How to score a Schengen Visa on an Indian Passport in 3 days !!!
I know! I can get it!
Don’t worry. It’s not as complicated as you think.
You will be stunned to know that we had received our Schengen Visa in 3 days time.
WHAT?? Puzzled!! Isn’t it?
Even we were surprised.
Having read a lot about Schengen Visa, I thought it will be a good idea to share my insights on some of the points to make your Schengen visa process easy.
- Have a rough plan in your mind where you want to travel
- Zero in on the destinations you want to see.
- Check the best time that suites you to travel to those destinations.(I am someone who would prefer to visit a place during off season rather than visiting when there is heavy crowd).
- If you intend to travel to multiple countries, have a rough itinerary to check where you will be spending maximum number of days.
- Now you will be able to arrive at a conclusion which embassy you should be applying.
Search for the checklist of your respective visa category on the relevant VFS website(For instance VFS Switzerland).
Having got Short Term Schengen Tourist Visa, I am going to layout all that which made me break my head with, in order to save you hours of research.
Though VFS Checklist in itself is self-explanatory, I will throw some of the key points to be noted.
Flight Bookings
Do I need to risk so much money to travel to these destinations?
Pheww!! The questions which popped up in my head were endless!!
This is the first tricky part. The first point I had to debate to myself was getting to spend on a confirmed Flight booking in the doubt of Visa getting rejected. I started reading lot of sites as to find a solution for this.
Even though fully refundable tickets seemed a better option, I was not completely satisfied with that idea of spending so much money before Visa.
Voila!! There comes the life savior – “Flight Itinerary”.
Instead of spending a hefty amount in actual flight bookings before visa, you can get a return flight itinerary for INR 1000.
How attractive is this deal? Wondering what I am talking about?
Well!! Check out this site.
Yey!! That was a Eureka moment for me.
There are various online sites for getting flight itinerary like Schengenvisaflightreservation, transvisabookings. I found the former cost effective (Half the price of the latter site).
You can even check the airline reservation code of the flight itinerary given by the site on the airline database. You will be able to see your name against that Reservation code. That solves your problem right? 🙂
Hotel Bookings
So don’t forget to check Prepayment clause!
Proof of Financial status
If employed, you may have to attach your salary slips of last 3 months and Income Tax return for the last two years. That’s all!
Bank Account Statements
This is the next tricky part I would say. Different sites mention different details about the money you should be having in your account for visiting Schengen countries.
Various bloggers had mentioned much higher amount than the above site.
To be on a safer side, we had shown a balance of 3.5 lakhs for two persons. Note that we hadn’t done flight bookings when we applied for the visa.
You should get an endorsement from the bank manager on a print out of online statement of your savings account.
Online statement without the sign of bank manager cannot be produced as a proof.
My account was savings plus account(i.e savings account linked to MOD(Multi Option Deposit), wherein surplus funds above a threshold limit from the savings account is transferred automatically to Term deposits. Payments in excess of available balance in the savings bank account can be made by breaking MODs last in first out.
Because of the above fact, I had produced a Bank certificate signed by Branch Manager stating the amount available in my savings account.
Marriage certificate
Though it was not mentioned in the VFS Switzerland checklist, I had heard it is better to provide a copy of your marriage certificate as proof of your civil status, if you are married for more than 3 months.
If you are just married and yet to receive a marriage certificate, you can submit a NOC signed from both of your parents.
Disclaimer – I seriously dont know whether a copy of marriage certificate is necessary for applying Schengen visa. To be on a safer side, I did submit a copy of my marriage certificate.
Your passport should have at least 3 months validity after the scheduled return planned. If you have previous passports, bind it together with the new one while submitting.
2 Passport size photos not older than 6 months. Your face should take up 70-80% of your photo. Here’s the photo representation given in the checklist!
VISA Application
While making an online appointment, you have to fill your application form online at VFS site of the embassy you are applying to.
This should contain purpose, rough itinerary indicating the dates and plans for the day. You have to mention the supporting documents you are attaching with the application.
Before applying, you may please check the approved list of Indian Travel Insurance agencies. Your Travel Insurance should have a minimum coverage of 30000 Euro/50000 USD/50000 CHF. We got our travel insurance from BAJAJ ALLIANCE.
Don’t forget to bring Photocopies of first and last page of your passports.Appointment at VFS consulate
You have to make an appointment online at VFS consulate site of the embassy you are applying to.(For instance, VFS Switzerland).
There are two parts in the visa fee. One is Schengen fee (INR 6000) and another one is VFS service fee (INR 1350).
You can either pay the total fee at the VFS consulate(Cash or Demand draft only) or pay the VFS service fee online and the Schengen fee at VFS office. There are some VFS which accept cards too. (VFS – Chennai doesn’t accept cards)
Along with passport and supporting documents mentioned in the checklist, don’t forget to bring the Appointment letter and online payment confirmation receipt.
Yeah You heard it right.
You have to appear in person along with all the documents mentioned above.
You will be allowed to enter only 15 minutes before your appointment time. You will be allotted a queue number inside. Look for your queue number in the display screen and the counter you should be going.
At the counter, a VFS official will check all your documents. If all your documents are fine, you will have to give your fingerprints. (If not given in the last 5 years(Precisely 59 months) in any VFS office)
The processing time of the application varies based on the embassy you are applying to. Though the processing time mentioned in VFS site was 15 days, when your documents are in order, you will be able to receive your passport back with Schengen visa stamping within 7 days.
If Embassy requires additional documents, they may ask you to submit additional documents. If required, you may be called for an interview.
Usually for honeymoon couples, if all documents are in order, they will clear as early possible.
After processing your visa application at the embassy, you can either collect your passport at the VFS office or pay for the courier charge of INR 400 and get it delivered at your door step.
Happy travelling!!
