Schengen Visa Itinerary

Of course, we all want to travel, and with Europe attracting a large number of tourists from India we are only more enthusiastic now! There has also been an increase in the number of tourists recently, and this has raised a lot of queries regarding the Schengen Visa among Indians, and how to apply for it. Quite simply put, it is a magical item for travellers.

Often, it’s considered as a hassle to apply for the visa, because requirements and formalities of an application process takes lots of efforts. Along with this, the fear of getting your visa rejected always lurks in mind.

This is the reason why travel agents and tours operators are minting money from travellers, and ignorance lands many in booking hefty package deals for Europe.

The countries issuing Schengen visas currently are Austria,Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Here are the few things that one needs to keep in my mind while planning to apply for the Schengen Visa.

– Plan your trip 3-4 months before with your itinerary; it is always feasible to select the cities you want to explore, which are nearby to each other, so that you can deduct the travel expenses and travelling time. The perfect idea would be to go for Eastern Europe or Western Europe in one go.

– The idea behind spending less on  airticket is to go through deep research before booking your flight tickets and browse through 4-5 booking sites to get the best price of the ticket, and booking for a week-day ticket might give you the best deal.

– Bookyour hotels in advance like your flights, and try to go for refundable options, in case your plans change to stay somewhere else, you can cancel the booking anytime and go for other options available at that moment. One can book 2-3 stars hotels if travelling with the family, and hostels if travelling with friends or in groups.

– Collect all your bank documents with the bank stamp on it, marriage certificate if you are married, 6 months bank statement, savings statement, and any other document through which you can showcase your net worth.

– Get your no objection certificate from your workplace, if you are working. That helps a lot, from not getting any rejections.

– Book your flight tickets or bus tickets in advance, as travelling by trains will be expensive. There are many low-cost buses and airlines operating between cities.

– Goto an insurance company and get the travel insurance, basic plan for the trip.

– Take the print out of all the bank documents, booking details of hotels, insurance and inter-city flights, or bus tickets you have booked for your trip.

– Self attest all the documents, and book an appointment for the VFS centre of the country, where you want to land first.

– Carry all your documents and submit at the VFS centre on your appointment day, and give your digital fingerprints at the centre and hope for the best.

Rest assured, you are in for a crazy Euro trip if you can get your Schengen visa sorted, and the idea is to pay as little as possible.

Okay, I will be addressing the elephant in the room- the Schengen Visa. Every Indian who dreams of travelling to Europe goes through this ordeal of applying for a Schengen Visa from India and waiting for the verdict. Thankfully, Schengen Visa application is not as tedious as the US visa application and there’s no formal interview for the same. I have applied for a Schengen Tourist Visa three times and my application was processed instantaneously and visa was approved almost immediately.

In this article, I’ll be discussing the best ways to apply for aSchengen Visa, how it works and how to make sure you get one approved.

What is Schengen Visa? Which Countries are covered in Schengen Visa?

As most of you know Schengen Visa is a permit to spend up to 90 days in the Schengen area of Europe. This includes 22 countries in the European Union.  Countries covered on Schengen Visa include: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland & Liechtenstein.

Countries such as Croatia and Turkey can be also visited with few additional documents if you have a valid Schengen Visa.

Schengen Visa: The Scare

Travel agents and beneficiaries manage to implant enough scare about thetourist Schengen Visa in traveller’s minds. This leads to the travellers rushing into a panic mode, ultimately paying an amount to get the Schengen Visa approval. My verdict- absolutely unnecessary.

The travel agents make fake bookings on your behalf, leaving the air ticket to be booked at the last minute. I have made my stand on last-minute air travel booking pretty clear in the previous post- How to Book the Cheapest Flights from India. This is in case your visa is not approved, you won’t have monetary losses. In my observation, the Schengen tourist visa for Indians is most likely approved, especially if you are into a full-time job. The scare created around visa is by visa agents who want to squeeze out money from you, no offence but that’s the reality.

I highly urge you to apply for a Schengen Visa from India without an agent, on your own. It’s not only fairly easy, but also because even if you hire an agent to do so, you are going to do all the running for gathering YOUR documents, the agent will only provide you a checklist, which you can find in this blog as well.

This process is very simple and does not require any rocket science.

Once Flight Itinerary for visa application is acquired, it can be easily verified through unique booking codes also known as PNR, Confirmation Code or Reservation Number. Below is the step by step guide for the process of verification of Flight Itinerary:

Step 1

•           Go to the official website of the airline

•           Type your (traveler’s) last name,

•           Type unique six-digit alphabetical or alphanumeric PNR, Reservation or Booking code,

•           Click on Submit/Find Booking button.

