About Schengen Tourist Visa

The Eiffel Tower in France, the Colosseum in Rome, the Alps in Switzerland and more such enticing travel destinations are scattered all over Europe. Planning a single trip to different countries in Europe, leaves travelers with a fundamental question, "Do multiple countries, mean multiple Visas? ". Travelers can sit back and relax, as they do not have to manage multiples Visas, but just one Schengen Visa that covers most of the travel destinations inEurope.

The Schengen Visa grants free movement across the 26 European countries under the Schengen area. (European countries that currently hold a place in Schengen: Wikipedia). These countries do not perform any border control checks such as immigration/passport verification when travelers cross internal boundaries. A treaty to abolish internal borders in Europe was signed and passed in 1985 in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg.  And that's how the Schengen Visa got named!

Even if Schengen Visa is a single Visa that grants privilege to enter and movein the Visa-Free Zone, it has to be applied with one of the Schengen countries. Here comes the most tricky question on Schengen Visa, with the most contradicting answers on the Internet: With travel planned across multiple countries, which country should one apply for a Schengen Visa?

StampMyVisa demystifies this once and for all:

Schengen Rules for Tourist Visa

Rule 1: Apply for your visa from the country where you are staying for the most number of nights. (As hotels stays are measured in nights, it is easy to count your length of stay in terms of nights)

Rule 2: After applying rule 1, in case of a tie between two or more countries with respect to the length of stay, apply for your visa from the country in which you are entering first (out of the countries which have a tie due to the same length of stay)

For instance. If you plan to stay in France and Spain each for 5 days, but amongst those, France is the first country you decide to visit first, apply for your visa at the France Embassy.

Schengen Rule for Business Visa

Rule 3: If you plan to explore neighboring countries in addition to your business trip, then your period of stay does not matter. Apply for your visa from the country which you are visiting for business purpose. 

Our previous blog on 'Schengen Visa Rejection Letter - Explained' throws light on possible reasons for rejection of Schengen Visa. Schengen visa application is one of the stringent visa processes. This makes it a visa with higher rejection chances.  Travelers should recognize this fact, understand the reasons for rejection and then proceed for visa application, thereby avoiding losses due to visa rejection.

Stamp My Visa highlights frequent mistakes travelers should avoid while applying for Schengen Visa:

1.         Delay in applying for Visa

2.         Booking flight tickets with heavy cancellation fees (How to apply for Schengen Visa without a confirmed flight booking: "What comes first? Visa Confirmation OR Flight Booking")

3.         Ignoring bank balance as a crucial criterion for Visa Approval (Readers can refer our blog on "Insufficient subsistence" to understand the significance of bank balance for Schengen Visa)

4.         Taking documentation too lightly

5.         Not knowing the alternate document to be provided in absence of a required document.