If you were travelling to Europe this time last year, you probably remember the visa chaos. While things are looking up this year, it’s still a scramble with many countries. But if you plan ahead and play it smart, you can still make your long summer getaway to Europe happen.

Schengen visas

The turnaround time for Schengen visas is currently averaging at 15-20 working days. “France is now issuing visas in five to six days, while Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Italy and Portugal are processing applications within 15 working days; Greece is taking 3 weeks,” says Rajeev Kale, President and Country Head, Holidays, MICE, Visa – Thomas Cook (India) Limited.

Getting that first appointment, however, is another thing. Appointments for France are going full, save for a few slots here and there. A quick check on VFS told us that Bengaluru has slots on 5 May and New Delhi on 12 June, while Mumbai and Kolkata currently have none. Appointments for Italy are available in August in Mumbai, September in Bengaluru and April in Kolkata. While you might not find appointments for Germany right now either, Akash reveals that new slots are expected to open up on 15 April. Switzerland has slots open in May. However, Nihal Daswani of EASA says, “A lot of my clients have opted for home biometrics, but yesterday, Switzerland made an announcement that all scheduled home biometric appointments stand cancelled indefinitely.” With no appointments until next month and the processing time running up to two weeks, a Swiss holiday may need some quick planning.

“As of now, we are facing a major challenge with countries like Portugal and The Netherlands,” says Pratim Akash of Elite Tours and Travels. These countries have a smaller quota for tourist visas. There are no slots for The Netherlands in Bengaluru as of now, while Mumbai and New Delhi have slots in May and June respectively. Akash recommends applying for a visa for an easier country like France and visiting The Netherlands on the way if you wish. Spain also has slots available, especially in the late evening hours. It is also offering one of the fastest processing timelines currently, with visas coming in within one to three working days. Appointments for visas to Greece are available within 15 to 20 days. “So people can even plan to travel in May and get a visa right now,” he adds. According to Daswani, Finland has a lot of appointments and a processing time of only about two weeks. “But Finland and Norway have a very high rejection rate so that’s something to be aware of if you’re a first-time Schengen traveller.”

UK

Getting a tourist visa for the UK is currently not half as hard as for Schengen countries. Multiple visa categories make applications and processing times far quicker. “We have had clients who have applied for a standard UK visa and their visas have been processed within 30 days,” says Akash. If you want a visa sooner, opt for the priority (£500 or Rs51,000) or super priority (£800 or Rs81,700) visas—the former is processed within 5-6 working days while the latter is processed in 1-2 working days, as per Daswani. “Typically, at this time of the year, regular visas take about 5-6 weeks to be processed. But at this point of time in April, we haven’t seen that happen and visas are still coming in 3-4 weeks. Wait times for appointments are just about 1-2 days as of now,” he says.

Tips for your international summer travels

• Plan early: Akash recommends planning in advance, even though the visa situation isn’t as bad as last summer. It never hurts to be prepared. “For a Schengen country, four weeks is a standard processing time. So if you have those four weeks in hand, go ahead,” says Akash. Kale of Thomas Cook advises applying for visas now if you plan to travel in June, to avoid any disappointment in case delays come up in the future.

• Plan wisely: Remember that if you are applying for a visa for a specific Schengen country, you have to spend the most amount of time during your travels in that country. “This is very important and not doing this is technically illegal,” says Daswani. “If the country you plan to spend the most time in does not have visa appointments, alter your itinerary to spend more time in a country where the visa appointment is available.”

• Book that slot: Akash recommends booking an appointment slot even if you’re not completely sure of your plans. “It doesn’t cost much to book a slot and embassies have enough time this year to process your applications. Decisions are coming in really fast this time, so rest assured that you can go ahead with booking your tickets.”

• Consider alternatives: As per Kale, several Southeast Asian destinations like Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives and Mauritius offer easy visas. UAE, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam visas are getting processed within 3-4 working days. South Africa has a 10-day processing time, while New Zealand has a 20-day processing time. Australia has a smooth, fully-digitised application process. If you’re worried about visa hassles for Europe, these destinations are great alternatives to consider.