Travellers planning business or leisure trips to Italy face an unprecedented, week-long freeze in visa services next week. The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that the country’s Visa Information System (VIS-IT) will be taken offline from 12:00 on 12 February until 18:00 on 18 February 2026 for a major software upgrade. During the shutdown, Italian embassies, consulates and their outsourced Visa Application Centres will not accept new applications, collect biometrics or issue decisions. Passport collection and courier dispatches will also be suspended. (schengenassist.com)
Although the blackout is temporary, the timing is awkward for the corporate travel market. February is peak season for trade fairs in Milan and fashion events in Florence; many executives submit short-stay “business visitor” Schengen applications only two to three weeks before departure. Immigration advisers warn that files lodged after 19 January are unlikely to be finalised before the freeze, pushing travel dates into late February or early March. Companies with time-critical projects are therefore scrambling to postpone meetings or to reroute staff through other Schengen hubs where Italy is not the main destination.
![Global Pause on Italian Schengen Visa Processing 12-18 February 2026]()
For those looking to minimise disruption, VisaHQ can act as a one-stop resource. Its dedicated Italy page (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) tracks embassy announcements in real time, offers digital document reviews and, where possible, finds alternative appointment slots in neighbouring countries—helping travellers stay on schedule even when official systems go dark.
The VIS-IT overhaul lays the groundwork for seamless interoperability with the EU’s new Entry-Exit System (EES), which becomes mandatory on 10 April 2026 and will rely on VIS data to match travellers’ biometric records. Consular officials say the upgrade cannot be performed piecemeal and requires a full stop to live processing. Once the platform is relaunched, applicants should expect slower decision times as posts work through backlogs and re-schedule hundreds of cancelled appointments.
Practical advice for mobility managers is straightforward: 1) accelerate any filings that can realistically be lodged by 9–10 February; 2) brief assignees to use fully flexible tickets and hotels; 3) monitor local embassy websites for reopening hours, as some posts (e.g. New Delhi and Lagos) historically stagger their restart after VIS maintenance. Early March is expected to see a surge in demand, so longer lead-times (four to six weeks) will be the safest planning assumption until volumes normalise.
Although the blackout is temporary, the timing is awkward for the corporate travel market. February is peak season for trade fairs in Milan and fashion events in Florence; many executives submit short-stay “business visitor” Schengen applications only two to three weeks before departure. Immigration advisers warn that files lodged after 19 January are unlikely to be finalised before the freeze, pushing travel dates into late February or early March. Companies with time-critical projects are therefore scrambling to postpone meetings or to reroute staff through other Schengen hubs where Italy is not the main destination.
For those looking to minimise disruption, VisaHQ can act as a one-stop resource. Its dedicated Italy page (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) tracks embassy announcements in real time, offers digital document reviews and, where possible, finds alternative appointment slots in neighbouring countries—helping travellers stay on schedule even when official systems go dark.
The VIS-IT overhaul lays the groundwork for seamless interoperability with the EU’s new Entry-Exit System (EES), which becomes mandatory on 10 April 2026 and will rely on VIS data to match travellers’ biometric records. Consular officials say the upgrade cannot be performed piecemeal and requires a full stop to live processing. Once the platform is relaunched, applicants should expect slower decision times as posts work through backlogs and re-schedule hundreds of cancelled appointments.
Practical advice for mobility managers is straightforward: 1) accelerate any filings that can realistically be lodged by 9–10 February; 2) brief assignees to use fully flexible tickets and hotels; 3) monitor local embassy websites for reopening hours, as some posts (e.g. New Delhi and Lagos) historically stagger their restart after VIS maintenance. Early March is expected to see a surge in demand, so longer lead-times (four to six weeks) will be the safest planning assumption until volumes normalise.
