How to avoid problems when applying for a visa

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Consulate officials will allow you to enter the country if you are careful and disciplined.

Read the requirements carefully

This is the main rule that will help you avoid most of the problems. Go to the official website of the consulate and carefully read all the information that seems suitable for your case.

You will learn first-hand what documents need to be prepared, how to confirm income, how to prove that you will have where and for what to live in the country of destination, and what factors confirm that you will definitely return to your homeland, and will not remain an illegal migrant abroad. Also on the site you can see the requirements for photographs and insurance.

In addition, all the most up-to-date visa information by which airport employees are checked is in the database.

Take your time when filling out paperwork

Sometimes they can close their eyes to mistakes and typos in the questionnaire. However, there is a high probability that they will become the reason for the refusal. Therefore, double-check what you wrote several times.

Pay attention to the documents. For example, you have a good income, but the account balance for which you receive your statement will be different immediately after your salary and before it. Accordingly, you may not take this document on time and be refused due to the small amount on the account.

It will also look suspicious if the days of the hotel reservation differ from the travel period indicated in the questionnaire, albeit slightly.

Therefore, check all the parameters and pay special attention to the little things - any of them can play against you.

Svetlana Kheiro travels and writes about it in the life-like-travel.ru blog, has visited 58 countries

I had 50 euros in the cover of my passport for a rainy day. And they fell out in front of an employee of the German consulate when he took the document. He interpreted this as an attempt to bribe and gave me a six-month ban on entry.

Be careful with fake inquiries

Sometimes travelers bring fake income documents, since officially, according to the papers, they earn less than they need to confirm their solvency. But consular officers can call the company on behalf of which the certificate was issued, or otherwise find out that the information is false and refuse a visa.

Therefore, if you have little official income, find a way to demonstrate that you have money in another way: with the help of an account statement or a sponsorship letter from the person who is committed to supporting you.

Provide accurate information. The consulate staff have a lot of opportunities to bring you to clean water if they want to.

In general, the use of false papers is a criminal offense. So visa refusal is not the worst thing that can happen to you.

Take care of your appearance

The consulate is not interested in allowing dubious elements into the country. So take care of a socially acceptable look. You know that your eyes have turned red from watching The Lion King and Hachiko at night. But the consular officer may have a different impression.

Follow the requirements of the consulate if you have already received a visa

The Schengen visa is convenient because you can travel with it practically throughout Europe. However, once again it may not be issued if you ignore the country that provided you with this document.

Information that a foreign country issues visas only if it is the main destination is available on the websites of the French Visa Application Center, the Embassy of Finland and other countries.

In practice, your too free movement across Europe will not necessarily backfire when you receive your next visa. But it is better not to participate in this lottery and "spread the straws" in advance.

And keep track of the validity period of the permit.

If you do not fit into the validity period of the visa, for violation they may refuse to issue the next one and be fined.

Svetlana Heiro

Consider all options

Russian citizens can apply for a visa abroad. Sometimes this shortens the time it takes to get this document and simplifies the process itself. For example, now, due to the long queue for US visa interviews in Russia, many fellow citizens receive travel documents outside the country.

This information should also be taken into account by those who have been traveling for a long time and are not going to return to Russia.

I once got a French Schengen visa in Finland in one day as my visa was running out. And, although usually in the country of the Schengen zone they do not issue visas to other Schengen states (only to representatives of the Red Cross or other missions), they gave me. I just explained the situation honestly.

Svetlana Heiro

Do not cancel your hotel reservation

Consulates often require you to confirm that you have paid or at least booked a hotel. Sometimes travelers book a room specifically to obtain a visa, and then refuse it when they receive a passport with the necessary marks.

But if the hotel informs the consulate about the cancellation of the booking, the visa may be canceled. According to travelers' reviews, this rarely happens, but it does happen. And you will find out about this when it is too late to do something.

Therefore, in order to obtain a visa, it is better to book exactly the hotel in which you intend to live.