VFS Charges

[Donutz]

5 hours ago, wgdanson said:

The Italian Embassy do not have a courier service to send the passport back. So unless I want another 900km/Bht2000 journey,  go to VFS. Although Embassy Bht 2300, VFS 3000.

It depends on the embassy though. The Dutch and Belgium embassy for instance do have a return service for (EMTS) for those who apply at the embassy. Your case is the first one I heard of an embassy that doesn't have such a service. Which came as a disappointment. 

[wgdanson]

9 hours ago, Donutz said:

It depends on the embassy though. The Dutch and Belgium embassy for instance do have a return service for (EMTS) for those who apply at the embassy. Your case is the first one I heard of an embassy that doesn't have such a service. Which came as a disappointment. 

I shall call them again and get a definite answer. Maybe they were just trying to make me go to VFS. I cannot use the Dutch or Belgium Embassies as I am not going to or thru their countries.

Edited April 19, 2018 by wgdanson

[Captor]

On 4/19/2018 at 3:14 AM, wgdanson said:

I shall call them again and get a definite answer. Maybe they were just trying to make me go to VFS. I cannot use the Dutch or Belgium Embassies as I am not going to or thru their countries.

In the meantime my gf tryed to come to the Swedish embassy but they told her to go to VFS. So that she did. I guess the embassy want to save work and that is why they are doing this outsourcing.

[Donutz]

It saves the embassy some time  (front office work, the embassies still do the actual visa processing of deciding over issuing the visa or not) and ofcourse money  (while increasing costs for the applicant).

 

But the Schengen embassies are still obligated to accept (within 2 weeks) appointment for a visa application at the embassy itself. So if the Swedish embassy did not say or admit that she could apply there this means they did not gave complete and accurate information. They are obviously requires to give proper information so they would have violated the EU Schengen visa rules by telling you to go to VFS.

[wgdanson]

Just to re-iterate my recent experience. Went to VFS Italy last Tuesday. Got txt later that day to say it had been passed onto the Embassy, txt on Friday to say passport is on it's way back to us. All in all not too bad an experience.