A Schengen visa is required for the citizens of various countries if they wish to travel around 26 European countries. This EU-only visa will allow a person to travel from one country to another, making it a valid choice of visa for more extensive travels within the continent. However, it is often found to be confusing and tedious as many think it’s not possible to get a Schengen Visa in India. What most people do not know is that getting a Schengen Visa in India is simple and possible on certain terms. Depending on your citizenship, you can apply for a Schengen Visa in India either through the embassy already located in India or through the respective consulates based abroad. There are some more details that need to be considered while applying for such a Visa that we will be discussing here.

How To Apply Schengen Visa In India

Despite of being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, getting a visa to visit Europe is inevitable for most Indians. The Schengen visa allows citizens from a select number of countries to enter any of the countries in the Schengen area without first obtaining a visa from a Consulate/Embassy of that country over a period of 90 days. Countries under the Schengen area include – Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Portugal , Slovakia , Slovenia , Spain , Sweden and Switzerland.

The Schengen visa is a visa which allows its bearer to travel within 26 European countries. These 26 countries are the members of the Schengen and include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Haiti, Czech Republic and Poland have been offered membership by the Schengen group and will be included in the list in 2011. Unfortunately for you though — not yet! So until that day comes along — you’ll have to apply for a standard tourist visa.

Guidelines on How to Apply for a Schengen Visa

Every person wishing to enter the Schengen Area, under whatever purpose, might be subject to a visa regime, depending on his or her nationality.

If you have never been to Europe before, the first thing you have to do is ask yourself “Do I need a visa to Schengen Area?” Currently, more than 60 countries around the world can enter Europe visa-free zone without the need to obtain a visa first, and remain there for 90 days within a six-month period.

The application process to obtain a European visa is mandatory for your freedom of movement in this area. Therefore, you should be very careful when lodging your Schengen visa application.

If you need to apply for a visa to Europe, proceed reading this article which is the ultimate guideline of a Schengen visa application process.

1. Figure out which Schengen visa type you need

Depending on the purpose under which you need to enter the Schengen Area, you can apply for one of the following Schengen visa types:

• Transit visa
• Tourism visa
• Visa for Visiting Family or Friends
• Business visa
• Visa for Culture and Sport activities
• Visa for Official Visits
• Study visa
• Visa for Medical Reasons

2. Find out where you need to apply

Depending on how your destination country in Schengen has regulated visa submission in your country of residence, you will have to file your Schengen visa application at one of the following:

• Their embassy
• One of their consulates
• A visa centre to which the embassy of your destination country has outsourced visa submission
• The embassy/consulate of another Schengen state to which the embassy of your destination country has outsourced visa submission

By your “destination country”, we mean the country where you need to lodge your application, according to the Schengen rules.