France to issue visa to Indians in 48 hours

Indian citizens planning to travel to France for tourism and business purpose can now get their visa in just 48 hours from December 1, with the French government easing the norms in view of a significant rise in the number of tourists travelling to the country from India.  The French government has also decided to create eight new France visa application centres, in addition to six that already exist, across the country. Those travelling to France for tourism or business purpose will get their visa in 72 hours after applying for it from these centres. The centres will come up in Chhattisgarh, Jalandhar, Pune, Goa, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Hyderabad and Jaipur from December 1, French Ambassador Francois Richier announced here late on Thursday evening. "It was challenging but we have reformed our visa delivery system. We will provide visa in 48 hours to those people (Indian citizens) applying for it at our five consulates. However, those applying for visa at our visa application centres will get it in 48 hours,” he said adding that France foresee a "significant” growth in tourism potential in India. The facilitation is not only restricted to visa processing but also providing "innovative information” services, especially developed for Indian nationals visiting France. The French government is also set to launch a mobile application, 'Chalo Paris', on December 10. The application, which is designed and developed especially for Indian tourists, will provide various information about France in order to help Indians plan their trips. The application can be downloaded and accessed on android phones and tablet PCs. "These new initiatives show that once again, France is committed to strengthening the connectivity with India even further at all levels. Removing hurdles is our core objective,” the French Ambassador to India said. The new initiatives come following France recording 33 per cent rise in the number of Indians visiting the country over the last one year. About 3.49 lakh Indian tourists visit France every year and most of them toured the wine regions such as Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Champagne-Ardenne, Dijon-Burgundy and The Loire valley. DHNS