How To Apply For A Schengen Visa And Get It (Follow These Steps)

today we're talking about um schengen visa how you can successfully apply for a schengen visa now the schengen area like if you apply for a visa to one country that is part of the schengen area you get to travel around you know the 25 or 26 other countries i think they're about 26 now other countries i'll explain if you apply for a visa to funds france will give you a schengen visa from france and with that visa you can travel across all the countries within the schengen areas now there's a list of countries which i said is about 25 but i'll just check so i'm going to read out the country so you know the advantages you have if you apply for a short game visa you'll be able to travel through austria belgium um denmark estonia greece iceland italy malta the netherlands norway poland spain sweden switzerland including and a whole lot of them so if you get go to one country and they give it to you then you can travel without bothers around this other countries basically what you would need would be your flight ticket and within the borders they seldom check um you know for um like if you have a visa because they believe okay if you've been to one then you can go to the other but then that doesn't mean those checks can be random like they don't have borders where you stop and say oh no you need to stand you don't get stamped in because you can travel freely around that area because they are part of the um schengen area you know the member states so coming here i applied to france like i applied to them before um many reasons first i do have a travel history in france like i have been here before i have pla applied you know to them several times and then they have granted you know my visa application so it just made sense you know for me to go back there because you know if you have a history just you can go anywhere like i said but for me i decided to go there and sometimes they have seasons you know the french and business sometimes they can be really generous like there's some embassies that if you go and say you are traveling for seven days they would give you seven days you know what i think um france is a bit um generous you know when it comes to you know visa application in my visa fiction i don't know about other people maybe you might have some application experience so i prefer to use them so today i'm going to be talking about how you can apply for a schengen visa you know but in you know we would be focusing on the french embassy it would be similar to other embassies but they might just have a few um um requirements that um you might need to provide but generally it would just be the same so if you are like i said if you apply to one you have access you know to all the steps would include you complete your visa application form you provide the supporting documents we're going to talk about that in details you know your supporting document and then submit your application and wait for a decision now i'm going to take you step by step because i want you to successfully apply i want you to successfully apply for your visa so you can travel so the first thing you do is that you need to identify the type of visa that you need do you need a business visa do you need a tourist visa do you need a student visa you need to identify what you need because my blog is about tourism i will focus on tourism like if you want to find out about others then you need to go to the blog i'll probably be able to share articles there or if you ask me specific questions i can you know um share specific articles you know to answer those questions but i will focus on tourism because i have a trouble travel blog and i'm a tourism promoter so first you need to identify the visa that you need and the second step would be for you to visit the visa application portal i'm going to share the link for the french embassy here because you would need to complete that form online and then print it out in determining the country to apply to you should always apply to the main destination that you'll be spending you know time in now it doesn't mean that when you get there you can't go anywhere else but you do want to apply to the main destination that you'll be going because if you apply to a second destination then you need to provide an itinerary for that particular um destination i mean if that's not the main purpose of your trip you don't want to miss things you know um for yourself it doesn't mean that if you're if i'm going to italy i cannot apply to france but i need to show and provide an itinerary that shows that i would also be spending time in france but it's always advisable if you if you're going for an event or going for something in a particular country you're going for a wedding in italy then apply to italy if you want to apply to french then france then make sure that you do have an itinerary that shows that you would be spending time in france before you proceed to equally now should you disclose a lot of people will tell you don't disclose but i will tell you disclose disclose just make it believable because really if you're not unless you plan to spend one month in paris but then have activities that would show you know would make them convince them that they you know you actually there for good because schengen visa you know is one of the difficult you know visas to um to get like i hear people complain you know they're easier countries and i'm telling you that from experience you might have a different opinion but i'm telling you from experience that schengen is one of the difficult it's one of the difficult ones and it actually explains why because you have access to 26 countries either 25 or 26 you have access to all these countries so they're a bit strict