The French Prime Minister announced yesterday that his country will slash visa turnaround time to just 48 hours for several countries, including six in Southeast Asia, and yes, we’re one of them.
Starting Nov. 1, the people of Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, Indonesia, Cambodia, Russia, and India will see visa wait times cut from 10 days, during high season, to just two days year-round.
According to PM Edouard Philippe, the move is a strategy to increase tourism after the nation experienced a drop in arrivals following 2016 attacks in Nice and Paris. However, even before yesterday’s welcome news, France was set to receive 89 million vacationers. They welcomed 83 million in 2016 and hope for 100 million arrivals per year by 2020, reported Bangkok Post.
As further bids to increase international tourism, which accounts for 7 percent of the country’s GDP, the French government also plans to place more employees at their airport immigration areas in hopes of cutting wait times to half an hour for citizens of the EU and 45 minutes for all other citizens.
Vive la France!
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