HI Rusty,

hope things went well with you...I am now in the same position as you were but I have student visa ...please tell me which country issue the longest Schengen visa...

thanks a lot

Mona

Hi Alan, thank you for providing me with that information. It was very useful. I have another question that I failed to mention in my 1st post.

If I am issued a Schengen visa by the French (for example) embassy, then is it a rule that I would have to visit France 1st? Basically, does your first stop have to be the country who's embassy issued the visa? If that is the case then I will have a problem because I have no desire to visit France right now & was only keen on getting the visa through the embassy that would be most lenient.

Otherwise, Italy is the country that I would like to visit. Anybody has any idea what their Schengen visa issuing policy is?

Thanks in advance & I appreciate any help that you guys can supply me with.

Rusty

The French Embassy is generally considered to be the best and judging by the queues outside each day, the busiest. There are a number of companies who will do everything for you and they have prebooked appointments everyday, so will be much quicker than doing it yourself. I can recommend expatexplore, they are all South Africans' who all need visas to leave the UK but they are very efficient and their website tells you everything you need to know

Hi All,

This is my first post here so I hope that I make a great first impression!

I am a 24 year old Indian national/Passport holder working in London. My work permit visa expires in 3-years time. I am planning on travelling around Europe throughout this year, but I tend to plan things out at the very last minute. I need to get myself a 6-month or 1-year multiple entry Schengen visa ASAP & I have some questions regarding this.

Firstly, I do not know which embassy to apply from. Which one would be most likely to grant me the longest duration multiple entry schengen visa? I have a sufficient amount of money in my bank account. I can not specify exactly to which countries I plan on travelling, but would like to get the visa so that I have freedom to chose where I want to go at the drop of a hat.

After doing some initial research, I found out that I will need to show hotel booking or a letter of invitation, flight tickets & travel insurance. I would like to address each of these individually below –

Hotel Booking/Letter of Invitation:

I suppose that I could make a temporary reservation just to show the authorities & then cancel it once I get the visa. Is this advisable? Could someone tell me a hotel where I can do this & pay the least cancellation charges? A better alternative for me would be the invitation letter. I have an aunt in Denmark who will be able to provide me with an invitation letter. However, I have no plans of visiting Denmark.

Flight Ticket:

This is another criterion. I assume that I will have to book a flight & then cancel it after I get the visa & pay the cancellation charges. Otherwise, is there a better/cheaper alternative? What if I were going on a road trip or travelling by bus?

Travel Insurance:

I know absolutely nothing about this. I would appreciate any basic help/guidance on this topic.

I would also like to point out that I held a Schengen Visa 10-years ago. This was issued in India through the French embassy. Would it better my chances if I applied through the French embassy this time around?

I appreciate any help that you can provide me with. Thanks in advance & I look forward to getting this sorted out.

Cheers,

Rusty