and they want to know that you're here for good you completed this application form and then you compile the relevant documents it's very important the first thing you need to attach is an insurance um certificate um for most schengen countries they will ask you for a travel and health insurance and it's easy i always find that most times people just go and get like a fake one like why would you want to get a fake one if eventually you're going to travel trouble insurance especially now during kobe you do want to travel have a travel insurance like i have like an annual travel insurance and i don't spend a lot of money you know in nigeria maybe i pay um i have a worldwide coverage and i pay maybe about 30 something thousand for it so go to a reputable um insurance company and request for travel insurance you can re buy the one that covers the eu normally they would give you um there's a limit maybe i think it's maybe for the eu for the um for the schengen visa it's usually like maybe 150 um that covers up to 150 and thousand euros but then your insurer would advise you go through it to a reputable insurance company and buy insurance from them if you work with a company get your office to write an introduction letter your introduction letter that just says that you you know has your pa your name your passport number and you know your intention to visit um this country and um that maybe you have um your leave has been approved from you know this day to that day and you intend to apply for a visa to france you know for vacation and that um of course your company should um vouch for you that you uh um you know you're trustworthy if you work for yourself then that's simple as well you write um you get um if you have a board if you have a company where you work for yourself you get your board to write a letter you know just introducing you you know as you know let's say the md or as a director or whoever whatever position you hold in that company and that you intend to visit that company if it's you then you write introduction letter saying that you are the md of this company this is what you do attach your corporate documents you know that shows that you are um a principal officer or principal you know shareholder or director or whoever in that company write that letter you can write that introduction letter for yourself introducing your company and then of course like i said you need to attach your corporate documents just to convince them that yes whatever you're saying is true so you need to include that and then also you would also need like your bank statement it's tricky with schengen countries you need to show you need proof of funds you know if you have money then they would look at you different so have a six months um three months i think they usually do like three months bank statement that has that shows um whatever that proves whatever position you declare in your form in your application form and in your letter now what do i mean by that if you say you're a salary and i have a three month bank statement that shows monthly payment of your income in that um place and more because you don't want to have money in there like calculate like i always say people always ask me how much do i need to have do i need 10 million like that that doesn't make sense if you are traveling for if you say you're traveling for one week estimate the amount of money you would take let's say you're traveling for one week and for each day you're paying 100 euros for the hotel so you know that for seven days you say you're traveling you're going to be spending 700 euros in um for your accommodation estimate how much you will need to eat let's say you eat two meals a day let's assume that you're going to spend 20 euros per meal it's just an estimate so that's about let's just assume 50 euros pocket money per day your tickets have an assessment of how much it would cost you okay let's just say your tickets will maybe cost you another one 500 to 1 000 euros i'm just an estimate and then so we have a thousand how much one seven plus whatever and pocket money so let's say roughly we were about maybe two 000 euros and then maybe another pocket money 500 euros just an estimate you do want to have that money sitting in your account just so they know you can afford it that's the best at best you know no sorry not that's worst case scenario you don't want to have that money sitting there in your account if you're making that visa application so ensure that you have in whatever position um you declare you are able to um your bank statement reflects you know that position so you need your bank statement you know in there you need evidence of a hotel um reservation i always use booking.com and i don't necessarily have to pay for the hotel i know people would say you have to pay i don't pay like i do not pay i go to booking because i'm a genius member on booking that's what i that's the platform i use to make my hotel reservation i would include a link in the description box so you can look at it in booking it's it's so easy it's user friendly you can um [Music] you know like um adjust the search button to whatever budget you have and then you can adjust you know the set button you know to just find where to stay before you look for um your book for an accommodation it's always best to go online and check for the best areas to stay especially if you're traveling solo or a first time or if you're traveling with family like if you're traveling alone and then you want to explore the city you don't want to be traveling taking a taxi or you don't want to have to deal with um dealing with the local transportation then you do want to stay as close to the city center as possible so if you're looking for an accommodation it makes sense to be close to