Most Business Day readers will have endured the time-consuming and costly Shengen visa issuing process. In practice, of course, the Shengen visa is overridden by country bureaucratic idiosyncrasies, no more so than in respect of its duration, which seems to vary from country to country. Some grant strict time limits, others up to five-year visas, but without any transparent, consistent pattern. For example, we have been fortunate to travel to Europe, mainly France and Italy, probably at least 23 times over the years since 1995. Recently we were obliged by the "rules" to apply to the Italian authorities. No doubt our frequency of travel to Europe was obvious. So what length of visa did the Italian authorities give us? One year. Bureaucratic, opaque, capricious, unfriendly. Charles Bothner Johannesburg
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