Travel Essentials: Schengen Visa for Egyptians

Getting a Schengen visa is not the nightmare everyone seems to be afraid of. If you submit all the required papers, you are more likely to get an approval.

There are no embassies that are easier to apply to than others. However, having previously acquired a Schengen, US or UK visa is always a bonus!

In this blog post we tackle some of the most frequently asked questions when applying for the Schengen visa, that we usually receive on our Facebook Page.

 

The Basics

Here is a list of the requirements of the Schengen visa irrespective of which Schengen country you apply to:

– Valid passport (validity has to be at least 6 months after your return)
– 2 passport photos with a white background
– Confirmed hotel booking
– Confirmed flight reservation
– Travel insurance
– HR letter stating your position in the company and your salary as well as the date of your employment
– 6 months bank statement  (in some embassies they ask only for 3 months)
– Filled application form (downloaded from the visa website)
– In some cases you might be asked for a detailed itinerary of where you are going and what you will be doing
– If you have a friend or a relative in the country you are visiting, then an invitation letter from that person is required as well

Always look for the requirements checklist of the embassy you are applying to and make sure you don’t miss any document.

 

1. Can I provide a fake reservation for my flight so I don’t lose money if I get rejected?

No. You are taking a huge risk by presenting a ticket that is not confirmed.

You can always buy a refundable ticket that you can cancel and get back your money. Moreover, most airlines will refund you the full ticket fare in case of visa rejection. You will have to provide necessary documents to process the refund and it will take around 2 to 4 weeks to get your money back.

 

2. Where can I get a travel insurance and how long is it valid for?

Travel insurance can be purchased from any insurance company (price range is between LE12o to 1000 depending on the travel period you specify).

A travel insurance is usually valid for the period of your travel unless you choose to buy a 6 months or one year  insurance.

 

3. How long will the visa be valid for?

The visa will be valid a minimum of your travel period. So if you are traveling for 1 week, you will get a visa that is valid for 1 week or 10 days. Getting a one year or a 6 months valid visa is not something that you can request or have control over. You are given the validity period depending on many factors that they consider, and are usually unknown to us.

 

4. Can I apply for a multi-entry visa?

You can always request that, but there are no guarantees that your request will be granted.

 

5. When should I apply for my Schengen visa?

At least 3 months before your travel date.

This will require you to have all your documents ready 3 months in advance. The next most important step is to book an appointment to submit your visa application. Getting an appointment is usually done online (you will have to check your respective embassy rules and procedure). Slacking in taking an appointment will lead to a delay and hence you might not have enough time for your visa processing before your travel date. So make sure you book an appointment as soon as you can!

 

6. How long does the visa processing take?

Usually 2 to 3 weeks and maybe more in some cases.

 

7. If I applied previously and got rejected, when can I re-apply?

In 3 months after the rejection. No guarantees that you will be approved or rejected again. But it is always worth a try. You might as well try to apply to a different country.

 

8. How much should I have in my bank account?

A bank statement is requested by embassies for the main reason of validating the fact that you have a healthy bank account where money is being regularly deposited and withdrawn (i.e. your salary).

So depositing a huge amount of money suddenly in the account for the sake of having a decent balance might actually work against you as it will look odd. What you need to make sure of is that you have at least 1000 euros in your bank account to show that you can sustain yourself financially during your visit to Europe.

 

9. If I am visiting more than one country, which embassy do I apply at?

The embassy of the country that you are entering first. Or the embassy of the country where you are spending the most days.

 

10. I applied for a visa before and I got approved, but I never really traveled to the country. Will this cause a problem if I try to use the visa to travel to a different country than the one I applied for?

Yes. You might be questioned at the airport as to why there is no entry stamp to the country you got the visa from.

 

 

We hope that the above answers some of your doubts about the Schengen visa! Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to send them to us.

If you feel that this post is useful, please share it with your friends!

Happy travels!

4