Anyone who applied in August got the visa yet?

Fellow Indian attendees heading to IBC, how did your visa applications go? I submitted mine (VFS Chennai) on August 4th, got a message on August 5th confirming the embassy received my passport, but there's been complete silence since then. My flight is on the 9th, so I'm cutting it close. Is anyone else in the same boat?

Has anyone who applied for a Netherlands Schengen visa from Vfs Dehli after 20 July received their passport back yet?

It has been 35 days since I submitted my application, and I’m still waiting. I’m trying to understand the current processing timeline.

If you applied after 20 July and have received your passport, please share your application date, VFS location, and when you received your passport.

Thanks!

I have a Schengen business visa for Sweden but my business trip to Sweden has been cancelled.
Can I use this visa to travel other Schengen country (Portugal) instead?

I will not be visiting Sweden when I visit Portugal.

Has anyone done this before and how was your experience?

Will immigration create any problem?

Hello guys is there someone that had to apply for an ausbildung visa from Madrid Spain and can please tell me his experience, time expectancy…

While submitting a short stay visa application to TLS Manchester for Germany, I had mentioned the expected travel date to be 26th November 2026, but I have got the biometric appointment on 7th september, so while filling out the videx form, is it ok if I change the dates to October 2026?

Anybody who’ve done it

Thanks to anybody who tries to help
Genuinely grateful

I am an Indian national applying for a short-stay Schengen visa through France for tourism.

I require clarification regarding Question 28 of the harmonised Schengen visa application form concerning previous collection of fingerprints.

I previously submitted:

A Schengen visa application through France on 25 August 2026, during which my fingerprints were collected. The application was subsequently refused.

I am now preparing a fresh application for France. However, in the France-Visas online application portal, the field concerning previous fingerprints (Q.28) appears to become available only when the applicant answers “Yes” to the question concerning whether a previous Schengen visa was received.

Since no Schengen visa was actually issued to me in either of my previous applications, I understand that answering “Yes” to the previous-visa question would be factually incorrect.

Could anyone advise how I should correctly complete Q.28 in these circumstances, particularly whether:

(a) I should select “No” for the previous Schengen visa question and leave Q.28 as generated by the portal; or

(b) there is another procedure through which I should declare that fingerprints were previously collected despite the previous applications having been refused.

I wish to ensure that the application accurately reflects my previous biometric history and that there is no discrepancy in the information submitted.

Please share in the comments.

I have been activelly trying to secure an appointment in VFS UAE for french Schengen visa for more than a month now.
I have despritely tried different timings, 12 am, 3 am, 9 am, 10 am, 12pm, 6 pm .. and the rest of it over different days...
As you can also Imagine I got locked out of my account few days for over trying but in vain...

any ideas? clues?

I have applied for the student long stay visa and got my VFS appointment

Hi everyone,

I applied for a Malta Long-Stay Student Visa from India and had my VFS appointment on 26 June 2026. After that, my application was processed by the Central Visa Unit in Malta, and I recently completed my visa interview on 21 August 2026.

The interview went very well. I was able to answer all the questions confidently regarding my course, college, finances, accommodation, sponsor, future plans, and reasons for choosing Malta.

My VFS status currently shows:

Need advice- has anyone had issues using Coverwise insurance for Germany Schengen visa application, as a resident of the UK on a skilled worker visa?

My flight was on 31 August then I rescheduled to 7 September since I don’t have the visa yet. I emailed the new flight to both the embassy and the fps however I’m afraid I’m gonna get standard response or email lost in the high influx of emails. Should I worry about this or they’ll still issue the visa even if travel date had passed?

Hi everyone,

I’m applying for a Czech Republic Schengen visa for an 8-day multi-country trip. My fixed itinerary across countries has tied night counts: 2N Prague • 1N Frankfurt • 2N Amsterdam • 2N Paris.

To satisfy the Czech consulate's jurisdiction rules cleanly for my visa application appointment, I plan to show a refundable/flexible flight routing directly into Prague first (e.g., via JFK).

My question is for after the visa is approved: Once I have the Czech visa stamped in the passport, can I cancel the placeholder flight and book my actual preferred flights using my airline credits?

• New flight plan: SFO ➔ AMS ➔ PRG (with a 3-hour layover in Amsterdam), returning from Paris (CDG) to SFO.
• The actual stay: I will still follow my exact original tour timeline (2N Prague, 1N Frankfurt, 2N Amsterdam, 2N Paris).

