Did you know that “the European Union profits around €130 million per year through rejected visa applications, with African and Asian countries bearing the cost of paying for their own rejection.
India alone paid €12,150,000 in 2023 in rejected short-term Schengen visa applications – the third highest cost of rejections following Turkey and Algeria…For a short-term U.K. visa, the results are equally disheartening, with Asian and African countries paying a disproportionately high cost over rejections.”
Sachin Solanki’s article in The Wire contains other fascinating anecdotes about how the paranoid visa processing systems of the developed nations creates a weird world for those seeking to travel from India to the West: “Numerous factors dictate and shape strict visa divides.
Factors such as national economy, per capita income, proof of strong home ties, the intent of return and a long list of supporting documents – confirmed return flight tickets, hotel bookings, bank statements, tax returns, travel insurance, salary slips, no objection certificates and employment letters – stultify visa processes by burdening travellers with disproportionate documentation.
Some visa agents have also advised sharing pet ownership proofs to demonstrate strong home ties….
While national security, health hazards and country-specific complexities indeed necessitate some stringent measures, denial of short-term tourist visas with the prior assumption of misuse creates a new kind of apartheid, which allows only a chosen few to travel, while exposing the ‘others’ to humiliating checks and scrutiny.”
We also learn from the article that there are several temples in India where you can go and pray that your visa for travel to the Western world is granted. For example, “One such place is the Chilkur Balaji Temple in Hyderabad, which has a unique cult of millions of visa worshippers, asking to get one step closer to their “American dream”.”
After reading this it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why domestic tourism is booming in India.
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