Ask three Mumbai travellers what a Schengen visa costs and you’ll get three different answers. One says ₹10,000. One says ₹15,000. One swears it came to nearly ₹20,000. All three can be right, because the fee you read about online is only the first line on the bill.
Here is what the money actually looks like in August 2026, where the extra charges come from, and which of them you can skip.
The Embassy Fee: 90 Euros, and Why Your Rupee Figure Keeps Shifting
Every Schengen country charges the same short-stay visa fee. The European Commission raised it to €90 for adults on 11 June 2024, up from €80. Children aged six to twelve pay €45, and children under six pay nothing. The Commission reviews the amount every three years, so the next possible revision falls in 2027.
The confusion starts with the rupee conversion. Consulates don’t use the day’s market rate. Each mission sets its own INR figure and updates it periodically, which is why the same €90 shows up as different numbers on different websites in the same week:
| Mission (India) | €90 shown as |
|---|---|
| Germany | ₹9,100 – ₹9,800 (VFS and Foreign Office pages differ by update date) |
| Italy | ₹9,630 (rate effective 30 March 2026) |
| Austria | ₹9,810 |
None of these missions is overcharging. They’re just on different revision cycles. Budget around ₹9,000–₹10,000 for the embassy fee and check the exact figure on your consulate’s page the week you apply.
One rule matters more than the number: the fee is not refundable. Refused, withdrawn, or approved for fewer days than you asked for, the money is gone.
Fee Plus Service Charge: What Mumbai Applicants Actually Pay at the Counter
The second charge is the visa application centre’s own service fee. It’s separate from the embassy fee, it’s also non-refundable, and it varies a lot by country because each consulate negotiates its own outsourcing contract.
| Country | Embassy fee | Centre service charge | Rough total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | ₹9,630 | ₹631 (VFS Mumbai) | ₹10,260 |
| Germany | ₹9,100 | ₹1,933 (VFS) | ₹11,030 |
| Austria | ₹9,810 | ₹2,479 (VFS, incl. GST) | ₹12,290 |
Other missions sit between roughly ₹1,800 and ₹3,100 in service charges, so verify yours before you assume. Spain runs through BLS International rather than VFS. The rest of the popular ones for Maharashtra applicants — Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Greece, Portugal — go through VFS Global.
A practical Mumbai note: the Italy centre operates from Urmi Axis, Mahalaxmi (W), behind Famous Studio, and it handles applications from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Kerala. The German Consulate General in Mumbai covers Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli. If you live in the city, you’re applying in the city. Filing through Delhi to chase an earlier appointment is not an option when jurisdiction sits here.
The Costs Nobody Puts in the Headline Number
Travel medical insurance. Mandatory, and the policy must cover at least €30,000 across the entire Schengen area for the full trip. A short Europe policy from an Indian insurer typically runs a few hundred to a couple of thousand rupees depending on age and trip length. Older travellers pay considerably more.
Photographs. ICAO-spec, recent. Cheap, but a rejected photo means a second trip to Mahalaxmi.
Optional add-ons at the centre. Courier return, SMS tracking, form-filling help, premium lounge access, prime-time appointment slots. Each carries its own posted charge and together they can add several thousand rupees. Be blunt about this: none of them improve your chances of approval. A lounge buys you a shorter queue, not a better decision. If money is tight, pay for the courier and skip the rest.
Getting there. An appointment during office hours costs most working applicants a half day plus travel.
Realistic all-in figure for one adult from Mumbai: ₹11,000 to ₹15,000, with the spread driven mostly by which country you apply to, your insurance premium and how many optional services you buy.
Who Pays Nothing
The Visa Code exempts several categories from the €90 fee:
- Children under six
- School pupils, students and postgraduate students travelling for study or educational training, plus accompanying teachers
- Researchers travelling for scientific research
- Representatives of non-profit organisations aged 25 or under, attending seminars, conferences, or sporting, cultural or educational events run by non-profits
- Family members of EU/EEA citizens exercising free movement rights
The exemption covers the embassy fee only. The application centre’s service charge still applies, and you’ll need documents proving the category.
The Most Expensive Thing on This List Is a Refusal
This is where the real money goes. In 2025, Indian nationals filed about 1.15 million Schengen applications — the third-highest of any country — and 181,111 were refused, a non-issuance rate of 15.8%. At current fee levels that’s roughly ₹154 crore in non-refundable fees paid by Indians for visas that never arrived.
Your choice of country moves that risk more than most applicants realise. Refusal rates for Indian applicants in 2025:
| Higher refusal | Rate | Lower refusal | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slovenia | 46.1% | Denmark | 6.9% |
| Bulgaria | 37% | Belgium | 7.7% |
| Greece | 33% | Germany | 10.5% |
| Malta | 31.7% | Italy | 12.7% |
| Estonia | 30.1% | Switzerland | 13.6% |
Germany alone processed more than 153,000 applications from India and still refused only about one in ten.
That is not licence to pick a country to game the odds. Schengen rules require you to apply to your main destination — the country where you’ll spend the most nights, or your first point of entry if nights are split evenly — and misfiling is itself a refusal reason. But when an itinerary genuinely gives you a choice between two countries, the gap between 7% and 33% is worth ₹12,000 of your money.
One more reason to get it right the first time: Germany abolished its remonstration (appeal) procedure on 1 July 2025. Refusals dated from that day onward can no longer be contested through the old administrative route. Your options are a fresh application at full fee, or a court case in Berlin. Other member states still allow appeals, with their own deadlines and costs.
Getting More Out of the Same €90
Apply for the longest visa you can justify. The fee is identical whether you get a 15-day single-entry sticker or a two-year multi-entry visa. Since 18 April 2024, the EU’s “cascade” rules for Indian nationals mean that if you’ve obtained and lawfully used two visas in the previous three years, you can normally be issued a two-year multi-entry visa, usually followed by a five-year one if your passport has the validity left. Same €90. Far better value.
Apply early. You can file up to six months before travel. Standard processing is around 15 calendar days, but Mumbai appointment slots for peak summer travel disappear months ahead, and rushing pushes people into paying for prime-time slots they didn’t need.
What Changed at the Border in 2026
The EU’s Entry/Exit System became fully operational on 10 April 2026. Face and fingerprint data are now registered at the external border instead of passport stamps. It applies to Indian travellers, it does not cost anything, and it does not replace your visa. Budget a little extra time at first entry.
You may also have seen ETIAS mentioned in cost articles. ETIAS does not apply to Indian passport holders — it’s for visa-exempt nationalities. If you need a Schengen visa, you don’t pay an ETIAS fee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Schengen visa fee cheaper in Mumbai than in Delhi?
No. The embassy fee and the centre’s service charge are set nationally. Only your travel to the centre differs.
Can I get the fee back if I’m refused?
No. Neither the embassy fee nor the service charge is refundable.
Does paying for premium services improve approval chances?
No. Consular officers decide on your documents and your travel history. Lounge access and priority slots change your queue, not your outcome.
Which Schengen country is cheapest for Indians in 2026?
The €90 is fixed everywhere. The variable is the service charge, and Italy’s ₹631 in Mumbai is currently among the lowest. Choose by itinerary, not by ₹1,500.
Need Help With Your Schengen Visa Application?
At Visa Agents in Mumbai, we handle Schengen visas along with tourist visas, study visas, work visas and passport services. Our team helps with documentation, application submission and appointment booking so your money goes into an application that stands up the first time.
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