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You're eager to experience the freedom and romance of France, the pristine mountains and waters of Switzerland, the rich history of Italy, the passionate passion of Spain, and the romantic waters of Greece with your loved ones...but facing the tedious and complex visa application process, you're completely lost. What should you do? This European travel visa guide is for you. China-TravelNote's visa specialists will help you understand the rules of the Schengen short-stay visa in seconds!
A visa is a document issued by a country's immigration administration (a foreign consulate in a country) to foreign citizens to indicate their approval for entry. It is a permit issued by a sovereign state to allow foreign citizens or its own citizens to enter, exit or pass through the border.
Schengen is a small town on the southeastern border of Luxembourg. In 1985, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Germany signed an agreement in Schengen, Luxembourg, aimed at unifying national security and refugee policies within the European Community. Twenty-six countries have signed the Schengen Agreement.
Under the Schengen Agreement, a visa issued by one Schengen member state is considered valid in all other member states, allowing travel without a separate visa. Schengen member states have abolished regular border checks at their internal borders, but reserve the right to conduct random checks or temporarily reinstate regular border checks when necessary.
The 26 Schengen countries are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Malta.
First, list all the Schengen countries you have visited, calculate the total number of days you have stayed in each country, and choose the Schengen country with the longest stay as the country of application. If there are several countries with the same length of stay, the country you entered first will be selected for processing.
For example, if you choose to enter from France for 3 days, play in Italy for 6 days and then fly back to China, you should apply for a visa from Italy; if you enter from France for 3 days, Italy for 3 days and Germany for 3 days, you should apply for a visa from France.
Regarding Schengen visa processing, the efficiency and strictness of visa processing vary from country to country. While processing times are relatively fast for the most popular countries like France, Germany, and Italy, they can be more volatile during the peak summer season. Only by strictly following the consulate's application materials and ensuring they meet the requirements can your visa approval rate be increased.
The earliest you can apply is 90 days before the date of travel, and the normal processing time is 15-20 working days. The time it takes for the applicant to prepare the documents in the early stage cannot be estimated. If the application is submitted to a travel agency, the time starts from the receipt of the complete documents. After receiving the documents, it takes us 3-5 working days to prepare the documents (including translation of all documents, filling out the English application form, preparing the flight reservation form, hotel reservation form, itinerary form, insurance purchase, etc.). Some consulates require an appointment, and the specific time should be made based on the information provided by the consulate at the time. After submitting the visa, the consulate will take 5-10 working days to review and issue the visa (some may extend the processing time). Therefore, the entire process takes 15-20 working days. (For reference)
No interview is required, but biometric fingerprinting is required. According to new EU regulations, starting October 12, 2015, all Schengen visa applicants aged 12 and over must provide their biometric data (commonly known as fingerprinting and taking a photo) in person at a visa application center (or, in special circumstances, at an embassy or consulate). Biometric data for Schengen visas is valid for 59 months, and the visa page will be marked with "VIS."
Tips:
After submitting a visa application to any Schengen country, if your biometric data has been collected and a visa has been successfully obtained, you do not need to appear in person again for subsequent applications, even if the country you are applying to is not the Schengen country you previously applied to. You can choose to have someone else or a travel agency submit the application on your behalf. When submitting a new Schengen visa application, you only need to provide the visa number and a copy of the visa page as proof. However, there are exceptions. For some Schengen countries, even if you have successfully collected your biometric data, you still need to appear in person when applying for a Schengen visa for that country.
The materials in Europe are relatively complicated, so here is a brief introduction:
Passport, 2-inch photo with white background, ID card copy, household registration book copy (all information pages), work certificate (retirement certificate, enrollment certificate), marriage certificate, bank statement, property certificate, travel certificate, overseas medical insurance, etc. The above materials should be provided according to the actual situation.
If there are two special circumstances: additional notarization and certification are required
1. Minors under 18 years old
Situation 1: Both parents are traveling together. Required additional documents:
Notarized and authenticated birth certificate of the child/notarized and authenticated kinship certificate.
Situation 2: Only one parent is traveling with the child. Required additional documents:
① Notarized and authenticated medical birth certificate/notarized certificate of kinship of the child; ② Notarized and authenticated power of attorney for guardianship of one parent.
Case 3: Both parents are not traveling together and additional documents are required:
① Notarized and authenticated medical birth certificate/notarized certificate of kinship of the child; ② Notarized and authenticated power of attorney for guardianship issued by both parents (the principal must be an adult).
2. Those with no source of income (students over 18 years old, freelance housewives)
1) Original proof of employment and bank statements from the person paying for your trip (spouse, parent, etc.).
