Greece Embassy hires staff to handle 'exceptionally high' visa demand

The move by Greek Embassy to hire more staff comes in the wake of several complaints by travel agents and tourists

The Embassy of Greece in Delhi has increased manpower to handle the surge in visa applications, it has said.

Greek action to beef up staff is similar to that of other European countries and comes following complaints of long delays by visa applicants. The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) too, petitioned the Ministry of External Affairs of India to intervene as delays are impacting holiday plans.

“An exceptionally high volume of requests was recorded in the last months. Upon instructions from the minister of foreign affairs Nikos Dendias and in consultation with minister of tourism Vassilis Kikilias, the Greek Embassy in New Delhi as well as the consular office was immediately reinforced with additional staff in order to address the surge in entry visa applications,” the embassy said.

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The embassy stated that “special options” will be offered to all Indian citizens who were unable to travel to Greece in May due to visa delays. It declined to specify additional details on special options.

“Right now we are all processing (visas for) immediate departures and trying our best to return to standard processing time which is fifteen days from the date of application,” it added.

“The issuance of visas to the US and many Schengen countries, especially Greece, is a major hurdle which travel industry is facing…In addition some missions keep the passports for an indefinite period resulting in uncertainty and cancellations which results in huge costs for travellers,” TAAI President Jyoti Mayal said.