For those harbouring dreams of foreign shores and looking at migrating out of India, the year begins on a slightly lukewarm note. Come January 1, 2023 and Indian passport holders will no longer have the luxury of travelling visa-free to Serbia.
The decision was taken by the government of Serbia to control illegal immigration and also to follow the requirements of the European visa policy.
The visa-free entry was started by Serbia in 2017. However, the Indians hitherto travelling visa-free to Serbia could not travel to Serbia's neighbouring countries and other European countries by virtue of visa-free entry to Serbia. Last week, the government of Serbia issued a statement, "The existing arrangement of visa-free entry into Serbia for all Indian passport holders for staying in Serbia up to 30 days has been withdrawn by the Government of Serbia."
Indians waiting for US visa
The one most coveted by Indians, the US visa, is likely to come with slightly shorter waiting periods by mid-2023. The waiting period for US visas is likely to move towards normalcy by mid-2023, Livemint quoted a senior US embassy official as saying. He further said that they have a priority in reducing the waiting time for non-immigrant work visas such as the H and L categories, including the most in demand H-1B visas, B-1 business visas, B-2 tourism visas. He also said that some progress had already been made through changes in rules and the opening of 100,000 slots for H and L work visas.
Schengen visa gets one step away
While the efforts are on to restore normalcy or reduce the waiting period for US visas on one hand, on the other U.S citizens themselves and nationals of over 60 other countries will need an electronic travel authorization to visit much of Europe. In mid-to-late 2023, travellers to any Schengen-zone country will have to register via ETIAS. Thus US citizens who are now permitted to enter Europe visa-free, starting from November 2023, will have to register with European Travel Information and Authorization System. ETIAS is quite comparable to ESTA system already used in the United States.
The coveted British visa
Early 2023 is also when the much-awaited and quite hyped UK-India Young Professionals Scheme is expected to open. The scheme, a goodwill initiative between the two nations on reciprocal basis, was announced at the recently held G20 summit. The scheme will offer 3,000 visas annually to 18-30 year old degree holding Indian nationals to go to the UK to live and work for up to two years.