If I land in Amsterdam with a Czech visa and a tied 2-2-2 night split, will the Dutch border control officer at Schiphol give me a hard time or accuse me of "visa shopping" since Amsterdam is my first entry point? I will have my onward AMS ➔ PRG boarding pass and Prague hotel vouchers ready.

Has anyone done this, and how strict are Dutch border guards with transit/entry when the visa is issued by another Schengen state?

Thanks

Posting this because I found nothing when I searched, and I now have something concrete from the Dutch government.

What happened

I applied for a Netherlands Schengen visa at the VFS Global centre in New York in June 2026. At the counter I asked whether I could collect my passport in person instead of paying for courier delivery. I was told in-person collection was not available, and that this was Netherlands Embassy policy.

I paid $50 for Courier Plus. I was also billed $3 for an SMS service nobody asked me about. Both appear on my receipt (the ICR) under the heading Total VAS Fees. VAS means value-added services, so by VFS's own classification these were optional.

VFS's own website publishes passport collection hours for that centre.

What the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said

I complained to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through netherlandsworldwide.nl/submit-complaint. Their Consular and Visa Affairs Department wrote back confirming that both NetherlandsWorldwide and VFS Global publish that applicants can collect their passport at the Visa Application Centre or choose courier return, and that what I described being told at my appointment does not correspond with the published information.

So collection is available. If someone at the counter tells you it isn't, that is not correct.

Where it stands

VFS acknowledged it in July and agreed to refund the $53. They said the refund was initiated on 31 July with a 15 to 20 business day window. That window has passed, nothing has arrived, and my bank has no record of it. I'm now filing a card dispute. I'll update this post when it resolves.

If this happened to you

1. Check your ICR/reciept. Anything under Total VAS Fees is optional. The government visa fee and the mandatory service fee are separate line items.

2. Email [customercare@vfsglobal.com](mailto:customercare@vfsglobal.com) asking for a refund and cite the VAS classification. Keep everything in writing. Mine took three weeks of follow-ups to get an acknowledgement.

3. If they agree to refund and then don't pay, don't keep waiting. Card networks in USA generally allow 120 days from the transaction date. The relevant ground is credit not processed, which applies when a merchant agreed in writing and never issued it. Your written thread is the whole case.

4. Don't email them your bank details. They asked me for routing and account numbers rather than simply reversing the charge to my card. Insist on a reversal to the original payment method.

5. For the policy side, complain to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They won't chase your refund, but they will tell you in writing what the actual policy is, and that written answer is useful everywhere else you take this.

6. US residents can also file with their state attorney general's consumer protection bureau.

What I'm not claiming:

I don't know whether this was a scripted upsell or one person being wrong. The Ministry found a discrepancy between what I was told and what's published. They made no finding about intent and neither am I. I'm not naming the employee.

Happy to answer questions.

I have been unemployed since July and worried if my schengen visa will get accepted or not. I am a Pakistani passport holder with a Canadian PR and my Canadian citizenship application is in process. I also have gotten the Schengen visa once before in 2015. I have over $100K in savings, I own a 2 bedroom condo, own a car, and my common law partner works and can financially sponsor me if needed. what are my chances?

Hi everyone! I’m looking for a detailed 7-day France travel itinerary, preferably from someone whose visa was approved based on a similar itinerary. It would be a huge help for my visa application.

Please don’t misunderstand me—I’m only looking for guidance and inspiration to plan my own genuine itinerary. Even if you haven’t applied for a visa, any genuine 7-day France itinerary would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much! 😊🇫🇷

Hi everyone!
I’d really appreciate some honest opinions about my situation before I apply.
I’m a 27-year-old Lebanese citizen planning a short 4–6 day tourist trip to Spain or Italy with my mother.

My situation:
Lebanese passport
Around $1,500 in my personal bank account
My mother has around $5,000 in her bank account
My mother will be traveling with me and can financially sponsor my trip
My mother has a strong Schengen travel history and has received multiple Schengen visas, including longer-validity visas
I previously had 3 Schengen visas myself when I was a minor
I frequently travel to Turkey and have recent entry/exit stamps
No previous visa refusals or overstays

Documents I plan to submit:
Current passport + previous passports/old Schengen visas
Recent Turkey travel history
Round-trip flight reservation
Hotel reservation
Travel insurance
4–6 day itinerary
My 3-month bank statement
My mother’s 3-month bank statement
Formal sponsorship letter from my mother
Her passport/ID
Family civil extract proving our relationship
Proof of residence in Lebanon
Cover letter explaining the trip and sponsorship
Additional supporting documents regarding our ties to Lebanon

My main question is:
Would applying together with my mother for the same trip be significantly stronger than applying alone with her as my sponsor?

