Abhay Kumar Khanna, a retired general manager of Indian Railways holds a 10-year visa to the US and has travelled to over 30 countries. He was looking forward to a family holiday to Europe this summer with his brother Vijay Khanna, also a former civil servant and a retired Indian Postal Service officer.
“I had applied for a Schengen visa to the embassy of Hungary, and to my utter amazement and disbelief, I was denied a visa on the grounds of ‘suspicious activities’,” said Abhay Kumar Khanna. “I have been a senior government servant in the Indian railways and come from a family of bureaucrats who have spent their lives serving the nation. I suffered a financial loss of over Rs two lakh including non-cancellable air tickets and hotel bookings ,” he added.
His brother Vijay Khanna got the visa for Austria, but the experience was far from smooth, he said. “Despite already furnishing the required documents such as bank statements and statements of my income tax returns, I was asked to submit more financial information so I had to give them everything-details of investments including my property, scrips, fixed deposits,” said Vijay Khanna. “I have lived overseas for over 10 years and my visa travails over the past one year have been unusual. I applied for a Singapore visa recently and had to get on a video call with an authorized agent to prove my authenticity. He barely seemed to understand what I was saying,” he added.
Following the Covid-19 pandemic and in the absence of Chinese travellers, a whole host of countries laid out the red carpet for Indians. While countries are still talking about boosting Indian arrivals, over the past year, there seems to be a greater scrutiny, and entry requirements seem to be tightening through visa rejections, newer policies and more checks.
Over the past few months, Singapore has made it mandatory for Indian applicants to get on a video call with authorised visa agents to ensure their authenticity. Confirmed hotels and flights are now mandatory for a UAE visa. ET reported this month that US visa seekers across categories, including business and leisure travellers are facing mounting hurdles as appointment wait times cross a year in some regions, rescheduling gets tougher and interviews become more detailed and stringent. Some recent viral videos of Indians misbehaving with locals in certain destinations haven’t helped, said industry insiders.
Ravi Gosain, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) said there is a noticeable increase in visa scrutiny, particularly in the Schengen region, due to some recent incidents involving inappropriate behaviour by a small fraction of Indian tourists. “While not widespread, this has led to more cautious processing and even some visa denials,” he said. “The vast majority of Indian travellers are respectful, but we must ensure that the actions of a few do not affect the reputation of many,” he added.
Visas are a geopolitical tool today, said Anil Kalsi, board member of Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH). “Countries that want our tourists like Thailand, Malaysia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Vietnam have either dispensed with visas for Indians or allowed easier entry through e visas,” he said. “UAE seems to be focusing more on high end, high spending tourists from India. Schengen is a different ball game. Visa appointments for Italy don’t even show up. Tourist friendly countries like France, Switzerland, Spain and Germany seem to be more efficient than others in granting visas,” he added.
Jimeet Ved, founder of a travel company called Outofofficedaku is popular on X for his travel advice and handles Schengen visa applications for European countries besides Japan. He said while the application process is smooth for Japan, the Nordic countries and countries such as Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Belgium can be more stringent than the rest for Indian travellers.
“Travellers can’t apply six months in advance for Croatia unlike other countries. We have seen rejections coming in for travellers for Austria despite a previous Schengen travel history. Slovenia has rejected visas despite travellers furnishing non-refundable bookings. We don’t touch some of these countries for leisure trips,” he added. These constraints have boosted arrival numbers for other countries which have comparatively easier entry requirements. In 2024, Vietnam welcomed about 500,000 Indian tourists, a 297% jump compared to pre pandemic levels. India was the top primary market for Sri Lanka in December last year with 52, 881 arrivals, accounting for a 21.3% share.
As per reports, India became the third largest market for Thailand in 2024 thanks to its visa free arrivals policy. Thailand welcomed around 2.1 million Indian travellers last year, around 30% more than 2023.
Abhay Khanna decided to appeal against the visa rejection and visited the Embassy of Hungary in New Delhi. He said he was told to cough up Rs 14,820 as appeal fees. This was not only almost double the visa fee, but it was also an amount far higher than what was mentioned as appeal fee (30 Euros) on the website.
"Even payment of this amount did not guarantee our visa or travel during the dates for which our tickets and hotels were pre booked. We would have to wait for at least 15 days, and there was still no assurance that we would get the visa even after paying this amount," he said. "We left the embassy extremely hurt, disturbed and disappointed with the humiliating way in which we were treated." The Embassy of Hungary did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.
The Embassy of Georgia said last year, it welcomed over 124,000 Indian tourists. As a result visa applications have increased significantly, but the visa refusal rate did not. But, there has been chatter on social media about tough immigration checks and clearances.
Corporate professional Ramesh Mehra (Name changed on request) was accompanying a group of 50-60 senior leaders who were travelling to Georgia about a week ago. He said for some professionals, immigration checks were a breeze, lasting less than a minute. But, for others, clearing immigration took about 10-15 mins.
"We were all staying at five star hotels and our documents were in place, but some were asked questions like how much cash are you carrying, who's your leader, who is waiting for you outside," said Mehra. "I can't understand why they would be asked such questions if the country had already granted them a visa basis the documents they had submitted? The immigration official asked the police official if some of these people should be allowed to go and it was only after the latter's approval that some of these members were allowed to leave the airport," he added.
