Visa For Spain For Thai National

[macahoom]

 

Has anyone recently been involved in the application for a Spain visa (Schengen) for a Thai national?

 

I have helped apply for several Schengens before, but I see the optional service provider in Bangkok has been changed for Spain, from VFS to BLS.

 

Just wondering if anyone has any useful information or tips  before I help my girlfriend with her application?

[wanderluster]

did 1 a couple of months ago.  just the usual things like airfare in and out, travel insurance and where the accomadation will be, wheather hotel or invite from someones house.

i also usually buy an extra days worth of travel insurance for shenzen as that usually seems to dictate length of visa. Just in case.

 

the 1 difference that we did incure was spain/bls did require a letter from the bank stating the amount of funds in the bank account same as what is required for retirement visas. gf said she paid 200baht. BLS also took copy my visa and bank accounts but only copies not certified. dont know if required or not but we always go with extra docs, better than being short.

 

I also had the hotel just in my name, so i had to write a letter inviting the gf to stay with me. I usually use agoda and only 1 name can go down but if you phone them then they will add a 2nd name in the comments section.

 

this was her 3rd shenzen visa in 3 yrs.

 

 

[Jip99]

We are not married but have been together for 11 years - I am not accepted as sponsor in the same way I am with a UK visa.

 

I had to put 200,000 Baht in my partners Bank account to satisfy the daily requirements. I also had to get her name added to the house rental.

[macahoom]

 

Thanks for your replies, wanderluster and Jip99.

 

Was the new BLS service (instead of VFS) okay? I like the fact that we can make an appointment and specify a time slot. Any comments on that?

[keithcresswell]

15 hours ago, wanderluster said:

did 1 a couple of months ago.  just the usual things like airfare in and out, travel insurance and where the accomadation will be, wheather hotel or invite from someones house.

i also usually buy an extra days worth of travel insurance for shenzen as that usually seems to dictate length of visa. Just in case.

 

the 1 difference that we did incure was spain/bls did require a letter from the bank stating the amount of funds in the bank account same as what is required for retirement visas. gf said she paid 200baht. BLS also took copy my visa and bank accounts but only copies not certified. dont know if required or not but we always go with extra docs, better than being short.

 

I also had the hotel just in my name, so i had to write a letter inviting the gf to stay with me. I usually use agoda and only 1 name can go down but if you phone them then they will add a 2nd name in the comments section.

 

this was her 3rd shenzen visa in 3 yrs.

 

 

I'm hoping to do the same, but are you saying your g/f  needed 800,000 in her bank?

[macahoom]

7 minutes ago, keithcresswell said:

I'm hoping to do the same, but are you saying your g/f  needed 800,000 in her bank?

 

I guess he means that the letter from the bank is in the same format as the bank letter which is required to show the 800k for retirement - not the same amount.

 

 

[wanderluster]

2 hours ago, keithcresswell said:

I'm hoping to do the same, but are you saying your g/f  needed 800,000 in her bank?

sorry for the confusion, she needed a letter from the bank same as doing a retirement visa, but DID NOT require 800k.

she has approx 100k but i dont think you will need that much but might have to be there for a period of time, not positive.

[keithcresswell]

5 hours ago, wanderluster said:

sorry for the confusion, she needed a letter from the bank same as doing a retirement visa, but DID NOT require 800k.

she has approx 100k but i dont think you will need that much but might have to be there for a period of time, not positive.

Thanks. Not sure yet if I will go for it, as booking flights and hotels first seems like putting the cart before the horse. Cheers

[Donutz]

As you can read in the Schengen sticky topic: never buy a particular first, a reservation is fine. An embassy may demand to see an actual booking after the visa is granted but such cases are very rare.

 

A hotel booking or booking for any accommodation is required if you are going as a tourist rather than visiting friends/family, but obviously you will book in a way that leaves you with no or little bookingcosts. 

 

The travel insurance has to be bought in advance though, but incase of a visa refusal the com0any has to refund you the fee (minus a handling/administration fee).

 

So in all the costs incase of a visa refusal should be limited to the visa fee (60 euro), the service fee incase you don't want to apply within 2 weeks of your request at the embassy but via the optional service provider instead, maybe some small fee for the flight reservation, maybe some small few for the hotel reservation and a handling fee for the insurance. In all it could mean 60-100 euros down the drain.

 

The request for more than a handbook with sufficient funds and no weird transactions  (signs such as the alien borrowing a lumpsum to show sufficient funds) seems odd. But hey, the Spanish love  red tape and seem to ignore the EU Schengen rules if they don't suit the Spaniards...

 

Peoole like Hip, who are in a long term relationship akin to marriage are better of going on holiday to say NL and apply under the freedom of movement rules: free visa via a simplified and accelerated procedure.

[macahoom]

 

I have started the application process.

 

On the “Documents Required” page, it states that “The checklist must be submitted on back to back format only (without back to back copies being stapled to each other).”

 

I don’t understand what back to back format means.

 

Can anyone explain, please?

[rasg]

It sounds like it means printed both sides but I'm not 100%.