Which Schengen embassy to apply to in DEL?
 

I guess this thread doesn't really fit here but there's no other place to put a thread like this.

Title says it all. I need a visa in 15 calendar days. I know the rules - need to apply to country of max stay. Two questions:

1. Who can process it in 15 days? I know there are no guarantees, but based on past experience? I'm flexible in terms of which country I end up visiting but I leave out of Belgium and am definitely thinking of spending 3-4 days in Brugge if not more. I'm thinking the Germans and the Swiss can probably process a visa the fastest. What about the Belgians? The French? The Portugese? Trying to stick to going to Western Europe. I think the Greeks and the Italians are out for fast processing.

2. Can I show max stay in the country where I apply and then reduce the no. of days there after getting a visa such that it is not max? I know it's frowned upon to not visit the country you applied from but is this also a big no-no? FWIW, I've had multiple Schengen visas before incl. a German residence permit.

I will also be throwing in a trip to Croatia since Indians can visit visa-free with a Schengen this year but will not show this to the Schengen embassy and will change flight tickets later. Take it that's not a problem...

I thought you had to fly into the country for which you received the visa. Then you can go anywhere. But I might be wrong.

I think it used to be based on the Port of Entry (which would be a hell of a lot more convenient - hello Germany!) but now it's based on country of max stay. I think some countries like Belgium still let you apply based on either PoE or max stay, but it's inconsistent and I've found most countries want the max stay in their country.

I believe the rule is the country that is your main destination of the first trip you'll take on the visa. So, if you are making only one trip and visiting primarily that country, then you'd apply to that country. If you are going to make multiple trips on the same visa (i.e. return to India in between), then you'd visit the country that you are visiting on the first trip. If you are visiting several countries equally, you have some wiggle room.

That's good to know.

4 days in Brugge! Are you being punished?

Just be careful, in that you will need a multiple-entry visa

Unless you've travelled to Europe a lot already and can show you need more then one entry on this trip, they will not automatically give you a multiple-entry visa (depends somewhat on consulate, but it's true generally).

True. Stunning as Bruges is, four days is two days too many.

you are................. the country in which you mostly will be staying is the proper place to get your visa REGARDLESS of what country your POE is............

i think this thread would have been more apt in the 'india' forum....

if you are interested i can give you the number for my ta who prepares & submits all my visa applications on my behalf....i have been using these guys for over 10 years now....pm me if you want the details....

Thanks, I overlooked that multiple entry hassle. I've always gotten a multiple entry visa as far as I remember but it was in the US where they are more lenient. I guess I will show two trips to/from London to France - I guess I'll also have to show a fully refundable plane ticket or something because they're not going to take my word that I'll just buy a train ticket once there or after getting the visa.

Thanks, I usually do my visa apps myself since I need to prepare the sutff anyway, even with a TA.

But any opinions on who processes visas fast? I've read on Indian Compass that the French are more lenient in issuing longer duration visas so was thinking about using them but am wary how efficient they are. There was also a random post that claimed the process changed in Feb 2012 and is now backed up for months but I couldn't find any more information or evidence of this. How about the Belgians? The Dutch?

And any opinions on changing itinerary once I've got the visa? I don't think I'll have a problem but just wanted to make sure.

The french are the most laid back wrt schengen visa processing in India. The germans have way too many rules (including a personal appearance at the consulate if you haven't been to germany at least once in the last two years .. after which they'd likely give you a single entry visa if that's the case, no matter that you got a ton of multiple entry visas before).

The last time I got a german schengen they claimed I'd not submitted a letter from m my employer (original so had to be couriered over from HK at that time) and rejected it. I called the german consulate and told them I'd actually submitted it. They were like "oh sorry, but we already rejected, you got to resubmit". Then I resubmitted - with a fresh letter fedexed over - and what do you know, the visa fee had gone up by 15 euro the very next day after they rejected my application, and moreover they gave me just a 15 day single entry visa when my last french schengen was a 1 year multiple entry that'd just expired 3 months back.

***censored*** .. surprised that they'd go to such an extent for a mere 15 euro more in visa fees.

Amazing. How long does the French embassy take typically? I'm leaning towards going with them unless someone recommends the Swiss or the Belgians.

The US does a lot of things wrong, but a 10 yr multiple entry tourist visa is one thing they got right. And right now you can get an appointment tomorrow and they'll process it in a day.

EDIT: Oh, and BTW, do the French insist on a prepaid reservation?

I'd recommend Belgium
 

French are actually one of the slowest; while it varies from case to case, they generally take 8-10 working days.

Belgians are actually known to be the fastest - on average, they take 3-4 working days. Only bad experience with Belgians that I know of was with one of my friends whose visa took 3 weeks.

Germany is quite timely but you need to appear in person. All in all, my suggestion is to go for Belgium.

Ze Germans hooked me up in 24 hours (normal application) but that was in fair Bombay.

Any old reservation will do .. as long as you show proof you're staying and have a previous history of travel.

