Thousands of Schengen visa applications are refused each year simply because the application form is completed incorrectly, not enough financial evidence is provided or incorrect documents are provided with the application. Don’t waste money applying for a Schengen visa before you know all the requirements.
It started with an idea: 10 days of sun and sand spent in one of many popular resorts in Spain. My fiancé and I spent weeks planning our itinerary, researching accommodation, logistics and so on. Then came the dreaded realization that we needed a visa if we intended to travel on said ‘dream holiday’ which slowly turned into a nightmare. I wanted to share my experience with others.
We applied for a Schengen visa via VFS Global, the company the Spanish Consulate (one of many) has outsourced its visa application process to. We completed our visa application form and gathered the required documents and paid the non-refundable visa application fee of £75.
Booking our flights and accommodation to Spain was a pre-requisite before applying for a Schengen visa. A week before our departure we went to collect our passports only to find out that our visas had both been refused. Time constraints meant we were unable to reapply and the money spent on the visa application fee and flights (over £350) was money down the drain.
Fortunately we were able to cancel our accommodation without incurring further costs. At no point could anyone at the visa processing centre tell us why our application had been refused. After some research and many phone calls later we found out that we had insufficient funds in our accounts at the time of the application. (You need at least £50 in your account per day that you intend to stay in the Schengen country). This information wasn’t displayed anywhere on the Spanish…
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