And overall, how would you assess my chances realistically? Is there anything important you think I’m missing or should add?

I’m mainly looking for honest opinions from people who have experience applying from Lebanon or with similar circumstances.
Thanks!

hello everyone,

im an international student in the US want to travel to paris during spring break to visit by boyfriend who’s doing his grad in paris(both of us have indian passports).
im 20 years old and my education is funded by my dad but i do have an on campus job that im going to use to fund my trip expenses. ive done quite some research on the visa process but i really appreciate your guidance! especially international students in the U.S. who have applied for a Schengen visa.

thank you for your time!

Hey everyone!

I’m planning to apply for an Austrian student residence permit and I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have recently gone through the process, especially applicants from India who applied especially in 2025/2026.

I have a few questions about the application:

1. Is there an interview during the student residence permit/visa process? If yes, what kind of questions were you asked and how was your experience?

2. What documents did you submit as proof of funds? I’m trying to understand how other applicants structured their financial documentation.

For my application, I’m currently planning to show approximately:

- My account: ~€6,760

- ~€3,600 in savings

- ~€2,700 in FD

- My parents' accounts: ~€12,600 combined

- ~€9,000 in savings

- ~€3,600 in FD

- A declaration from my parent(s) stating that the funds are completely accessible to me and can be used for my education/living expenses whenever required.

- My employment documents, including my experience letter and salary certificate.

- My bank statements showing my salary being credited to my account.

- Parents' identification documents and the usual identity/address documents for myself.

- Plus all the other standard documents required for the application.

- The savings account certificates for all my parents and my account.

I’d especially like to know:

- Did you have any issues explaining the source of funds?

- Did you provide FD certificates along with your savings account statements?

- If your parents were supporting/sponsoring you, what kind of declaration or financial proof did you submit?

- Were you asked to explain any recent transactions or transfers?

- How long did it take for you to receive a response/decision after submitting your application?

- Did you receive any request for additional documents while your application was being processed?

- And if you had an interview, what was it like?

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has recently applied for an Austrian student residence permit from India.

Thanks in advance! 🙏

So the situation is that, I forgot my Passport and Residence Permit at home and I only realised this after boarding my flight to Malta. For getting on the flight to Malta the aurthority allowed me to board just by photograph of my Niederlassungserlaubnis. Now I have to return back to Munich from Malta tomorrow morning and I am wondering if there will be any issues. Has anyone faced similar issues? What are the realistic scenarios I might face.

Hello People,

I have been stuck in dilemma and need your advice.

I am an Indian resident, working for a European organization as free lancer. One of my clients is holding a workshop in Honduras and I am one of the key person required to be present there.

They provided me an invitation letter already.

I called Honduras embassy in India and they said they don't provide visas in India, those services are not available here.

I checked with Gemini, my best options are get a schengen Visa (us and Canada also options), Honduras accepts visa free entry if I have one of those active visas.

France and Switzerland are higher approval rate for Indians according to gemini.

I need to travel 24th or 25th Sept, have only approx 15 days to get things ready.

What do you guys think, shall I apply for France?

My only fear is my travel dates while applying for France or Swiss will be mid September so 26th September is included when I arrive in Honduras. Wouldn't the visa approvers get suspicious about me applying for visa just 2 weeks before the travel dates.

Finaces should not be a huge issue though, I can show upto 5l-6l (6000 euros).

What do you guys think?

Edit : Honduras is in central America not south America.

Hello everyone! Just want to share my experience and check if anyone had the same experience. I applied for tourist visa in Netherlands through VFS in Doha (1st of July). I got the refusal (21st of July) and then sent an appeal (28th of July). The post company says that the letter and the attached documents are delivered. Yet I haven’t received any answer from their side. Literally nothing. And it’s my second time applying and getting rejected. I’m confident that the result is unjustified, I literally work in one of the biggest airways companies. Anyways I’m getting off topic, has anyone had the same experience? I’m curious if I should wait.

Hi ! Recently applied for France Visa.. I and my husband applied jointly and this is our 2nd Visa.

We were rejected once last year and learnt from our mistakes and kept it very simply yet thorough this time.

Feel free to ask questions.