Nasscom pushes for Schengen visas for techies

Though visa costs of Indian information technology (IT) industry in the US may have steeply increased, the same are expected to come down in Europe with the adoption of Nasscom's white paper that among other things calls for issue of Schengen visas for techies on job deputation in the region.

The Schengen visa is a special document that allows a Schengen visa holder to travel freely within the certain EU member countries as also some non-EU countries.

There are 25 Schengen zone member countries including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.

Schengen is a ''visitor visa'' valid only for leisure and business travel. Schengen visa holders can not live permanently or work in the Schengen zone.

Nasscom president, Som Mittal, said the IT industry lobby body expected the approval of the paper in one and a half year to two years.

''For the last two years, we have been working with Brussels.

Nasscom had produced a white paper that has got adopted. Today, we have Schengen visa for business and tourism, which allows people to move freely in the EU region.