Applying for your first Schengen Visa can be a daunting experience. There are many documents to put together, several confusing questions to answer and countless clarifications to seek. Getting a Schengen Visa on an Indian passport is a complex process but the sooner you start with it, it is almost set you just have to plan out a trip. Because I believe a trip is the best reason for getting a visa and passport as we stay excited for it and pre-plan everything on the advance basis. Let's go through some common queries that the most first-timers have when applying for the Schengen Visa.
What is a Schengen visa
and when do you need it?
A Schengen Visa is a document that allows you to travel
within the Schengen area, commonly for a period of up to 90 days. Twenty-six
countries make up the Schengen area, and if you plan on travelling to one or
more of these countries, you will need this visa. The countries are Austria,
Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and
Switzerland
As an Indian, where and
how do I apply for the Schengen Visa?
The Schengen countries have outsourced their visa application
cells to VFS
Global, a company which now handles the entire process, making it
simpler and faster. There is also no requirement to go to the embassy anymore. VFS Global has five centres in India – Delhi,
Mumbai, Kolkata, Puducherry and Bengaluru.
To start off the process, log on to VFS Global's website,
and go to the bottom left of the screen, where you will see this:
After entering the appropriate details (for multi-country trips,
select your "main destination". you will be directed to another
screen where you will be able to download the visa form, find information on
visa fees and make an appointment to submit the visa form along with supporting
documents.
What do I need to take
care of before my appointment?
Put all the documents you need to produce together – there are
quite a few of them. You'll find the entire list on the VFS website; while most
are fairly straightforward, others require some clarification. I've talked
about them in brief here:
Cover letter: Though
this isn't listed as one of the required documents, it is best to submit a
cover letter as a comprehensive reference paper for the visa officials. Start
by addressing the embassy through which you are applying for the visa. The body
of your letter should include the dates of your trip, the names and professions
of those accompanying you, the purpose of your travel, and a paragraph on how
you plan of bearing the expenses on this journey – mention real figures
pertaining to your savings, credit cards and fixed deposits. Also list down the
documents you will be submitting along with your visa application.
Hotel bookings: Unfortunately,
you will have to book your flight tickets and hotels before you apply for the
visa. While this in no way confirms that you will get the visa, officials need
to establish that you are indeed going for tourism via your accommodation confirmations.
Travel insurance: For
emergency hospital or other medical expenses, you will have to get mandatory
travel insurance worth Euro 30,000. It will keep you protected against large
bills in case something goes wrong. VFS has a list of approved insurance providers on its website, and it's best to
pick from amongst them. Once you buy it, your insurance will be delivered to
your email inbox.
Financials: The
country you are travelling to wants to know that you have enough money to make
it through the trip and go back. For this you will submit a bunch of your
financial documents such as bank account statements for the last six months,
income tax returns for the last three years and others – a list of which you'll
find on the VFS website.
If you are unsure of anything on the visa form,
leave it blank and clarify with the official at VFS before submitting it to
him.
What is the estimated
time for the entire process? How long will it take for the visa to arrive?
The first thing you need to remember is to schedule your
appointment with VFS at least a month or a month-and-a-half before your
scheduled departure. If you can do it sooner, it will give you more time to
make your real bookings at hotels. Once you get your appointment date, it will
only take a day if you have all your documents in order. A year or two ago, you
would also have an interview after submitting the documents at VFS. These days
that only happens in rare cases ,where they have a cause for suspicion that you
don't plan on coming back. So once you are done with VFS, you should get your
visa within seven days. I got my visa to Italy in three days.
What if my visa is
rejected? Will my fee be refunded?
Sadly, under no circumstance will your visa fee be refunded. If
your visa is denied for some reason, you have two options: One is to appeal the
decision. Since the appeal will be evaluated by someone other than the person
who rejected your visa, there is a chance that the decision will be overturned.
But the visa appeal process might take a few weeks, or even months. Also, in
India this process is only available for Spain, Germany and Norway. So the
second and better way to go forward, is to reapply through a different Schengen
state embassy. Usually, a previous visa denial will not automatic lead to the
refusal of a new application, and the new application will be assessed
independently.
FAQs
Do I have to hand over
the documents personally at VFS?
Yes, you, along with whoever you are travelling with have to be
personally present while you hand over the papers. After you have successfully
submitted the documents, scans of your fingerprint will also be taken (the
first time you are applying for a visa).
If I am travelling to more than one Schengen country, which
embassy do I apply through?
You will have to apply to the “main destination”, the country
where you will be staying in for the most number of days.
Do I apply through the
country I am entering the Schengen area?
No, you don't have to if you won't be staying the most number of
days there.
Should my first trip be
to the country that issued the Schengen Visa?
No. You can enter through any Schengen country after you get
your visa.
If I'm travelling for
work first and and then taking a short vacation, do I tick business or tourism
in my visa form?
Business. Get an invitation letter for the first few days from
your foreign business partner, and then show hotel bookings for the rest of the
days.
How long is the visa
valid for?
You are allowed to travel in the Schengen Area for 90 days
within a 180-day period. These 90 days, however, do not have to be consecutive.
Say you enter the area in March and stay for 50 days, and then come back in
August for 20 days, this totals to 70 days in 180 days.
Can my visa be extended?
A Schengen Visa, which has already expired, cannot be extended.
Even otherwise, while on paper you can extend it, an extended visa rarely comes
through.
Will my air tickets be
refunded if I don't get a visa?
No. To help minimise risk, book a flight ticket that is
refundable to the largest amount possible.
What are the common
reasons behind a visa being rejected?
There can be a few reasons why an embassy might reject your
request for a Schengen Visa.
– The documents and cover letter you have provided prove
inadequate in establishing the purpose of your travel and stay
– There is a mismatch between your travel itinerary and the visa
period you have applied for
– Your supporting documents do not show accommodation for each
night you will spend in a Schengen Area
– You do not have enough funds to support your travel
– Your travel insurance policy is not valid across the Schengen
Area
– You were unable to respect Schengen Visa limitations during a
previous attempt
But don't worry; if you put everything together carefully and
meticulously, and don't have a criminal record, the chances of you getting your
Schengen Visa are very high, because the cities are awaiting for you, have a
look!
And if you are done with your Visa, then get
ready to plan your trip to the most popular continent in the world, and then
fasten a rope to Europe with Flying Venus travels Pvt. Ltd. Where your dreams
are easy to go and grab. For more visit Flying Venus Travels.
