Applying for schengen visa is a little hard, maybe for me, cause I have little time to complete my requirements, haha
I've been searching a lot on what countries and cities I'll be visiting, but I still can't decide, because there are so many places I want to go but so little time, LOL...Not to mention this is my most awaited dream..this was my plan way back 2012, but I opted to go to Japan instead of Europe, which was a good thing...but its about damn time, haha.
And I haven't found a cheap round trip ticket (budget traveler here :D)
How and which embassy to apply?
In cases where the applicant will be traveling to one and only one Schengen country, the applicant has to apply at the appropriate embassy/consulate of the certain country.
If the applicant is planning to visit two or more Schengen countries, it is highly recommended to be applying for the visa in the embassy/consulate of the country you will be residing in for most of the traveling days, referred to as the main destination.
In case there is no main destination but just a random visit to several Schengen countries, the applicant has to apply for the visa in the embassy/consulate on the first Schengen country he/she will enter according to the itinerary.
Reference: http://www.schengenvisainfo.com/how-to-apply-schengen-visa/
Since I will be spending more days in Italy, I reserved an appointment date with Italy embassy. My initial plan is to visit Europe by November and now my time is ticking, haha (it's already September!)
But I'm still confused what countries and cities to visit..
Well, it did end, when finally I found a cheap roundtrip ticket through KLM. From Toronto-Amsterdam-Barcelona-Toronto for CA$557. Score!!! I need to grab that one as in now!!
Requirements for Schengen Visa:
- Detailed itinerary
- Round trip tickets (or reservation plane tickets)
- Passport (photocopy)
- Permanent Resident card (if applicable)
- Required photo (2 hard copies - passport sized photographs)
- 3 months bank statement
- Recent credit card statement (can be optional)
- Certificate of employment
- 3 most recent pay stubs
- Photocopies of all your travel stamps (I also included some in my old passport)
- and covered letter explaining why I'll be visiting the schengen countries, hehe
But while preparing some of the requirements, I found an earliest appointment date in France Embassy, so I changed my itinerary. I will be staying in France longer than the other countries I will also be visiting.
I just have a short time planning and doing some reservations for hostel/backpackers accommodations. In Amsterdam I need to pay full amount of my reserved room, but for the other accommodations, I just paid for the reservation/booking fee.
It is not advisable to buy your plane tickets if you don't have your visa yet, haha..but it was a promo ticket!! :D So if my application for visa will not be approved, all the fees that I paid, hmm..bye bye CA$600 :(
And the day has come...surprisingly, I was the only one in the embassy, or we were two, after some time. I was there 20 mins early.
So the consular officer, asked for my requirements.
After scanning the documents, she asked where I'll be going and when.
Then she checked the reservations for all of my accommodations, which I was questioned, because some of it, doesn't include my check out time and some didn't state the address of the hostel (my bad I didn't checked it before I print my confirmation email from the hostels). I asked that she can check my itinerary for the address, but she is so strict that she doesn't care what my itinerary is, because she wanted to know the days I plan to stay on a certain countries and that should be stated in the reservations I presented. So I just explained it to her, so on and so forth.
After checking all of my requirements, she asked me to pay for the application (debit or cash only for CA$88), and then wait for 10 working days(maximum). They will email me if the passport is ready for pick up.
The other applicant's interview was quick compare to mine haha..he was asked where he will be going, and that's it. We both leave at the same time.
After 5 working days, I received an email, that my visa was approved and I can pick it up on the said date and time.. I was granted multiple entries for 50 days..YAY! This is it :D
Here's my detailed itinerary and covered letter :D
Well it's not detailed, as I didn't state the places I will be visiting per city, just in France.
And I hope it will not be a problem :D
Labels: Europe travel blog, Schengen Visa, solo backpacker in Europe, Travel Visa
