If you hold an Indian passport and want to travel abroad, to a country that requires you to get a visa, there is some not-so-great news. The wait time for visas to some of the most-visited countries in the world is unbelievable at the moment.

Even though the process might not look daunting, a "simple three to four" step one like the visa portals tell you, the sheer amount of time it takes is mind-boggling. Especially if you are travelling for non-essential purposes, the wait for a visa might just take the fun out of that much-awaited international trip. 

Schengen, the place that lends its name to the visa, is a town in Luxembourg. Photo: Ananya Bhattacharya

First, let's go through these 'simple three to four' steps: 

Applying for a visa: Once you have decided on the destination you want to visit, go online and apply for a visa. (This won't take much time. However: if you are applying for a Schengen visa, which allows you entry to the Schengen countries in Europe, good luck to you on just getting through to the application portal. Most of these visa appointments are handled by agencies like VFS Global or BLS, or the respective Embassy.)

Assuming you got through, created the login ID, and started the process, brace yourself.

The wait starts here.

Getting an appointment: This step might take you even a year or a year and a half (not kidding). Booking an appointment for scheduling an interview to get the visa may take forever, and in some cases, you might not even find a date for an appointment.

So, assuming you want to travel to one of the following 10 countries and are eager to get a visa appointment, how long do you think you have to wait?

Find out (all results as of August 22, 2022): 

Data sourced from Y-axis

Once you are done with this step, show up for the interview in the scheduled city on the scheduled date.

Wait for your visa to arrive: Once you have been to your interview, you need to track your passport and collect when it finally arrives. This process may take up to 15-30 days, depending on the country you are planning to visit.

Finally: There still is no guarantee that you will get a visa. The discretion lies solely with the Embassy of the destination country, and they might grant you one, or reject one.

Making it simple for you: If you are planning on travelling to any of the countries where most tourists go, book your flight tickets and the rest ONLY after you have got yourself a visa appointment.