For UAE travellers, Europe is back as favoured holiday destination, visa processing time back to normal

For UAE travellers, Europe is back as favoured holiday destination, visa processing time back to normal

Dubai: UAE residents are finding it’s gone back to being a far smoother process to clear visa formalities and head for trips to Europe in the coming weeks. UAE airlines too are helping with high-profile promotions offering short trip packages to Europe’s many happening destinations, both extremely popular and those that measure high on the away-from-it-all quaintness. All of which is a major change from the situation during summer, when UAE travellers with plans for Europe were faced with visa interview confirmations taking weeks. Now, the processing time for a Schengen visa to Europe has dropped considerably, propelling Europe back on the list of most popular destination from the UAE. A spokesperson for VFS Global, the official visa facilitation centre for Schengen visas in the UAE, "This has been an extended peak season for us, with the recorded volumes touching 85-90 per cent of our 2019 numbers (on visa issuing).” However, an average 15-day waiting period for a visa is still in place, compared to six weeks during summer. So, a last-minute holiday plan to the French Riviera is still out of the question. On the airfare side, tickets to popular European winter destinations are still less expensive than expected.