How to apply for Schengen visa from the USA. Step-by-step guide #schengenvisa #europetravel

hello everyone my name is Nanda I'm from Florida and recently my wife and I had been to Europe varnishing in Visa a few of my friends reached out to me asking what is the process to apply for washing in Visa so I thought then I will make a video on step-by-step guide on how to apply foreign so let's get started before we start talking about the document checklist there is important topic we need to discuss that is on how to select the embassy for applying Schengen visa there are 27 countries in Schengen area and you need to select one country to apply for a Schengen visa now let's understand this with an example let's say you plan a 15-day strip and you want to visit the following European countries which is France Netherlands and Switzerland now you need to plan your itinerary in each country let's say you want to spend six days in France five days in Netherlands four days in Switzerland as your spending mode is in France this becomes your primary destination and this is where you will be applying for a Schengen visa and also this becomes your Port of Entry to the Schengen area how do you exit the Schengen area doesn't matter for example you can exit the Schengen area from Zurich scissorland I hope this is very very clear to you how to select the embassy once we have selected the embassy now it's time to focus on the document checklist this document checklist remains same for all the embassies here is the document checklist that we submitted for our Schengen application I am on H1B visa and my wife is on F1 Visa other than the documents highlighted rest of the documents remain same I want to quickly touch on few points the first thing is the bank statement this is nothing but your financial supporting document you can get this statement from online and you don't need to go to bank to get this on a bank letterhead or with the bank's signature also if you are married then do carry your marriage certificate because they will ask at the time of submission and the important thing is if you are providing any US immigration related documents such as your U.S visa or green card they should be valid at least three months beyond your intended departure date from the Schengen area this means if you are planning to return To Us by March and from Schengen area then your document should be valid until June end and the second thing is you should apply for a Schengen visa 90 days before your travel now if you take out the highlighted items then this is what the actual list will look like and I will be covering this document checklist in the rest of the video let's start with first two items in our document checklist which is signed and dated application form and France Visa receipt these two forms will be generated once you submit your visa application so let's talk about filling the visa application form if you also selected French Embassy for applying Schengen visa then this is the website that you will be visiting you need to create an online account and then start filling the visa application form the application will ask for your personal information itinerary and what type of Visa you're applying and how are you going to sponsor your trip once you have submitted the application then your application number will be generated which starts with the fra and if you look at the bottom three pages of this application is nothing but your signed and rated application form along with the France Visa listed I after submitting meeting visa application it's time for you to book the appointment to book the appointments you need visit the VFS Global website on this portal you will be creating the account and you will be using your application forms to schedule the appointment VFS will charge you a 72 dollars of fee and also you can pick the photo or the shipping services with them I recommend you picking this shipping services with them because the logistics will become a lot easier now with this we have covered this what is signed and dated application form and the France Visa listed now let's move on to our next topic which is booking the flight tickets and hotel you need to show the round trip ticket from U.S to Schengen area how you plan to travel within the Europe doesn't matter and I book my tickets through an agent besides the flight tickets you also need to show the hotel reservations in each country I used booking.com to book my accommodation which also provides the free cancellation so now we have covered the flight tickets and the hotel reservation now let's move on to our next topic which is passport size photo if you are living in us then you know the standard dimension for U.S passport size photo is 2 inch by 2 inch which is not the right one for applying Schengen visa need to get 45 mm by 35mm passport size photo to apply photoshinkin visa if you plan to get your passport size photo from Walgreens CVS Walmart be sure to mention the right Dimension or alternatively you can pick the photo services at VFS which is going to cost you same so don't make this mistake now with this we have covered the passport size photo as well now let's move on to our next topic which is travel insurance you need to show the proof of travel insurance which covers every country in Schengen area and the amount equivalent to 32 000 US dollars I bought my travel insurance from AXA the plan is called salinity which I paid 67 dollars for 10 days of coverage also after getting your Schengen visa if your travel plan changes you can also change the coverage duration three times now we have covered the travel insurance as well now let's move on to our final topic which is cover letter this cover letter is a very very important document in your checklist so give enough time to draft your cover letter your cover letter should include the purpose of your travel a detailed itinerary in Schengen area and how are you going to sponsor your trip also mention the strong ties to USA and end your letter with the Gratitude with this we have covered all the items in our document checklist and now it's time to talk about the Visa appointment Day first thing is arrange all your documents as per the checklist if it is a group appointment with the two people then make sure you carry two copies of every document most of the people thinking it is a group appointment they carry just one copy but in reality they are filing two applications but just filing it together so don't make this mistake so you have already paid the VFS fee and now here you will be paying the visa fee which is 90 dollars so once you have submitted your application they will give you the FedEx tracking number to track your passport they also provide the VFS tracking number to track the status of your Visa but you will get to know the status of Visa only after receiving the passport the overall cost of the application per person is 254 dollar and here is the detailed breakdown let's talk about my timeline as you can see it only took me six days to get my passport back with the approved Visa the interesting fact over here is we applied for short stay single entry Visa but they gave us the multiple entry Visa hope you liked the video and please show your support by clicking the like And subscribe button if you are applying for a Schengen visa then I wish you the best for any questions leave them in the comment I will do my best to get back to you thank you for watching bye

Channel: Nanda In US

Views: 6,959

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Id: uIlnKMw2UdM

Length: 7min 43sec (463 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 22 2023