How to apply for Schengen Visa – European Tourist Visa

If you are planning to visit Europe and trying to understand the process to apply for Schengen visa, the type of Visa you will be needing is Schengen Visa, As the other Countries each European Country doesn’t need its own visa, There are 27 countries in Schengen area, check this for the list of all Countries and this is the only visa which allows to travel to all these Countries inside the Schengen area(with no border restrictions), which means 1 visa will allow to 27 Countries.

I’m creating this post to help you understand and apply for Schengen visa (All the process steps documented here are for the tourists traveling to Europe from USA holding Indian passport) Process might be similar for other country passport holders too, but you can check the eligibility to travel here.

Step 1: Determine the Type of Visa

For traveling purposes you should be applying for Short-stay (≤ 90 days) Visa, which means you can only stay for no more than 90 days in any 180 day period within the Schengen area.

Step 2: When to Apply:

Most of the embassies will process Schengen visa in not more than 30 business days, but for you to give enough time to plan your trip I would ask to apply for Schengen visa at least 3-4 Months prior to your travel date.

Step 3: Where to Apply:

Though Schengen visa is the only visa required to travel all European Countries you need to pay attention to determine which Embassy/Consulate you need to apply for. You will need to decide on one main destination country and that’s the Embassy/Consulate you will be applying your visa to. There are couple of things you need to understand to decide on this:

1. Country you are applying for should be the main destination country which means, this will be the Country where you will be landing first (Port of entry)
2. Country you are applying for should be the country where you will be staying for longer duration. If your stay is for same number of days in multiple Countries then you will be applying for any one of them (Tip: Consider processing times of the Country you are applying for)

Once you determine which Embassy you will be applying at, then you will start with the application process. All the below steps are for French (France) embassy.

Step 4: Complete the online application:

Create an account on France-Visas website.

Once created login and start creating new application (Feel free to comment on this post or reach out to me on Instagram for quicker response to any of your question while filling the application) At certain step of your application process this website will ask you to book your Visa interview slot before submitting the application.

Step 5: Book Visa Slot:

French embassy had outsourced its Visa interview application processings to VFS Global, So for France visa we will be applying or attending Visa interview at VFS Global office locations. Check where you wanted to attend this interview and book your appointment (You will be needing to travel, which means physical presence with all your documents is required).

Create an account on VFS Global Website and book your appointment. To book your appointment there is a VFS Global processing fee of 33.54USD for each application. VFS Global is also offering the Courier service (Round trip: to send application to French embassy in Washington DC and to get back your passport delivered to your address) for 38.50USD and the Photograph Service for 13.20 USD. If you are not selecting these both services you have to take the prepaid labels and photographs at the time of your interview)

Step 6: Submit the application:

Once Step 5 is complete and your slot is confirmed you will need to submit the application which you have created in Step 4. This step will give you the Visa fees information but you don’t actually need to pay it at this point rather you will be paying this Visa fees during the time of your interview. (France visa application fees: 80 Euros or about 85USD)

Step 7: Gather required Documents:

1. Forms:

   1. Signed and dated application form (Submitted in Step 4, You will be signing these documents in-front of VFS global officer during the time of your interview)
   2. Receipt France-Visas (Confirmation letter from Step 5)

2. PRE-REQUISITES

   1. A travel document, issued less than 10 years ago, containing at least two blank pages, with a period of
      validity at least 3 months longer than the date on which you intend to leave the Schengen Area or, in the
      case of a long stay, at least three months longer than the expiry date of the visa requested. Be sure to
      transmit (scan) ALL PAGES of your travel document containing visas, entry and exit stamps or any other
      inscription. (Passport front and back pages, pages with all stamps, Stamped visa)
   2. ID photograph. (Drivers license)
   3. If you are not a US citizen, please provide proof of your legal status (green card, visa and I94 or endorsed I20 for F1 visa holders or endorsed DS2019 for J1 visa holders. The “travel endorsment” signature is valid for one year and must not expire before the date of return to the USA). (Any Stamped US visa is required)

3. PURPOSE OF TRAVEL/STAY

   1. Document describing the planned programme (letter of presentation, reservation confirmation of an
      organised trip/Cover Letter). (Cover letter with the travel Itinerary – Feel free to comment on this post or reach out to me on Instagram for quicker response if you need sample cover Letter)
   2. Pre-booked round-trip ticket

4. SOCIO-PROFESSIONAL SITUATION

   1. Letter from the employer or proof of business ownership / business license (if self employed). If retired,
      pension certificate. If student, certificate of enrollment. (Employment verification letter)

5. FUNDS

   1. Copies of bank statements for the last three months (with the name and address of the account holder(s),printed copies from online accounts are accepted) and copies of pay stubs from the last 3 months, or last year’s income tax return or proof of prior economic activity and income during previous fiscal year, or proof of pension.(Bank statements, paystubs of last 3 months)

6. ACCOMMODATION

   1. “Attestation d’accueil” (in case of accommodation by a private individual) or hotel reservation or certificate of ownership of real estate or lease agreement.( Hotel booking confirmations)

7. TRAVEL HEALTH INSURANCE

   1. Travel health insurance certificate issued by an insurance company (covering any possible costs for
      medical repatriation, costs related to medical and emergency hospital treatment, for a minimum amount of €30,000, valid for the entire the Schengen area or for the French Overseas Territories depending on your main destination. A copy of your American health insurance card is not an acceptable proof of adequate coverage). (Travel Insurance)

Tip: There are companies which provide accommodation proofs, round trip flight tickets and also insurance which you can use for your application purposes and further you request to get them cancelled and book your’s on your own (Choose this option on your own risk). This helps you to save you some costs if your visa gets rejected. Reach out to me on Instagram if you need contact details of those vendors.

Step 8: Visa Interview:

You will be needing to attend for visa interview at selected location during scheduled time with all the supporting documents, VFS global officer will conduct an interview while validating all the supporting documents, Once validated and verified you will be asked to sign the documents and pay the Visa fee, If you have opted for Courier and photograph services officer will also take care of these while you are there. Once all these are done VFS global will send the completed application to FRENCH Embassy in Washington DC where the decision will be made and passport will be sent back to you using the opted Courior service. It took just 5 business days for us to get our passports back from embassy but this completely depends on the Embassy and its processing times when you have applied.

Tip: We got our France visa approved for 5months but it completely depends on the Itinerary, i have seen couple of cases where visa is just approved for the duration of stay as per the provided itinerary and some with just a day to two buffer before and after the trip., after seeing all these we have submitted itinerary adding 2-3 days extra in each city so that our stay is extended, our actual planned trip was for 17days but i have provided itinerary for 25days, Not sure if this works/helps everyone but we took a chance and gave a try.

WISH YOU ALL THE BEST!

If you are interested to know more about our travel experience or trying to get itinerary read this blog below.

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