To All My Non-European Friends: Schengen Visa Application

Ask for a visa they said… It will be fun they said…

If you have a strong passport that allows you to travel visa-free, you can skip this post, and have fun with your travels ✌

This is the top 5 most powerful passports;

• Japan, 193 countries allowing visa free access
• Singapore, 193 countries allowing visa free access
• South Korea, 192 countries allowing visa free access
• Germany, 191 countries allowing visa free access
• Spain, 191 countries allowing visa free access

As a non-european citizen, I had to apply a Schengen visa multiple times I can say that I have a quite experience.

However, before starting to tips and tricks, I would like to discuss how it is annoying and frustrating to make applications and convince people that you are just a visitor not a citizen who wants to escape from his/her own country, even just to see a city for 2 days. I know there is a huge refugee and immigration problem around world, especially in recent years. Visa denials are getting increase day by day. Unfortunately, approval depends on many factors including your education, your job, your country’s political issues, your financial situation or officers’ mood 🤦‍♀️

In 2023, I needed to apply a short-term business visa. Before that, due to COVID, the last time I had a Schengen was in 2019. According to my newly experience, I will give you the updated rules and what we can do to get an approval.

Schengen Visa Type

There are four types of Schengen visa according to period of stay as follows;

• Type A Schengen visa: Airport Transit Visa 
• Type B Schengen visa: Short stay with the condition transit
• Type C Schengen visa: Short stay, for less than 90 days over a 180 day period. It can be single, double or multiple entry.
• Type D Schengen visa: Long stay, for longer than 90 days

Depending on your purpose, there is also different categories as follows;

• Transit Visa
• Tourism Visa
• Visa for Visiting Family or Friends
• Business Visa
• Visa for Journalists
• Visa for Culture and Sports activities
• Visa for Official Visits
• Study Visa
• Visa for Medical Reasons

Where you need to apply

After determining the country and visa type, you need to look for where you need to apply for visa. It is important to remember that if you are planning to visit more than one Schengen countries, you need to apply from the country where you will spend the longest period..

When you decide the country, you need to check for application at one of the followings;

• Their embassy
• One of their consulates
• A visa centre to which the embassy of your destination country has outsourced visa submission
• The embassy/consulate of another Schengen state to which the embassy of your destination country has outsourced visa submission

When you should apply

The application must be submitted to the Consulate at least 15 days before the intended journey and cannot be applied earlier than six months before the start of the intended journey.

In order to proceed with your application, you should book an appointment. Most countries give you a chance to book an appointment online. However, you need to be careful about timing. It is highly possible that if you try to book last minute, you may not find an appointment and you may take back your passport later than your planned date.

Visa Application Form

The Schengen visa application form has the same information asked, no matter where you are applying from. The order of questions and templates may change. Therefore you should take the form which country’s visa it is that you are applying for.

Basically, you need to give your personal information, information on your background, your purpose of wishing to enter the Schengen Area and other details regarding your trip.

In order to complete and submit the form correctly, be careful about the following tips:

• Get the latest form of the application
• Make sure you fill out every required gap.
• Do not leave any columns blank. If you feel that, there are columns that do not correspond to your case, fill them with NA (No Answer).
• If you are a minor, your parents have to submit a written consent and sign it in the corresponding column of the application form.

You can also take a paid services to fill the application form. Also, there are lots of examples of filled forms online.

Required Documents

The required documents are very important part of your visa application. Some of these documents may change according to where you apply. However, some are essential for all applications.

• The visa application form: filled and signed
• Valid passport : It should have at least 90 days of remaining validity after expiration of Visa requested and with at least 2 blank visa pages.
• Copies: Applicant’s passport’s first page and copies of previous visas issued in the last 3 years from any other Schengen country.
• Biometric photo : The sizes can be change but it is basically a recently-taken color photo with a light / white background. You should have at least two with you.
• Evidence of applicant’s employment: It changes if your are a employee, self-employed or unemployed.
• Exact itinerary: Especially if your are traveling more than on country, it is important to specify dates, cities, transports used to move across Schengen Area. (If traveling to a Non- Schengen country during the same trip, transport ticket and valid visa is needed)
• Transportation & Accommodation : You should give the booked or reserved ticket of transportation (flight, bus,train, etc) and accommodation information. If you are going to stay at a friend or relative, then you should indicate their addresses.
• Travel insurance policy: You can easily purchase it online or even from phone applications of banks. The minimum cover should be of 30.000 EUR.
• Residence Permit
• Proof of economic situation in country of residence: You should give statement of the last 3 months updated with stable transactions. Name of the applicant shown on the statement must be the same as on passport. If you are an employee, you should also give 3 months-payroll.
• Visa fee: to be paid when you submit your application
• Cover letter: It is recommended to provide a cover letter especially if you want a long-term visa with multiple entrance.
• In Turkey, you will be asked for additional documents as statement of employment and service scheme from Social Security Institution. Also, certificate of identity registry may be asked.

Appointment Day

On the day of your appointment, it is better to be at the facility at least 20 minutes before the appointment time.

All required documents and your passport should be in an order which the consulate requested as.

Before going to the appointment, you should check which currency you will pay the visa fee with (USD, Euro, or local currency). This fee is non-refundable regardless your application is approved or denied. Currently, a Schengen visa fee is €80 per person. There may be additional payments such as sending the passport by cargo or visa application centre participation fee.

In some applications, officers of application centers or consulates may ask you some questions about your purpose an trip. This is completely normal, you don’t need to be feel as interrogated. Most of the time, they will just ask for the documents.

You will very likely get a response on your visa application in 15 days. There may be times when this process takes quite much longer from 15 up to 45 days. Therefore, you shouldn’t risk your trip and apply as earlier as possible.

Good luck & Enjoy your vacation ✌