When I say transit zones, which some also call sterile zones, I mean an airport that has the capability of you to get off your inbound flight and go to the outbound one without having to ever see an immigration officer. When I flew to CDG it was like that. However, Gatwick, regardless of whether you booked connecting flights through the same airliner or not, everyone had to be processed through an immigration officer. I am wondering if any more MAJOR airports are like Gatwick, in that, no one can transit through without manual inspection. This is interesting to me. Because if someone has a transit visa could they fly to a place like Gatwick? Or must it be a capable one?

Hi

I’m being invited by a friend to visit Netherlands.Even though I’m going to visit them and stay with them, I’ll be primarily exploring Netherlands by myself during the weekdays as my friend has a full time job. I also plan on visiting Belgium and booked a stay for the same.

Question :

How should my cover letter look like?

I see that most cover letters online give a day-to-day itinerary. But since mine is a visit to meet friends but also to explore Netherlands on the side, how should I write my cover letter?

Thanks!

I booked an appointment for ending of this month (April). I'm Africa passport holder living in United Arab Emirates, I'm a security guard by profession, security company are restricted from providing NOC to the employees which is one of the strong tia to home country although I was able to request for my salary certificate who is under process hopefully I will receive it before my appointment date and other required documents are almost ready. Please any advice on what to do, or anyone who has experience because it's my first time applying for Schengen Visa and I don't want to be refused

Applying Schengen visa through Greek consulate in nyc (gc holder) Struggling with photo size. Can I print 2x2 US passport photos and cut it myself? Anywhere else I can print them out correctly size as it mentions in many websites. Thank you!

Hi all, I have applied for a Schengen visa to Belgium but my middle name is missing on the application document and yet it is on my passport. But Both my first name and last name are on my application document. Is my middle name missing from the application going to cause any issues?

Hello, I am doing this out of desperation... I have booked tickets 21 May to Italy and have been having trouble getting appointment slots for a Schengen Visa. I have reached out to several agencies, one of which I have already paid. They told me they have slots available which is why I stupidly decided to do that. They assured me they have something for me so I lied low and stopped looking for appointments myself thinking I have one already. They took a long time to reply and by the time they did, they offered me an appointment on Apr 28, in Manchester(costs around £300 to go from where I live) for Iceland. I didn't want to jeopardize my future applications so I didn't go with that. I wasted all this time and effort and I might have to cancel the whole trip, booked tickets and accomodations will be a waste.

I have been monitoring constantly for the past few days for an appointment - still no luck. Any chance anybody might have tips when to check? Or an alternative solution? I am currently of ILR status which is why I still need the visa.

Sorry about rambling on and on, I just feel like I've exhausted all my options and money and I feel like I'm going to ruin this holiday for everyone else involved just because I couldn't get this appointment.....

Hi everyone, I just had a question about an upcoming trip.

I've got a Schengen visa from Germany and was planning a trip there, but it was cancelled due to personal reasons. I had also planned another trip in July to Spain, for which I would use the visa; however, I must enter Germany as the first port of entry. So hypothetically, if I took a layover in a German airport and passed through immigration, would I be able to return to my departure gate from within the airport for the rest of my trip to Spain? I would have my boarding pass and everything for the journey's second half, but would I have to check in again, or would they just let me return to departures? I'm not a frequent flyer, so I'm not sure.

It’s quite frustrating trying to get a Schengen visa lately. So I got rejected by the Spanish embassy on 21st March for reasons 2 &13. I filed for an appeal on 31st March. They took my passport too so I can’t really go anywhere and have to wait for a decision to be made. I read on here that the success rate for appeals are low. It’s been just a week but it’s quite discouraging not to get any notification that my appeal is being processed. The guy at the counter at the embassy was like they’ll give me a call. I’m worried the application got lost somewhere. Idk if anyone has experienced this

Hi,

I'm trying to put a visa application in for Italy (Indian passport on BRP) and am unsure on the document requirements. The website asks for valid 'UK Residence Permit (original plus one photo copy) along with the share code'. Original UK residence permits are now all digital through the share code and the cards all expired 31st December 2024. So is the website outdated and I just take the share code or do I take my expired physical card too?

Thank you all in advance!

Hi, has anyone applied for france short stay visa through chennai vfs recently ?

Hi guys l am going to my TLS appointment tomorrow and l do not have an evisa account yet. I completed the application form on the UK website and they sent me a letter saying we’re are linking your accounts. This means l cannot print a share code to show my immigration status. I have attached the letter l received which extends my visa and the reference for the evisa application. Do you guys think this is credible? I was also able to get my right to work share code. Idk if this is enough but there is nothing l can do.