Step 2

Once step 1 is completed, the official website of the airline will open a new window displaying information about proposed route, flight name, departure/arrival timings along with dates, flight code, departure/arrival airport IATA codes (Ex: JNB for Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport and MUC for Munich Airport) and flight reservation/booking numbers.

You can expect your Flight Itineraries for a visa application acquiredthrough Schengenvisaitinerary.com to be 100% valid and original with their own unique reservation codes. The flight itineraries for visa application are provided along with other lucrative features including free cancellation, free cover letter and free no objection certificate.

The verifiable Flight Itinerary for visa application issued by our team is valid for two weeks.

Connectwith or visit us at Flight Itinerary For Visa to acquire verifiable FlightItinerary for visa application at most reasonable prices. However, the prices vary as they rise depending on several factors including urgency and packages. Despite this, it costs a trivial sum of money and is far better than acquiring an actual flight ticket which may cost you $1000 or more.

The quality of service—being provided by the aforesaid website—is acknowledged by happy travelers of many countries. The testimonials are available on our website.

You can acquire verifiable Flight Itinerary for visa application as follow:

•           Go to Flight Itinerary for Visa

•           Pick the package that best suits your needs,

•           Enter your flight details and proceed with the payment,

•           You will receive Flights Reservation/Flight Itinerary via email.

zWe also provide online services for Hotel Booking/Proof of Accommodation and Travel Health Insurance for visa application. Simply visitus and pick the package that best suits your need.

People from Non-EU(European Union), Non-EEA(European Economic Area) countries who wish to visit Europe as tourists, and who require a visa to enter theSchengen area, are simply required to get a common Schengen Visa from the Embassy/Consulate of the Schengen country they intend to visit first.

First determine which Schengen country you are planning to visit. Then to get your visa, you have to submit required documents to the embassy or consulate of the country you are visiting in the Schengen area. If you plan to visit more than one country in the Schengen area, the visa will be issued by the country through which you enter the Schengen area.

After this, they may visit any or all of the Schengen countries astourists or for business without hindrance. They are not required to get separate visas for all the (Schengen) European countries they wish to visit.

Required Documents

Following are some of the required documents when submitting your application. Check with the embassy or consulate for more detail.

Your Schengen visa form

You must use the standard document supplied by an embassy or consulate and submit the required number of copies.

Passport

A passport, valid for at least three months longer than the requested visa.

Some other useful documents

1) Have some documents that describe your purpose of visit.

2) Proof for your means of existence (financial proof) for the duration of your stay

3) Proof of Stay. (Hotel Reservation etc)

4) In some cases proof of medical insurance.

Important Information.

Eventhough you can travel with one visa between Schengen countries, it is always safe to carry your passport and any other identification with you. Some countries like Sweden and Finland still maintain customs control at their borders. Non-EU members Norway and Iceland are not a part of the EU customs union and therefore enforce the same level of custom control towards any traveler regardless of whether they come from within the Schengen area or not.

If you plan to travel to European countries that implement Schengen agreement, a Schengen Visa simplifies your travel between those countries.

With Schengen Visa you can travel between Schengen countries like travelling inter-state in USA. So all internal air, road and train travel are handled as domestic trips between those countries.

What is Schengen?

If you are curious about what “Schengen” is, Schengen is a wine-growing villagein south-eastern Luxembourg near the point where the borders of Germany, France and Luxembourg meet together.

Which Countries Can I Travel With Schengen Visa?

At present, there are 15 Schengen countries in Europe. The 15 Schengen countries are;

1. Austria

2. Belgium

3. Denmark

4. Finland

5. France

6. Germany

7. Iceland

8. Italy

9. Greece

10. Luxembourg

11. Netherlands

12. Norway

13. Portugal

14. Spain and

15. Sweden.

All these countries except Norway and Iceland are European Union members.

What are the Benefits Of Schengen Visa?

Before Schengen people from some countries were required to have separate visas for every country in Europe they wished to visit. A vast network of border posts existed around the continent which disrupted traffic and trade, causing delays and costs to both businesses and visitors.

Withthe Schengen Agreement, border posts have been closed between participatingcountries. Road traffic is no longer delayed; road, rail and air passengers no longer have their identity checked when crossing borders.

The most important supporting documents for Schengen Visa Application is a Proof of Accommodation as well as flight reservation The diplomatic office of the relevant Schengen country has to see you prearranged place to stay for the duration of your visit in the destined country.