Also - note that you can book train tickets on the thalys, eurostar, deutschebahn etc online and attach a printout. My last trip was just like that .. 9W MAA<->BRU, BRU-CDG-BRU by train, booked online on the thalys website.

Thanks. I'm going to book refundable tickets on Eurostar. Costs 550 GBP per person!

I will 99.99% modify my travel plans after getting the visa so booking fully refundable tickets is key. At the same time, I don't want to get dinged for visa shopping. But I guess they only care about the most egregious violators who don't go to the country from which they got the Schengen.

Most of them will give you schenghen in 1-3 days. But most of them have always given me for limited dates.

I hear that some circumstances/ consulates you can get 10 year schenghen (used to get before? ) for business / tour?

Ten years? No chance. It doesn't even exist. Hell, even the full residence permits have shorter validity now!

You can get two-year circulation visas (maybe even three now) but that is usually for work only, and that too with a letter from an European company / institution and after having travelled to the same place often.

These aren't typically given to folks visiting Europe as tourists.

Max validity of Schengen visas is 5 years and that too is restricted only to countries with treaty agreements for this (eg. Russia).

For Indians, 2 years is the current maximum permitted. I've received 2 year Schengen visas consecutively from the Dutch, French, Germans and Dutch again in various parts of the world over the last few years.

Never had to show any invitation from a European partner (just a covering letter from myself), but I have over 200 visits to 18 different Schengen countries during this period so I guess I'm considered low risk as a result.

My stepfather got a multiple entry schengen visa from the Germans for free (since he was married to a German) with a max limitation of 90 day stay each time. It was also limited to two years. Indians won't get anything longer than that from the Germans.

The reason the Germans are so restrictive (in general) is that there has been massive abuse in the past and Germany seems to be the 'it' place for fake asylum seekers to head to. There is a large Punjabi community here (west and east :)) who threw their passports away and claimed to be Khalistanis in the 80s to get asylum. The laws have been tightened since, but the fear of consular officers remains.

Also there were a few visa scandals in Ukraine and other eastern european German consular officers looking away when issuing visas for people who eventually stayed on in the EU.

So if you can, apply for a Benelux or French visa.

Yep, evidence of travel / need to travel is what they seem to weigh more based on friends' experiences.

I have a residence permit, so I haven't actually ever applied for one myself!

If there was some consistency in getting a 2 yr visa that would be great. Over the years I've diverted a lot of my tourist dollars to other countries owing to the difficulties of getting a Schengen visa (as compared to other visas). Suffice to say that if they consistently issued me a 2 yr visa, I'd be buying a lot more of the East Coast to Europe fares that consistently pop up on FT.

I've never received a 2yr Schengen visa though I have had a 1.5 yr residence permit. I've only applied for a Schengen once after that at the Swiss consulate in SF and they were willing to issue a one year visa (I think my residence permit played a big role) but my I-20 expired before the end of the year so they had to cut it short. Let's hope I can get a long visa based on the residence permit.

What residence permit are you talking about? If you mean a student visa in America, then don't expect that to count for very much.

You're likely being denied a longer-validity visa not because they think you're going to disappear in the Alps. It's almost certainly because they don't see (or you've been unable to show) a need for it.

That said, I have a friend who applied for a visa from the French to attend the Paris Air Show a few years ago to order some planes from Airbus. He was denied, despite a whole host of paperwork and invitations from EADS.

Reason? "You must provide company registration and bank statement of inviting company". :D

A few phonecalls at consular level later the visa was quickly issued, but it does show how bureaucracy can sometimes go a bit crazy.

I can top that. Argentinian visa clerk (well, semi educated delhiwala working for the argentinian embassy) telling me that he doesn't recognize the UN. Some argentinian govt calls to the consul later the visa was issued very quickly indeed.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/15649458-post31.html

My cousin works for the The Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics as a theoretical physicist (thing Sheldon of the Bing Bang Theory) Professor and last year was invited by the Max Plank Institute in Muinich to come give a lecture. Because of the close ties to the Department of Atomic Energy his visa was denied just a day before the planned departure, after which he contacted the MPI to ask for help. One fax later the German consulate calls him up and ask why he didn't apply that way from the beginning and they would issue a free visa on the spot if he would come to the consulate immediately :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Hahah!

More than just a bit... Bureaucracy tends to go a lot crazy a lot of the time.

However, the stated principles are what we have to go with, at least as a starting point. And whether one likes them or not, and whatever one might think of them, one must more or less follow them in order to go to Europe.

I would wager though that there are few things dumber than the "no return within 6 months" our own government has come up with.

Is it 6 months now? I thought it was 2 months.

Anyway, the rule is not so dumb since they allow tourists on the same itinerary to come back to India.

I kind of agree with the basic premise of the law- keep out the foreign terrorist-type people. And also the foreign businessmen who come to India on tourist visas.

And the characters that populate Goa (etc) with a 5 year/6 month tourist visa and used to keep flying to BKK or KTM every 6 months.

true i am agree with you.

