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Craving Wiener schnitzel? Dying to bathe in Barcelona or stroll along the Seine? Well, get ready to cry “Brava!” because Indonesians planning trips to Europe will soon have an easier time getting their Schengen visas.

In a press statement issued on Wednesday, the European Union said faster service for Schengen visa applicants would be provided by the Jakarta embassies of 26 countries in the Schengen area.

Processing visa applications, which formerly took weeks or even a month, will now take one to five days after applicants submit passports and supporting documents. The wait time will vary from embassy to embassy among the different Schengen countries.

“With this latest reduction in processing times, now it is even more convenient for Indonesian citizens to apply for visas,” the press statement said.

Asiah, an staff at the French embassy in Jakarta, said it often used to take at least 10 days for Indonesian applicants to get their visas.

But due to the recent changes, she said, “it will only take five days, tops, for standard Indonesian Schengen visa applicants to get the process done.”

“It will be even faster for government officials, as it will only take them a day to get their visa issued,” she added.

She said these improvements would come at no added cost.

There are 26 Schengen countries, including tourist haunts France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the ever-popular Netherlands.

The European debt crisis has affected the economies of many Schengen countries.

Indonesia’s state-owned flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia, has said the crisis has led them to gradually cut down on the number of flights to certain European destinations.

Starting from March 1, Garuda will reduce the frequency of its flights to Amsterdam from seven per week to just three.