The Embassy does that through the following recognized forms:

•             An Evidence of a Place to Stay,suchas Hotel Booking or Reservation,

•             An Invitation from The Host with a Copy of His Passport (proof of sponsorship),

•             An evidence of a pre-paid tour with details of your payment to the tour operator

Please see below snippet from embassy official site for accommodation purpose

Arisen by the Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of The European Parliament and of The Council of 13 July 2009, establishing a Community Code on Visas known as “Visa Code”, Proofof Accommodation is a rule of the visa application procedure that each Schengencountry ought to apply to their foreign visa seekers.

As such, in the Article 14 (1) the “Visa Code” stipulates the following:

“When applying for a uniform visa, the applicant shall present:

•             Documents indicating the purpose of the journey;

•             Documents in relation to accommodation, or proof of sufficient means to cover his accommodation;”

While in the 4th section of the same article the “Visa Code” specifies:

“Member States may require applicants to present a proof of sponsorship and/or private accommodation by completing a form drawn up by each Member State. That form shall indicate in particular:

•             Whether its purpose is proof of sponsorship and/or of accommodation;

•             Whether the host is an individual, a company or an organization;

•             The host’s identity and contact details;

•             The invited applicant(s);

•             The address of the accommodation;”

On the other hand, the Article 21(5) about verification of entry conditions and risk assessment, requires:

“The means of subsistence for the intended stay shall be assessed in accordance with the duration and the purpose of the stay and by reference to average prices in the Member State(s) concerned for board and lodging in budget accommodation, multiplied by the number of days stayed, on the basis of the reference amounts set by the Member States in accordance with Article 34(1)(c) of the Schengen Borders Code. Proof of sponsorship and/or private accommodation may also constitute evidence of sufficient means of subsistence.”

How Do I Have to Confirm My Hotel Booking?

Most important rule, you should be careful checking if your confirmation number is valid. This for the fact that the diplomatic office will do it anyway, and if there can be tracked attempts of fraudulent hotel booking, the staff of the office will refuse your visa application and penalize you further. To avoid this unwanted scenario, you confirm your booking number by direct contactingthe hotel, either through written email or by other means.

Make sure to do this before presenting the hotel booking to the diplomatic office.

Travel insurance is a term that relates to coverage of medical expensesand other unexpected issues that occur while traveling. If you’re wondering whether you need health insurance when traveling in a foreign country, the answer is yes. But keep in mind, it also depends on your chosen destination and whether your current health insurance policy offers international coverage.

Aside from possible medical expenses, travel insurance can cover losses you incur while in a foreign country including lost luggage, unexpected flight cancellations or issues with accommodations. In addition, whether you’re only traveling once or several times throughout the year, purchasing travel insurance is that extra piece of trip protection you will want to have. The policy will cover the exact number of days you plan on spending in Schengen territory.

Providers of Schengen Insurance Policies

Above all, verify whether or not your current medical insurance provides international coverage. If not, choose a company offers the coverage levels and documentation required by countries in the Schengen territory.

Tips about Schengen Insurance

As previously mentioned, verifying whether your current health policy contains an international clause. Keep in mind that could mean that it includes or excludes use outside of the United States. If you’re going to travel into Schengen territory and cannot afford to pay out of pocket medical expenses, purchasing extra insurance to cover you while traveling is a good idea. Depending on where someone is going, the risk of illness can vary due to climate changes or being exposed to unfamiliar microbes. People with pre-existing conditions need to take the precautions and purchase travel insurance(that covers pre-existing conditions) to be on the safe side.

While planning your vacation, take the time to investigate if mandatory insurance coverage is required. Being refused entrance into your dream destination due to lack of appropriate coverage can easily be avoided.

If you want more information please visit :  https://www.schengenvisaitinerary.com/

Schengen Visa Travel Insurance

Introduction

Schengen states have made it mandatory for all theapplicants to avail visa travel insurance as it helps in coping with mammoth expenses in case of any unforeseen medical complication. Besides, visa travel insurance provides financial security to backpackers so that they can fully enjoy their journey without any anxiety.

Travel Medical Insurance Criteria

•           The availed medical insurance must cover minimum expenses equivalent to 30000 EUR or 50000 USD.

•           Travel medicalinsurance should be valid in all member states of the Schengen Area.

•           It should cover all expenses pertaining to repatriation for medical reasons, medical emergency, treatment in hospital and death.

It is pertinent here to mention that not all travelers are obliged to avail the insurance. Rather, it is compulsory only for visa nationalities.