the city center and that's also another thing that people would imagine that okay i live in lagos nigeria and then um someone says they're traveling to lagos to spend time on the island exploring and then they give me an accommodation that they're staying in ecuador it it's far from the main attraction okay let's say they want they want to attend an event in a way and they're staying in shangri-la like okay maybe that's even close okay that's even close the point i'm trying to make is that if you if you're going to be doing if most of the activity is going to be around a particular area then it makes sense to search for hotels within that same area which is also what the interviewing officer would be looking out for if you say you're there for the first time you want to explore all the sites and then they now find that okay your accommodation is like two hours away from the city center it doesn't make sense so go online i know that sometimes um hotels around the um city center might be um pricey because most times maybe then they are targeted at other travelers um the locals might probably be living out you know in the suburbs and that's okay but you as a tourist or if you're on vacation you want to stay where um you know you have easy access to you know the main attraction unless maybe you're just looking for a quiet time away then that actually makes sense but generally speaking i'm just saying go online research and find out places and hotels that are close to where you want to be and then once you have that information you you when you go to get to booking it's easy for you to adjust your search you know to those areas so go there and book your accommodation there book an accommodation that is um let's say has uh um that is refundable if you have to pay but like i said i don't pay i just look for one that has a a long cancellation um time for example if i'm booking two months ahead most of them would allow you to cancel up till seven days before your trip and then of course if you're planning your trip you should plan your trip way ahead of time that would give you time to cancel the accommodation if really it's not what you want but if it's where you want to stay then you can go ahead and leave your accommodation and if they grant you the visa you use it but then pick you know one that is um you can cancel if they don't give you because there's no guarantee that they will give you the visa so why do you want to get denied a visa and then have to deal with paying for an accommodation that you did not use so spend time and search for it you say oh i got that enough no you need to sit there and read the fine prints that's how it works there's no it's not rocket science you know so so do you need um an invitation letter from a from a sponsor when applying for a schengen visa um because i have never submitted any i will tell you no it is not necessary but of course if you're staying with a family or you're staying with someone or you have someone with a good um i don't know back in someone who is reputable enough to give you an invitation let's say then of course get one but um most of the places i go to i don't really know people there and even if i know people i don't know that i i'm traveling to go you know be with them you know i'm traveling on my own then if i get to visit them then that's completely different so i always make my application without invitation letters so no you do not need an invitation like because i have never submitted an invitation letter for any of my visa and applications and trust me i have traveled around most continents five continents of the world i have never submitted an invitation letter so this is just to show you this is proof that you do not necessarily need an invitation um to visit for your visa application you do not need a sponsor you can be a tourist my hotel reservation myself introduction letter and my itinerary usually just um covers the need for an invitation letter or a sponsor so no you don't need one but if you do have one and you think it can help your application then of course you should um definitely submit it and then with chengdenvi says you know they usually request for um like a flight itinerary it's important because they want to see um [Music] they just want to see if you say you're traveling they want to see it on paper okay what is the plan and it's easy to get if you have a travel agent this is where they come in some of them if you have a travel agent that you've been loyal to they can do it for you for free you don't have to pay for it basically the um embassy just wants to see your plan now what does that mean if you say you're traveling on 21st to return on the 30th they want to see that your flight departs on 21st and then returns on the 30th so you're you don't have to pay for your ticket like i've paid for a ticket before and then i was denied a visa and that was very painful because the airline did not refund hundred percent they would take a surcharge it doesn't make sense and it's very unfair it is very unfair to make someone pay for a ticket and then deny them a visa so i would tell you no don't pay for it they want to see an attendee so give that to them but you cannot pay for a ticket and then get denied a visa they're not going to tell you sorry you'll pay for visa fee they only fund your visa fee and then you will still pay for ticket no no no no life shouldn't be that difficult don't pay get your agent to give you an itinerary that you can work with and your itinerary has to reflect every other thing that you're doing another thing i always advise people to do is to include a detailed plan what what do i mean like a tour plan is an itinerary as well you're going there for 10 days include a detailed plan showing what you're doing every