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Summary
A Schengen Visa is a short-stay visa for travellers to enter any country in the Schengen Area for up to 90 days for either leisure or business. For example, an Indian citizen or other nationalities residing in India can legally apply for a Schengen Visa in India. The Schengen visa process involves a thorough application process to obtain the visa. You can choose from various Schengen visa categories: tourist, visitor, business, medical, student, and cultural exchange. International travel insurance is essential when travelling to the twenty-six countries in the Schengen Area, such as Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. Travel insurance protects against financial losses from unforeseen circumstances like lost luggage, medical emergencies, and flight delays. Different insurance firms offer a range of insurance policies to cater to travellers’ requirements, including medical coverage, journey coverage, and baggage coverage.
Introduction
If you love to travel or are looking forward to travelling after an extended lockdown of the Covid Period, you should know some efficient travel hacks. Knowing about Schengen Visa is the most important of these efficient hacks. Your international travel plan dreams to Schengen countries are complete with learning about the holy grail of the Schengen Visa. A Europe tour is everybody’s craving. A semester in Europe is every student’s dream, and working in a European environment with its beautiful views and weather is every working professional’s sense of work bliss. So before booking those plane tickets to Schengen countries, go through the basics of your safety requirement regarding documents and more. Then we can say you are ready to take the plunge.
Let’s learn a little about Schengen Visa. What is a Schengen Visa, and who can avail of it? A short-stay visa that enables travellers to enter any nation that is a part of the Schengen Area and remain there for up to 90 days for either leisure or business is a Schengen Visa. One can apply for a Schengen VISA in India if you’re an Indian citizen or one of the other nationalities currently residing there legally. Other Indian nationals living abroad may apply for a Schengen VISA in India if they are physically present and have a valid reason for doing so there rather than in their current country of residence. They must also be legally present there.
All applicants must go through a thorough application process to obtain a Schengen visa from India. Your chances of obtaining a visa to enter any Schengen country will increase if you know how the application process operates and what is required of you. This process will be less stressful if you are aware of these requirements. There are twenty-six countries where you can travel around with the Schengen Visa. Among these countries, some famous names are Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Latvia, Greece, Spain, Hungary and more. For the Schengen Visa, you must avail of travel insurance. It is one of the most essential requirements when travelling in these countries.
You must qualify under one of the following categories to be eligible to apply for a visa at one of India’s visa application centres (VACs) or Schengen embassies/consulates:-
1. Indian citizens with passports.
2. Those with a permanent or temporary residence permit in India who are citizens of third-world countries and need a visa to enter Europe.
Depending on your purpose for visiting, you can become an applicant for one of the following Schengen visa categories from India: tourist visa, visitor visa, business visa, medical visa, student visa, visa for official visits, visa for cultural exchange, and transit visa. Usually, you must make an appointment for your visa application 4-6 weeks in advance with the Schengen consulates and embassies in India. Therefore, begin the application process before your upcoming trip, keeping in mind that it will take the embassy an additional two weeks to decide. Again, start early because the appointments might be filled up before the summer or winter holidays. The application deadline is six months out.
Let’s take a look at travel Insurance and why it is essential. A trip’s financial losses due to unforeseen circumstances can be protected with international travel insurance. For example, when you travel, there is a chance that your flight or luggage could be delayed, your checked baggage could be lost or stolen, you might experience a medical emergency, or other unfavourable things will happen. International travel insurance is helpful in situations like these. For a memorable trip, you can choose the HDFC ERGO international travel insurance policy, which covers all these risks.
Take some time to plan a backup in case your trip does not go as planned whenever you travel, whether for business or pleasure. Any unforeseen events, including lost luggage, baggage delays, and flight delays, are covered by an international travel insurance plan. In addition, you receive a network of more than a lakh of cashless hospitals with HDFC ERGO’s international travel insurance and full-time (24×7) internal claim assistance.
The travel hindrances protected by significant travel insurance come broadly under these categories:-
loss of luggage, baggage hold-ups, health-related costs, flight delays, dental emergency costs and financial aid in an Emergency. Another broad way to classify travel insurance coverage is medical, journey-related, and baggage-related coverage. Having this insurance when travelling to Schengen countries is for your benefit and ease of trip. Under medical coverage, a broad spectrum includes accident coverage, dental expense coverage, hospital allowances, accidental death coverages, body retrieval post-death from foreign nation coverage, disability due to an accident while travelling and many others. These are all customisable, and different insurance firms provide different insurance policies for their customers. Remember to work according to your requirements in terms of insurance. Always look at packages offered, as there are individual and family packages for travel insurance. Apart from these, keep in mind the number of days your insurance is valid.
In the journey-related coverages, the services include financial assistance in emergencies, hijack distress allowance, hotel accommodation coverage, flight delays and personal liabilities. And as the name suggests, the Baggage coverage looks after your loss of baggage, personal documents, or delay concerning checked-in baggage. You can choose your travel insurance plans based on your travel lifestyle, meaning if you are a frequent flyer or just out for a holiday. HDFC Ergo provides a range of customisations and diversity in their travel insurance for Schengen country enthusiasts. You can buy their services online or offline at your convenience.
Conclusion
Finally, here is an overview of the Schengen visa and travel insurance requirements for Indian citizens or those legally residing in India who want to travel to any of the twenty-six countries in the Schengen Area. To be eligible for a Schengen visa from India, applicants must be Indian citizens or legally residing in India and fall into one of two categories. The visa application process must be started 4-6 weeks before the trip, and travel insurance is mandatory. International travel insurance protects against travel hindrances such as lost luggage, baggage, medical emergencies, and flight delays. The insurance coverage can be customised to the traveller’s needs and is available in individual or family packages.
DISCLAIMER: THE ABOVE INFORMATION IS FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY. FOR MORE DETAILS, PLEASE REFER TO THE POLICY WORDINGS AND PROSPECTUS BEFORE CONCLUDING THE SALES.
