Hello,

we are planning for a trip to europe in april or may this year and few questions..we are indian citizens living in US and on AOS status (using advance parole documents to come back to US). We live in des moines, Iowa.

We are checking out various sites for the trip planning and as of now we are planning to visit Zurich,Lucerne,Venice,Florence,Rome in that order..This works out better for us with direct flights out of chicago.

Since Iam visiting Swiss first, Iam planning to apply for Schengen Visa at Swiss embassy in Chicago, I checked out their requirements..would that be OK or do I have to visit Italian embassy? i have heard bad reviews about italian embassy in chicago.

Iam hoping weather will be good in swiss and italy in april and may.

I Need some clarifications about swiss embassy requirements though.
1. Confirmed Flight tickets: I understand we only have to submit some itinerary from a website like europeandestinations.com.
2. Purchased Hotel reservations: This requirement is not clear to me..do I have to book and purchase hotel reservations in all cities iam visiting or just in the first city iam landing (zurich) ? does it have to be purchased tickets or can I print out from a website? whats the best way to get a hotel reservation and not pay lot of money beforehand?
3. Travel Insurance: Do I have to purchase travel insurance before i go for visa or just a quote from some website would work?
4. Do we have to visit swiss embassy personally or can I mail all my applications to them for visa? Can I ask for multiple entry visa?

I sent an email to swiss chicago embassy but have not received any response ..may be I have to call them hoping they can answer my questions.

Any help is appreciated..Thank You.