Travelling To Europe? You’ll Have To Wait Until August For A Schengen Appointment

Planning a trip to Europe? You need to make some changes in your plans.

With Eid al Adha coming this month, the prospect of a six-day break is beyond tantalising – particularly with getaways to Europe as it is coming up to peak summer time.

Demand is high, resulting in long waiting lists for Schengen appointments – needed by some nationalities to obtain the relevant visa to gain entry to the continent

So much so, travel agents are warning that new applicants will have to wait until August at the earliest for their first appointment.

Travel agents confirmed that they are helping passengers get their Schengen visa but that delays are in place and the earliest available appointments aren’t until August. For some countries, the wait is as long as September.

The price for a Schengen visa is Dhs317.

The 27 Schengen countries include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Many nationalities from countries outside of these 27 do not need a Schengen visa to enter Europe, including the UK, US, Japan and more.