Applying for a Schengen Visa without itinerary

Upvote:0

I have gotten Schengen visa many times, at last minute.

Which consulate can one apply to?

  • Place of maximum time / main destination
  • Place of entry to the Schenghen nations

So, you have to prove / show/ convince the consular officer in front of you of the above.

Now, what can be done? This is the hack I suggest:

Let's say there are 3 Schengen nations in my story: A (entry point), B (main destination), and C (previous schenghen travel done).

I was in a city that did not have a consulate for A and the consulate for B was super slow in visa processing. I needed to get the visa in 1/2 days and knew that C were pretty efficient at visa processing.

So, I made a print-out of a hostel booking for destination C. At the consulate, I suggested that I would be spending maximum time there and not in A, and got the visa in a few hours.

Again, I was traveling for 4/5 weeks so anything was possible as my trip was open/ flexible :)

What helped more was I was working in the US at the time and was doing a 5 week stopover trip on the way back from Asia. The fact that I had US Visa and a previous Schengen visa (expired: from prev visit) showed that I was not an overstay risk (try to enter and illegally immigrate).

Bottom-line, you are in a good place, position and have enough time to figure out which consulate around you is the most FRIENDLY to your 90 day intent.

Once you have the visa, plans can always change.. :) After all it's a 90 day trip.

Upvote:1

All countries in the Schengen area and all their consulates are supposed to follow the same rules. Some might be a bit stricter in their interpretation but all of them can grant a visa for 90 days (that's the maximum stay under short-stay rules) and they should not do it if you do not intend to visit the country in question. There is no such thing as an “open” application.

Consequently, you are not allowed to choose a consulate by convenience, you must first decide on your itinerary and then apply to the consulate of the country that will be your main destination. Of course, if you are completely flexible, you can still adjust your plans to target a specific country but that's certainly not officially encouraged.

See also Getting Schengen visa from a European country without stepping foot into it? and What's the quickest Schengen consulate to issue a visa in London?

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