German Aufenthaltstitel. So not just a US F1.

It's funny that the Americans usually don't want to see a 'need' before issuing a 10yr visa. They are also now starting to waive interviews for low risk applicants who apply within 48 months of their old visa expiring.

If only that a couple of you stated above were the reasons or even if those reasons were an actual problem in the grand scheme of things.

The whole business resulted from construction companies bringing in Chinese labourers under tourist visas. Surely there are other, more sensible ways to address that problem than to stick the same restrictions on everyone. It's silly enough that we demand a visa of everyone in the first place, but to then add this additional impediment (that's still not 100% clear and is not applied consistently) is just dumb.

Let's face it, we really can't afford to turn away a single tourist.

On the contrary, I am all for eliminating visa restrictions completely for a big chunk of the world (all of Europe, nearly all of East and Southeast Asia, the whole Western Hemisphere, all the littla Pacific islands...)

See, you got an Aufenthaltstitel when you needed one for the period you needed it.

It's a need-based system they use. If you need a visitor visa for two years, you will get it.

Very few countries give long-validity blanket visas anyway. Is that easier on the traveller? Of course. But that's the way it is.

The visa application process helps not just screen visa applicants but also serves as a source of revenue for MEA.

I don't really think we are turning back many tourists. Most people who want to visit India really want to visit it and are willing to get an Indian visa. This is atleast the case in N America, western Europe. I'm not that familiar with SE Asia and the Orient - I admit things could be different for visitors from those countries.

I think the only visitors we are losing with this visa requirement are those who choose not to transit for a couple of days through India. While it does suck to lose these visitors, I think these losses are outweighed by the monetary and other benefits we get from having a visa system.

Actually, no I didn't. My Aufenthaltstitel lasted for one whole year longer than I needed it. I almost got denied entry at MUC once because of their 'mistake' in giving a longer visa than I needed but that's another story. Even after that 'almost denied entry', I used that residence permit three times to enter Schengen through Germany without any issues.

I've also been issued Schengen visas in the US for longer duration than I 'needed'.

Think about it another way. The reason countries require visas is so that people don't come and stay over illegaly. Now think about a person who overstays - they are likely to do it the first time they go, correct? By giving people a short-term one-time visa instead of a long-term visa makes no sense, regardless of need. The person who is going to illegally immigrate is most likely to do it the first time irrespective of whether he has a multiple entry or a single entry visa. So by corollary, if they think the person is 'good enough' to let in once, the person is most likely 'good enough' to be given a long term multiple entry visa.

To put it yet another way, the US Consulates and DoS grant a non-immigrant visa only if a person doesn't display immigration intent (legal or illegal, but in the case of a tourist visa, this normally implies illegal). So if they issue a visa, they think the person is kosher for a long time. If they aren't the slightest bit sure, they simply don't issue any visa - short-term or long-term. They don't hedge - "oh, let's give a three month visa instead of a 5 yr visa, maybe the person won't overstay in the three months."

The Schengen zone is also crazy about not issuing long-term visas to people who have had multiple Schengens in the past. The Europeans too need every tourist they can get these days.

Also not true. Visa waiver programs that are in place for most First World are effectively 'long-validity blanket visas'. But you are correct I guess in that the only countries that issue long-term visas that I know of are the UK and the US. And the 10 yr UK visa is now prohibitively expensive for anyone not being reimbursed for it. I consider myself fortunate to have one issued in 2006 that is still valid for another 4 years.

Not to mention the feeling of righteousness by having reciprocity!

This is simply not true. People's circumstances change. A periodic review (every 2-5 years for example) of circumstances prior to issuing a new visa is not unreasonable.

Stupid Indian government rule. Most foreign-terrorist type people don't need a visa to get into India. They cross by land or over water without even using a formal port of entry. I truly cannot understand why educated people anywhere agree with stupid rules that are so blatantly ineffective via-a-vis the excuse of a concern given for instituting the re-entry restriction.

German +1
 

+1 for German .. I got in 24hours at Bangalore .. One need to appear in person and they need papers in strict order and for first timer, they stamp it single entry only. (Even though I had invite for multiple entry during year along with Hotels and Itenaries)

I have taken with Sweden embassy in Delhi as well but it takes 4-5 days and mostly they are liberal with multiple entries VISA.

Which means for trips to germany try to fly into somewhere they're more liberal with visas (france etc) - and work in two or three days holiday in paris as well into the itinerary.

And try to stick to the same schengen embassy for all your european trips. You have a better chance of getting a multiple entry visa that way.

Which Countries Embassy/ Consulate out of the Schenghen is going to be most liberal with giving a longer term multiple entry TOURIST visa?

I've had Multiple Visas and have lived in the US 7+ years, visited Europe several times.
F1, H1, UK Tourist, Schenghen Tourist (Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany), Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand.

I'd like to apply to those who give the longest visa multiple entry as I am planning several months travel across Europe, then US & then back through Europe again.

PS: My family home is Bombay.