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France: Biometric visas for Indians from today
New Delhi, Nov 2: France, in line with all the countries of the Schengen Area (Europe), started issuing biometric visas to Indian citizens with effect from November 2.
The decision has been taken to facilitate travel throughout the Schengen Area (Europe) and help issue long-term visas more easily. France, the top global tourist destination, welcomes 300,000 Indian visitors every year.
In
this
context,
the
French
Embassy
in
India
will
offer
a
large
number
of
3-
or
5-year
circulation
visas
to
frequent
visitors
of
France.
Eight
new
VFS
centres
have
been
opened
across
India,
bringing
up
their
number
to
a
total
of
14
(Ahmedabad,
Bengaluru,
Chandigarh,
Chennai,
Cochin,
Delhi,
Goa,
Hyderabad,
Jaipur,
Jalandhar,
Kolkata,
Mumbai,
Puducherry,
and
Pune),
to
ensure
the
best
possible
proximity
to
the
applicants.
"All visa applicants will now be asked to come in person at any listed VFS centre of their choice to register their biometric data; children under the age of 12 years are exempted from this procedure," a release from the French embassy said.
The recorded biometric data will be stored for a period of 59 months (almost 5 years), obviating the need for applicants to come in person again for renewing their visa.
Furthermore, the biometric data recorded by France will be valid during this period for all Schengen Area countries (similarly, the data recorded by any Schengen Area country will be valid for France during a period of 59 months).
India will thus enter a system already being used by Schengen States almost globally, while other countries, such as the UK and the US, have long been implementing biometrics in India.
The transition to biometrics will not impact the visa issuance period, which, for India, is a maximum of 48 hours in keeping with the commitment of the French authorities (in cities where a consular office exists: Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Puducherry; 72 hours in other cases).
Similarly, transition to biometrics will not impact visa fees, which will remain unchanged.
OneIndia News