day of the 10 days by the time you have all that and then you have a ticket it makes them understand okay this person has a plan and we should probably grant them a visa so always include a detailed plan for every day that you would spend in the schengen area if you are planning to go let's say you are applying to france and then you want to go to spain on day six just say day six depart paris for barcelona day nine the pact barcelona for paris they tend to pat paris for lagos that's how you do it you know now you you might ask oh if i submit a plan do i have to follow a plan like that come on now man proposes god it's a plan you're allowed to adjust you know but the idea is just let them see what your plans are you know we all know that plans do change and those people it's not rocket science they are not they don't exist out of out of space they know life happens so make it believable and then how long um before your um trip should you apply um this i think you can get a visa like friend visa allows up to three months before your travel date so um i always say apply apply within two months because if you're doing if it's the ordinary application i think it takes like 15 working days or if you're paying for the premium service you might get it in a week so you can apply up to three months before your trip which i think is the same even with other embassies you know just try and give yourself that period because it would also help you plan you know you don't want to apply the month you're traveling and then you're waiting for your video panicking besides not out or you need to travel am i telling you besides out you probably need to go figure out how to get tickets and then you know once it's you're getting closer to the travel date tickets get expensive so i'm a planner i like to plan ahead so i start planning three months um before my trip and of course you know if you have to let's say arrange your affairs in a way that okay to ensure that you're all ready you need you need time to apply so i would say um three months is a good time you know to start your application another thing i always tell people always accompany your visa application with a cover letter it is how i do it like i've been denied a schengen visa before and then i now the only way i could express the way i felt was through a letter by writing a letter so i wrote a cover letter to the um consular general or i don't know whoever and then just explaining you know because i was denied on that um popular ground where they say um justification for the purpose of the intended state was not provided so i wrote a letter to page letter now it doesn't have to be so long but my two it had to be two pages because i had so much to say so i wrote it in two pages in two pages and then told them why i think it was justifiable for me to get a visa and did i get it oh yes i got i got it i'm in geneva right now you know so i'm saying if you follow this um steps that i have provided then you know you would stand a better chance of getting a visa now when people say oh they can promise you if you have people who you think can promise you a visa people tell you okay maybe i don't know how to do it but i don't really rely so much on on on that because i still think it's gambling so if i'm going to gamble let me gamble doing the right thing let me do the right thing and then sum it and gamble that i would get it because there are times where maybe you've done everything you need to do and then there was you still get denied a visa it just means that oh me i don't know how that works i would like someone there to tell me how exactly you know why that happens but it can happen that you can do all these things and then still be denied but it is difficult if you do all these things and then you have a very good um track record travel record then you would be granted a visa for a new a virgin passport i don't know i don't i would i don't know it wouldn't be the friendliest um applications to make if you do have a virgin passport but it doesn't mean they will not give you but it would not be the friendliest circumstance as in you know if you have a virgin passport chances you know it's just 50 50. they may just it would depend on the circumstances like why you're going you know you know the circumstance you know surrounding you are you it would differ for a and b so i would say if you want to apply to schengen have a good um travel record maybe go somewhere else before you go but if you have pressing compelling reasons to be there then of course they would see and you're able to present your case genuinely then of course they would um be able to um they would grant you the visa if you're if they're convinced that you're there for good so thank you very much for joining me i hope that this was useful and i also hope that i didn't um you know keep anything out if there are questions that you need to ask like i said you can drop a comment i will respond to them or you can send me an email my email would be in the description box or you can read more about it on the blog you know i would have an article that you can read so thank you very much and see you next time

Channel: Oto Tom

Views: 54,906

Keywords: Schengen visa, French visa, Schengen visa application, Schengen visa in Nigeria, Schengen visa interview, Visa to France, Italian visa, Portugal visa, Spain visa, Belgium visa, Netherlands visa, Dutch visa, schengen tourist visa, europe visa, visa application, how to apply for schengen visa, how to apply for schengen visa from nigeria, spain visa in nigeria, italy visa in nigeria, wakaholic, the wakaholic, visa process for nigeria, invitation letter for schengen visa

Id: gpWXN8e_QdU

Length: 24min 19sec (1459 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 21 2022