TravTalk India Online Magazine
In a major development, Embassies of Spain and Slovakia have agreed to issue ‘Gratis Visa’ to all Indians who were issued a visa earlier this year but could not travel in the last few months because of the pandemic.
Manas Dwivedi
The decision came following the appeal by Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), which had sent a letter to European embassies in India, requesting them to issue Gratis Visa to all those travellers who despite having received valid travel visas this year could not undertake the planned visits.
Commenting on the development, Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI, said, “We are pleased with this development and remain hopeful that in times to come, more European embassies agree to issue Gratis Visa. We understand that it will take some time for outbound travel to pick up from India, but moves such as these will help in building people’s confidence for international travel while also offering some relief to their pocket. This is the time to show solidarity so that together we can get travel and tourism back on its feet. This will benefit a lot of Indian travellers who couldn’t travel due to COVID restrictions.”
Sharing his view, Ivan Lancaric, Ambassador of Slovak Republic to India, said, “Applicants who could not travel on their Schengen visa to Slovakia because of the COVID-19 pandemic can apply for this visa fee waiver individually at the time of submission of their new application. This possibility covers not only tourists but all Schengen visa categories. We are keen on promoting travel destinations in Slovakia. The ‘My visa’ section will assist tourists travelling to Slovakia.”
An official statement from the Embassy of Spain read, “Please be informed that the Embassy of Spain will reissue the visa without any cost. The petition for the same should be routed through BLS only for which the applicant will be asked to pay the service tax to BLS.”
