Tourists wishing to visit renowned sites in France can now breathe a sigh of relief. France has drastically reduced the French visa processing time for 8 countries.
Ever since the terror attacks happened in France, anxiety was clouding the air. Tourism had taken a hit and visiting France in such conditions was quite risky. But now that things have settled down, tourist numbers are growing again. They are attracted by the classiness and élan of the tourist attractions. The French government is planning to cash in and boost its tourism quotient by reducing annoyances experienced during the formalities.
As a part of that effort, the government has decided to reduce the time to grant visas from 10 days to a mere 48 hours. This policy affects India, Russia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Philippines and Thailand. The same policy was already in effect for some middle eastern countries like Qatar. France also plans to reduce the french visa processing time for the citizens of Vietnam and Saudi Arabia. This will eventually happen after a change in the visa policy takes effect in the European Union.
But there’s more…
Additionally, the French government plans to hire more staff in immigration control at the airports. Usually, without adequate staff, travelers have to stand in long queues and wait anywhere from an hour to four hours for passport checking.
With more people manning positions to check passports, the waiting time for travelers will be reduced as well. The targeted wait time is about 30 minutes for citizens from the European Union. Travelers from beyond the European Union will bear a waiting time of approximately 45 minutes at the arrivals for the checking procedure.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is hopeful that France can reach the increased target of 89 million tourists. This would be an obvious improvement over the 83 million tourists that entered France in the year 2016.