How to apply for a Schengen Visa?

What is Schengen Visa?
A Schengen Visa is a legal document provided to the applicants in order to travel or study in any other Schengen area.

The permission letter is given to the members of the Schengen members so they can move freely from one switching to the other in the boundaries of the Schengen area. Despite the fact that the nations share borders and are in the same European side, they still abolish their internal borders. Thus, it blocks the countries from exchanging any goods, travelling, and having any sort of relation with the sharing border countries for free or without any restriction.

What are the Schengen countries? 
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Liechtenstein.

What do I need to apply?
Passport endorsed with a valid Leave to remain in the UK
If the applicants are students, work permit holders, HSMP, Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 4 (international student in the UK) they must obtain a Leave to Remain in the UK permit. Other than this, the permit of the UK’s residency must be endorsed in the original passport. It must be endorsed in the actual passport of the applicant or it could be in the new biometric ID card. Only these two things are valid. Anything other than this must be taken as invalid. The embassy will also reject the Home office stamps or vignettes if they are attached to a separate document.

The other thing which needs to be remembered is that the applicant’s UK Leave must be valid for more than 3 months as he has applied for the visa. It must have a longer period of time to expire. The reason for this is that the embassy has changed some of its rules and does not permit the visa if the UK residency permit has only 3 months to expire. It must exceed the validity in order to get the visa.

The passport of the applicant must have a blank page for a visa stamp and an extra page as well. It must also exceed the validity of the requested visa by more than 3 months.

1. A Schengen visa application form
The applicant must fill the form completely, leaving no empty spaces and bars. It must also be signed by the guardian of the applicant.

2 current passport sized photos for each application

    Following are the instructions for the passport sized photographs:
  • The applicants must have 45mm x 35mm sized pictures.
  • The pictures must be coloured and less than one month old.
  • The background of the pictures must be white or pale grey with good contrast and clear and good quality.
  • The pictures must be printed on a photographic paper.
  • It must be a full face picture with no sunglasses on or any head scarf.
  • The pictures must not be scanned. It should be photographed.
  • Otherwise, the scanned images will be rejected by the French embassy.

The instructions must be followed strictly. In case of not following it, the application might be terminated.

Supporting Documents requirements for a French Schengen Tourist Visa (requirements may vary)
Along with the above mentioned documents, additional documents are also required while applying for the visa. Here are those things. The applicant must fulfill all the requirements.

If you are am employer then you will need a letter from UK Employer and last 3 payslips. You can also submit a letter from your university if you are a student. The letter, provided by the University for the Students Trip, is required because a statement is needed for the university to take the responsibility for the student while his/her stay in France and full itinerary. This is obligatory. The letter must be on an official letter headed paper. It must be one month old at the time of submission of your application. Your letter must have all the information regarding your current work or course status. It must have all the detailed information and contact details along with the signs.
Another requirement is that the dependents of the primary UK Leave sponsor, for instance husband, wife or child are required to present the original passport of the sponsor. They might also be required to present their original marriage or birth certificate if needed. The marriage certificate must be either in English or French. In case of having the marriage certificate in other languages, it must be translated by the authenticated respective embassy in the UK. Non-UK marriage certificates must be legalized by the respective authorities.

The applicant must have a return ticket to France, or any other confirmation details. There must be a proof of the travelling details and everything.

The applicant must also supply the details of his stay while in France. The proof of hotel reservation details, contact details, proof of payment and name of the applicant must be supplied to the embassy. In case of visiting friends or relatives, the applicant must supply with a French certificated of board and lodgings obtained from the local French town Hall or police station. Proof of accommodation is required as well.
A proof of your financial means is required while you are staying in France. Everything must be provided with an evidence by providing a bank statement not one month old. You also need to put in the details of your bank account and not a savings account.

Your travel insurance must cover Schengen region repatriation is compulsory. The application must contain all the details of the applicant and all the travel details.

Driving in France
You also have to provide a proof of your car insurance in Europe along with the copy of vehicle ownership.
Other than this, birth certificate, both parents’ original passport along with the marriage certificated, full birth certificate is required. All the documents must be in French or English.

Nationalities that require a Schengen Visa to enter Schengen Zone
Afghanistan
Algeria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Chad
China
Congo
Fiji
Iran
Indonesia
Iraq
Kenya and many others.

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