During President Emmanuel Macron’s three-day state visit to New Delhi, France and India upgraded their relationship to a “Special Global Strategic Partnership” and placed mobility at the centre of the agenda. The headline measure is a six-month pilot programme that will allow Indian nationals to transit through French airports without applying for a transit (A-type) Schengen visa. If the pilot is successful, Paris intends to make the facility permanent and expand it to seaports. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
France simultaneously unveiled a comprehensive student-mobility package designed to triple the number of Indian students in French higher-education institutions—from roughly 10,000 today to 30,000 a year by 2030. Measures include streamlined long-stay (VLS-TS) visa procedures aligned with academic calendars, fast-track appointments through Campus France, and an expansion of English-taught master’s programmes in STEM and artificial-intelligence disciplines. A revised agreement on mutual degree recognition is also in the works, which will make Indian qualifications automatically acceptable for French post-graduate admission and vice-versa. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
![France Offers Visa-Free Airport Transit and Sets Ambitious Target of 30,000 Indian Students by 2030]()
For Indian travellers who still need visas for other Schengen countries—or for onward journeys to the UK, the United States, or anywhere else—VisaHQ can simplify the paperwork. Its India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) offers real-time visa checks, document checklists and end-to-end application handling, making it a handy back-up even as France rolls out a visa-free transit corridor.
Corporate mobility managers see immediate dividends. Indian executives transiting Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle or Lyon Saint-Exupéry on their way to Africa or the Americas will save both time and €80 in visa fees, while multinationals can rotate assignees through French R&D hubs more easily. Universities expect the larger talent pool to strengthen Franco-Indian joint labs—an area already prioritised under the newly announced India-France Year of Innovation 2026. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
Practically, Indian travellers should watch for the formal notice in France’s Journal Officiel specifying eligible airlines and maximum lay-over periods. Students planning to start courses this September can already book appointments under the simplified regime, but must still show proof of funds (€7,920 per year) and health cover. Employers should update travel-policy matrices to capture the visa-free transit exemption and brief travel counsellors accordingly.
France simultaneously unveiled a comprehensive student-mobility package designed to triple the number of Indian students in French higher-education institutions—from roughly 10,000 today to 30,000 a year by 2030. Measures include streamlined long-stay (VLS-TS) visa procedures aligned with academic calendars, fast-track appointments through Campus France, and an expansion of English-taught master’s programmes in STEM and artificial-intelligence disciplines. A revised agreement on mutual degree recognition is also in the works, which will make Indian qualifications automatically acceptable for French post-graduate admission and vice-versa. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
For Indian travellers who still need visas for other Schengen countries—or for onward journeys to the UK, the United States, or anywhere else—VisaHQ can simplify the paperwork. Its India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) offers real-time visa checks, document checklists and end-to-end application handling, making it a handy back-up even as France rolls out a visa-free transit corridor.
Corporate mobility managers see immediate dividends. Indian executives transiting Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle or Lyon Saint-Exupéry on their way to Africa or the Americas will save both time and €80 in visa fees, while multinationals can rotate assignees through French R&D hubs more easily. Universities expect the larger talent pool to strengthen Franco-Indian joint labs—an area already prioritised under the newly announced India-France Year of Innovation 2026. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
Practically, Indian travellers should watch for the formal notice in France’s Journal Officiel specifying eligible airlines and maximum lay-over periods. Students planning to start courses this September can already book appointments under the simplified regime, but must still show proof of funds (€7,920 per year) and health cover. Employers should update travel-policy matrices to capture the visa-free transit exemption and brief travel counsellors accordingly.