The aforesaid group is bound to avail medical insurance regardless if they are traveling to the Schengen Area on the visit, tourism, business, study or any other visa.

The citizens of those countries who enjoy visa-free procedures with EU are not bound to avail the policy. Medical insurance is optional for them and embassies or consulates do not demand it from them.

Travel Visa Insurance is a must when applying for a SchengenVisa

Extract from “Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009”, which entered into force on April 5 of 2010:

“… Applicants for a uniform visa for one or two entries shall prove that they are in possession of adequate and valid travel medical insurance to cover any expenses which might arise in connection with repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical attention and/or emergency hospital treatment or death, during their stay(s) on the territory of the Member States.

 The insurance shall be valid throughout the territory of the Schengen Area Member States and cover the entire period of the person’s intended stay or transit. The minimum coverage shall be EUR 30,000” (…)

States Covered by Schengen Travel Insurance

The Schengen medical insurance covers the following states:

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Depends on the itinerary you will submit and the embassy and how strong and curated your documents are!! 😛

A Tourist Schengen Visa permits third-country nationals enter into the Schengen Area for a maximum of 90 days within a 6-month period, under the purpose of traveling or visiting Europe for pleasure

The Schengen visa might seem vast and complicated, but all you need to do is keep a simple checklist of up-to-date documents ready. Follow the  process mentioned above, and it will automatically seem less confusing. (Do remember to start collecting your documents well in advance of your trip. This will save you a lot of time, effort and panic).

Take a deep breath. We’re here to simplify the entire process. When you apply for a visa with Schengenvisa itinerary, we guide you through the entire process, step by step. Furthermore, we also provide you with a few tips to keep in mind when you start the Schengen visa application process.

This visa is your gateway to all your childhood dreams, to the land of stunning natural beauty, snowy mountains, shimmering blue coastlines, charming cities and more. So, let’s break down the Schengen visa and the process of obtaining one, so you can start booking your trip as soon as possible.

With Schengenvisa itinerary you have a guide by your side. A little bit of research and planning ahead is all it takes. You can then sit back, relax and look forward to the trip of a lifetime!

          How much cash to have within the bank for visa approval ?

No one really knows for sure what the minimum amount is.

But bear in mind this: you’llbe asked to submit flight and reservations and a close every day itinerary.

So here’s the Thumb Rule:

Add the price of the flights you reserved and therefore the cost of the accommodations and Euro 60 per day.

Some embassies need 45 Euro per day, some 50, some 55.To be on the safe side, use 60 Euro per day per person.

Of course, that can’t be the sole quantity in your account.

There’s a predetermined order that needs to be followed while choosing the embassy to file your Schengen visa application.

1.         If you plan to travel only onecountry in the Schengen zone, apply at the embassy of the country you intend to visit. Quite obvious, I know 🙂

2.         If you are going to travel to more than one Schengen state, apply at the embassy of the country you intend to spend the maximum number of days in, called as the main or primary destination.

3.         If you mean to spend the equal number of days in two or more Schengen countries, apply at the embassy of the country you propose to enter the Schengen area through, called as the port of entry.

Denmark Embassy also handles the visa process for Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

The Faroe Islands and Greenland though part of Kingdom of Denmark are not the part of Schengen Region. So, you can’t enter here based on your Schengen visa.

You have to write a different cover letter along with the Schengen visa cover letter and choose multiple entry visa if Greenland or Faroe Islands are part of your travel plan.

You need a Schengen Visa issued by the Danish Consulate with a sticker mentioning that it’s valid for the Faroe Islands or/and Greenland too.

Apply through Danish VFS and mention on the application form Greenland or the Faroe Islands as the main destination.

Svalbardis not a part of the Schengen treaty system. To visit Svalbard, one needs a Schengen visa with two or multiple entries.

Svalbard is visa-free but Schengen Visa is required because you have to enter and exit the Schengen region while traveling to this Norwegian archipelago.

Another stratagem is to choose the country with a lower Schengen visa rejection rate.

France and Germany are known to be the fastest of the lot, however, Spain is infamous for being the toughest to grant Schengen Visa. Greece is known for its higher than normal share of personal interviews.

Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Iceland, Slovakia, Poland, Finland, Luxembourg, and the Czech Republic have the lowest Schengen visa rejection rate which ranges from 0.5% to 2.5 %.

Poland is the easiest country to apply for a Schengen Visa from India with the fastest visa processing rate.

It’s a safe bet to check the embassy toughness index before zeroing down on the country to apply.