2) An original notarized copy of the kinship certificate of the person providing your travel expenses (spouse, parents, etc.).
1. Bring your household registration booklet, ID card, and other documents (due to regional differences, it's recommended to call and inquire about required documents beforehand to avoid wasted trips) to a local notary office for notarization. Notarization certificate templates are readily available at any notary office, and the notarization process typically takes 5-7 business days.
② If legalization is required, please bring the sealed notarized document to the local government Foreign Affairs Office (full name: Foreign Affairs Office, such as Beijing Foreign Affairs Office) for legalization.
▶ Which ones are more important and add points? (Golden Five)
1. Proof of employment. A stable job situation will determine whether you have a certain level of ties in the country and whether you have a stable source of income.
2. Salary current account statement. The transaction records on the statement can be used to judge your income level and spending power. Since a trip to Europe requires at least 20,000 to 30,000 yuan per person, a low bank statement amount may result in a visa rejection. In particular, do not deposit large amounts of cash on the last day. If you plan to travel to Europe, you must have a good bank statement. Now that Jack Ma's Alipay is too convenient, many friends have encountered difficulties with this item.
3. Traveling with family or friends: The chances of getting a visa are higher for applicants traveling with family or friends than for applicants traveling alone with a blank visa (i.e., a visa they have never traveled to before). Visa officers believe that traveling with family or friends is more appropriate for first-time applicants traveling to Europe or the United States.
4. Proof of assets. For example, real estate, driving license, etc., to prove that you have a large amount of property in China, which is binding and will increase the chances of getting a visa.
5. Exit record: It will be easier to get a visa if you have a good exit record, especially if you have exit records from developed countries such as Europe, America, and Australia.
According to Schengen visa requirements, applicants must present their planned flight and hotel itinerary. You can provide reservations. Payment will be made after the visa is issued. P.S.: Our agency will prepare a complete flight and hotel itinerary for you. However, it is recommended that you provide a realistic hotel itinerary. Therefore, it is best to have a rough itinerary plan before applying for a visa. Don't claim you plan to be away for one or two months. Providing an inaccurate itinerary will affect your visa application.
The key to visa approval lies in the visa officer's final decision based on the applicant's submitted documents, not the agency's. (No agency can guarantee a 100% visa approval rate; they can only judge the approval rate based on their experience with the documents. Submit your documents completely and flawlessly.) The key to success lies in convincing the embassy's VO that you are not overstaying illegally and will definitely return to your home country. All the documents you prepare are designed to prove this point. Therefore, be clear about your intended purpose and prepare all visa documents around it. Provide plenty of evidence that you will return to your home country. This is what's mentioned in item 4 of this article.
In short, the plus points are: 1. Stable income of 8K per month 2. Employed 3. Have colleagues 4. Good travel record 5. Married with assets
After the documents are processed, they are submitted to the visa center. When you hear the name, you will think that it is a place with power. In fact, it is just an intermediary agency that collects the documents and visa fees of the applicants and conducts pre-examination for the consulate. Currently, there are visa centers in many cities. You can choose the city closest to you to handle the application. Ps: I have a few points to share with you.
1. The visa application center is only responsible for collecting documents and does not represent the consulate. It has no decision-making power on visa applications.
2. Visa centers are also for-profit organizations, and they often charge fees based on various pretexts (real examples: 1. They say your documents are inaccurate and can't be accepted, but then say you can get a VIP visa for 260 yuan and that's all that's needed; 2. Your photo isn't up to standard and you need to take a new one; 3. You have to choose express delivery for 65 yuan per copy). The examples I've collected are all real, and we welcome your feedback!
How to deal with this: If you encounter this situation, you can confirm with the visa center again or ask them to produce written regulations and keep them as evidence. You can decide whether to pay the money based on the situation.
After submitting your visa, you will arrive at the consulate. If the VO has questions about the documents you submitted, they will conduct a telephone investigation to verify the credibility of the documents. The questions asked by the visa officer are very trivial and even bizarre, such as: salary income, holiday arrangements, company personnel situation, itinerary arrangements, accommodation, what transportation will be used on the day, etc. The telephone investigation will call multiple parties for inquiry, so the information provided must be true and reliable. You should also inform the people around you and your company of the recent visa application status. It is important that the phone is open and the questions are answered correctly.
After receiving your visa, be sure to carefully check your personal information, including the validity period, length of stay, and number of entries, to ensure it doesn't match your actual itinerary or contain an incorrect passport number. Note: Consulates can sometimes make mistakes during peak season. Be sure to bring your insurance policy and hotel reservations with you when traveling, as they may be checked by immigration officers upon arrival.
Understand the Schengen visa page in one minute↓
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