Swiss embassy swamped with visa requests

By Salman Siddiqui/Staff ReporterThe newly opened Swiss embassy in Qatar has been swamped with visa requests and currently it is issuing more than 100 visas per week, Swiss Ambassador Martin Aeschbache told the Gulf Times.The Swiss embassy opened in Doha last April, while the process of issuing visas began in mid May.“Our staff actually have been overwhelmed by the number of visa requests that we are getting these days. Although we have a limited capacity, we are still managing to issue at least 100 visas per week,” he said.Previously, when there was no Swiss embassy in Qatar, people would apply through the Swiss mission in Kuwait. “But even then in Kuwait, we wouldn’t process more than 400 visas per year. Here I think we will surely exceed 2,000 visas by the end of this year,” the ambassador said.Aeschbache said that while they would love to grant the visa as soon as possible, the people should understand that these things take time. “Ideally, whoever wants to go to Switzerland should apply early. The planning of their visit must be done two months in advance so that they face no delays,” he advised.Switzerland is a popular tourist destination for people living in the Middle East. Many locals and expats visit Switzerland to beat off the summer heat in the Gulf.In fact, one of the main reasons why the Swiss embassy opened in Doha was that there were more people travelling to Switzerland from Qatar than ever before. Many go to Switzerland to study, while Qatari enterprises also had investments there, especially in the hotel and tourism business.According to the embassy, Swiss exports to Qatar in 2012 were valued at 587.9mn Swiss francs (or $621mn) and Qatari exports to Switzerland in 2012 were 228.6mn Swiss francs (or $241.6mn).