The Embassy of Georgia said that custom officials may request for certain documents, such as a return ticket, a hotel reservation etc. "As for the rate of border crossing refusals, it has not increased," it added.
“I had applied for a Schengen visa to the embassy of Hungary, and to my utter amazement and disbelief, I was denied a visa on the grounds of ‘suspicious activities’,” said Abhay Kumar Khanna. “I have been a senior government servant in the Indian railways and come from a family of bureaucrats who have spent their lives serving the nation. I suffered a financial loss of over Rs two lakh including non-cancellable air tickets and hotel bookings ,” he added.
His brother Vijay Khanna got the visa for Austria, but the experience was far from smooth, he said. “Despite already furnishing the required documents such as bank statements and statements of my income tax returns, I was asked to submit more financial information so I had to give them everything-details of investments including my property, scrips, fixed deposits,” said Vijay Khanna. “I have lived overseas for over 10 years and my visa travails over the past one year have been unusual. I applied for a Singapore visa recently and had to get on a video call with an authorized agent to prove my authenticity. He barely seemed to understand what I was saying,” he added.
Following the Covid-19 pandemic and in the absence of Chinese travellers, a whole host of countries laid out the red carpet for Indians. While countries are still talking about boosting Indian arrivals, over the past year, there seems to be a greater scrutiny, and entry requirements seem to be tightening through visa rejections, newer policies and more checks.
Over the past few months, Singapore has made it mandatory for Indian applicants to get on a video call with authorised visa agents to ensure their authenticity. Confirmed hotels and flights are now mandatory for a UAE visa. ET reported this month that US visa seekers across categories, including business and leisure travellers are facing mounting hurdles as appointment wait times cross a year in some regions, rescheduling gets tougher and interviews become more detailed and stringent. Some recent viral videos of Indians misbehaving with locals in certain destinations haven’t helped, said industry insiders.
Ravi Gosain, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) said there is a noticeable increase in visa scrutiny, particularly in the Schengen region, due to some recent incidents involving inappropriate behaviour by a small fraction of Indian tourists. “While not widespread, this has led to more cautious processing and even some visa denials,” he said. “The vast majority of Indian travellers are respectful, but we must ensure that the actions of a few do not affect the reputation of many,” he added.
Visas are a geopolitical tool today, said Anil Kalsi, board member of Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH). “Countries that want our tourists like Thailand, Malaysia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Vietnam have either dispensed with visas for Indians or allowed easier entry through e visas,” he said. “UAE seems to be focusing more on high end, high spending tourists from India. Schengen is a different ball game. Visa appointments for Italy don’t even show up. Tourist friendly countries like France, Switzerland, Spain and Germany seem to be more efficient than others in granting visas,” he added.
Jimeet Ved, founder of a travel company called Outofofficedaku is popular on X for his travel advice and handles Schengen visa applications for European countries besides Japan. He said while the application process is smooth for Japan, the Nordic countries and countries such as Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Belgium can be more stringent than the rest for Indian travellers.
“Travellers can’t apply six months in advance for Croatia unlike other countries. We have seen rejections coming in for travellers for Austria despite a previous Schengen travel history. Slovenia has rejected visas despite travellers furnishing non-refundable bookings. We don’t touch some of these countries for leisure trips,” he added. These constraints have boosted arrival numbers for other countries which have comparatively easier entry requirements. In 2024, Vietnam welcomed about 500,000 Indian tourists, a 297% jump compared to pre pandemic levels. India was the top primary market for Sri Lanka in December last year with 52, 881 arrivals, accounting for a 21.3% share.
As per reports, India became the third largest market for Thailand in 2024 thanks to its visa free arrivals policy. Thailand welcomed around 2.1 million Indian travellers last year, around 30% more than 2023.
Abhay Khanna decided to appeal against the visa rejection and visited the Embassy of Hungary in New Delhi. He said he was told to cough up Rs 14,820 as appeal fees. This was not only almost double the visa fee, but it was also an amount far higher than what was mentioned as appeal fee (30 Euros) on the website.
"Even payment of this amount did not guarantee our visa or travel during the dates for which our tickets and hotels were pre booked. We would have to wait for at least 15 days, and there was still no assurance that we would get the visa even after paying this amount," he said. "We left the embassy extremely hurt, disturbed and disappointed with the humiliating way in which we were treated." The Embassy of Hungary did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.
The Embassy of Georgia said last year, it welcomed over 124,000 Indian tourists. As a result visa applications have increased significantly, but the visa refusal rate did not. But, there has been chatter on social media about tough immigration checks and clearances.
Corporate professional Ramesh Mehra (Name changed on request) was accompanying a group of 50-60 senior leaders who were travelling to Georgia about a week ago. He said for some professionals, immigration checks were a breeze, lasting less than a minute. But, for others, clearing immigration took about 10-15 mins.
"We were all staying at five star hotels and our documents were in place, but some were asked questions like how much cash are you carrying, who's your leader, who is waiting for you outside," said Mehra. "I can't understand why they would be asked such questions if the country had already granted them a visa basis the documents they had submitted? The immigration official asked the police official if some of these people should be allowed to go and it was only after the latter's approval that some of these members were allowed to leave the airport," he added.
The Embassy of Georgia said that custom officials may request for certain documents, such as a return ticket, a hotel reservation etc. "As for the rate of border crossing refusals, it has not increased," it added.
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