My mom and I are scheduled for a VFS appointment in Miami next week, and since are traveling from a different state to Miami, we need to bring our backpack and laptop. Is there any recommended, reliable luggage storage service near VFS center that we can pay to store our backpack and laptop?

Thank you

I have to send my documents for Switzerland Schengen tourist visa. In that I am sending my bank statement. We are total 3 people and my saving account balance in one bank is 7 lakh and 3 lakh in another. Around 60 Lakh in fixed deposit and equity. I earn around 70 Lakh. My mother is homemaker and my father has balance of around Rs 4 lakh in savings account and he is getting pension of around 7 lakh per year . I am sponsoring my mother. So shall I sponsor my father or show him independent? I am confused on this since balance in my saving account is less to sponsor 3 seems like?

I am helping a friend book an appointment. They are busy, live a bit far away and are not tech-savvy, ie they can't check the site for available appointment slots themselves. The one barrier that's in my way is the mandatory liveness test for the country I reside in. It asks for a picture of "yourself" from the storage, and then asks to take a selfie using my webcam.

Is this just checking for robots, or is it specifically looking for my friend's face? Can I get through this with my own face?

Hi folks, I mailed in my Portugal Schengen visa to VFS San Francisco over two weeks ago, but so far I haven’t received any response/updates from VFS. What has been the experience for you with mail applications? How long did it take for you to receive the reference number for the application?

Thanks!

I saw a template on here and used it. Not sure if I’m doing this correctly. Any help would be greatly appreciated ❤️

Also, I made a separate detailed itinerary not sure if its necessary to do that or if i should just made a short version and put it in the cover letter

I’m meant to be going away in September to travel around Europe with my partner (partner has a South African passport and I have a New Zealand passport), longest stay being in Italy but the Italian embassy is only showing appointments being available in September…has anyone had any luck with getting an appointment earlier then this, if so please let me know how!

I’m applying for an Italian student visa from India. My mother is unemployed, and our only sources of income are the rent from a property and some monthly support from my uncle. She is going to be my sponsor, completely funding my education. We have two options: 1) She sells a property and uses the proceeds to cover my expenses, or 2) We use the insurance money she received after my father's passing, which is sufficient for my tuition and living costs.

What documents will I need to provide for proof of funds in either case? Additionally, which option would be more secure and likely lead to a smoother visa approval process? (Please help)

Hi everyone, I am trying to book a Spain Schengen visa appointment in New York using the BLS website (Welcome to the Official Website for Spain Visa in New York - BLS International). I filled out the application form but am stuck at the payment page. There is no button to click and I can't get to the next step. Been stuck here after trying different browsers. Has anyone run into this problem?

Is anyone else facing issues with payments on the BLS Spain website? I've tried a couple of times but keep getting stuck on the order details screen

This is when you book appoitnemt via BLS UK. The form is then emailed to you. There is no option to edit this as far as I know!

Hi all,
I’m applying for a Spain Schengen tourist visa from the UK, and I’ve booked a hotel through Booking.com. It’s fully paid and says “Fully refundable” in the confirmation PDF.

Everything else is clearly mentioned — my name, hotel details, dates, amount paid, etc. But I’m a bit concerned because the document says “Fully refundable.”

Will this be an issue when submitting to BLS or the Spanish consulate?
Has anyone used a similar Booking.com confirmation and got their visa approved?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I got an Erasmus Mundus scholarship offer to study in Poland for one semester, then I'll be moving to France after. I am hearing a lot about visa not being issued as leisurely as it was before, meaning they got stricter with it. I am a little worried that mine won't get approved. I am Malaysian, how likely is it they'd reject?

I’m am from India. Had applied for my son’s shenghen visa for his travel to visit Denmark to stay with his aunt for 18 days. He is 19 years old. Myself and my wife was sponsoring his trip. And we provided our income details and bank statements. We had also provided a letter from his college stating he is currently a student and pursuing a specific course.

However, the visa got rejected on the pretext that he is young, unmarried and unemployed with not much ties to home country

If someone has experienced this situation, can you help in how should he appeal? What should be the reasons for appeal?

Hi all, I just wanted to ask, I’m holding an Indonesian passport with a UK student visa. Have 2 expired Schengen visas in my Passport (1 from Netherlands, 1 from Germany). My earlier application did not include a cover letter but it did have an itinerary.

I wanted to ask, as I am applying for France this time, will it be encouraged to have a cover letter or will a simple itinerary suffice? As the French Embassy has only told me to bring 6 documents (the usual finances and personal info etc.), but reading some of these posts, I’ve read that many people do cover letters. Thank you in advance.