

Below is the updated list of the countries and the visa categories for which visa applications can now being processed in India: