How An Indian Allegedly Got 5-Year Multiple Entry Schengen Visa In Less Than A Week

A recent Reddit post about the quick processing of an Indian traveller's multiple-entry Schengen visa has received a lot of interest online. The user shared several details about how they managed to obtain this longer-term Schengen visa, which was issued under the European Commission's visa "cascade" regime. They wrote, "Sharing my experience for those curious about the cascade regime - it seems to be finally working well, at least in France's case!" The Indian passport holder claimed their 5-year multiple-entry Schengen visa from France took the Bengaluru consulate only 4 working days to process.

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The user revealed that they have an extensive travel history of 32 countries. They stated that they previously had 3 Schengen visas issued by Germany and Spain. All of them were allegedly issued within the past 2 years. Their most recent visa was from Spain, and it was only valid for 45 days. The comments section was full of queries about what exactly the traveller did to secure this highly sought-after visa. Here's what the user claimed he submitted in his application for this Schengen tourist visa:

• A cover letter that included a request for a longer validity visa.
• Their old passport and a scanned copy of each page of the new and old passports (which contained stamps)
• Details about their 10-day itinerary for France
• 2 years Income Tax Returns, 3 months bank statements and pay slips (as financial proof)
• Other key documents usually required for Schengen visa applications

The user said that they mentioned their travel history as well as them having been to the Schengen zone three times in the past. "For the cascade regime, you need at least 2 visas in the past 3 years to be eligible for a 2-year visa, but granting a longer duration visa is completely at the discretion of the visa officer," they wrote.

Got 5 Year Multi Entry visa from France!
byu/Time-Impact-5523 inSchengenVisa

How Can Indians Get Multiple-Entry Schengen Visas?

Indians can apply for multi-entry Schengen visas under the visa "cascade" regime. If you have used two Schengen visas within the previous three years, you can obtain a two-year multi-entry Schengen Visa. After using this visa, you can later apply for a five-year visa provided that your passport has sufficient validity remaining. During the validity period of these visas, holders enjoy travel rights equivalent to visa-free nationals, as per the EU. Like short-term Schengen visas, these long-term multiple-entry visas allow free travel in the Schengen area. The holder can stay a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period in this zone. These visas cannot be used for work purposes.

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Which Countries Are Covered By Multiple-Entry Schengen Visa?

The Multiple-Entry Schengen Visa grants access to the entire Schengen area, which consists of 29 European countries. They are Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

For more details, read our guide on how to apply for a Schengen visa.