Schengen visa fee hike : Here’s how costly your trip to Europe can get

The European Commission is proposing a price hike for Schengen visas, with fees potentially increasing by 12.5%. (REUTERS)

Travellers planning  a trip to Schengen area can expect the cost of their trip to surge tremendously as it going to become costly to obtain Schengen visas with price hike.

Schengen visa can expect to see a price hike in the next few months as per a proposal submitted by the European Commission urging for an increase in the basic fee for a Schengen visa in 2024. Moreover, the body that undertakes a revision of the Schengen visa fee every three years is also planning to raise the fee even more for countries showing “insufficient cooperation on readmission.” These countries refers to those nations that are accepting the re-entry of individuals expelled from member states.

Schengen Area member and non-member countries

Schengen area comprises of 27 European member countries that function under a common visa policy for international travel purposes. Citizens of these member countries can travel within the Schengen area without the requirement of visa under 90-day visa-free rule.

Schengen visas are required for citizens from non-European Union member countries including nationals of South Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and China to travel to Schengen area. Additionally, Nationals of Britain, Canada, American and Australia do not need to apply for a Schengen visa.

Cost of Schengen visa in 2024?

If the proposal is accepted, the cost to obtain Schengen visa will surge by 12.5 per cent from €80 to €90 for adults and from €40 to €45 for children, reported Euronews.

The visa fee for children will see an increase from €120 to €135 and for adults from €160 to €180 for countries which did not exercise cooperation in citizen readmission.

The draft of the Schengen visa fee was presented by the European Commission on February 2 which will be accepting feedback until March 1. Earlier, in December 2023, European Commission held a meeting with member states during which experts from these member countries supported the revision of visa fees with an “overwhelming majority.”

Reason for Schengen visa price hike

The proposed price hike has been caused by the rising inflation rate in the EU, the European Commission suggested. External providers of Schengen visas will also be permitted to increase their fees in line with the revision, as per the proposal.

External providers, such as visa agencies that can charge a maximum of half the value of standard fee would be able to extract a maximum fee of  €45 from the earlier €40, as per the proposal. However, the fee for a Schengen visa extension will remain fixed at €30.

 

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