Getting a swiss schengan visa

[oporhatch]

I am a little confused about this process and somebody may help me to move forward

I am UK and married , my wife could support her own trip , however I have already paid upfront for hotels. hire car etc and the flight ticket has a Bangkok return 

My questions are

1. Is a marriage certificate required  (ie name change document) -  her current thai visa and Id card are in her married surname 

2. She is travelling with me   - do we require a bank statement showing 3 months in her account as  it is all paid for upfront  

3.  How does the booking process work to make the application in Bangkok 

 

any help or previous experiences would be appreciated 

 

regards  

    

[2ndhomepattaya]

All the info should be here...

You say wife has thai visa, so is she British, or dual nationality

https://visalist.io/switzerland/visa-requirements/thailand

[oporhatch]

she is just a thai national no dual nationality 

 

regards 

[ipeterrobinson17]

we visited Switzerland a couple of weeks ago, and i already asked some similar questions in a post on here before doing the Schengen visa application. i also added a summary of what i thought was relevant info for anyone doing something similar.

 

we are not married - i was her "sponsor" and paying for everything so i provided all the financial proof (statements etc) - i was a bit confused about how to record myself on the application form as her sponsor as it wasn't exactly clear (partly because i'm a Brit and so not an EU citizen) but i must have done it correctly as we were successful.

 

you make the booking online and choose your appointment typically 1-2 weeks in the future, and so you can use that time to get all the paperwork ready.

[digbeth]

What's her passport nationality?

[Muhendis]

I am just a bit confused about the schengen visa. Perhaps someone can clarify 

I thought schengen was a visa agreement to visit countries which are part of the EU.

Does that now include Switzerland?

[klauskunkel]

10 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

I am just a bit confused about the schengen visa. Perhaps someone can clarify 

I thought schengen was a visa agreement to visit countries which are part of the EU.

Does that now include Switzerland?

Switzerland has been a member of the Schengen Area since 12 December 2008.

[Muhendis]

38 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

Switzerland has been a member of the Schengen Area since 12 December 2008.

 

Ta.

[oporhatch]

Thanks for all your responses  - did anybody use the VFS premium service is it worth it

 

I live 3 hours from bangkok, so will be travelling for the appointment 

 So if i am missing something,  probably can access it through laptop, phone etc 

but then would need printer etc      

Just wondered to pay for the service 'belt and braces'  

[sandyf]

2 hours ago, Muhendis said:

I am just a bit confused about the schengen visa. Perhaps someone can clarify 

I thought schengen was a visa agreement to visit countries which are part of the EU.

Does that now include Switzerland?

The Schengen Agreement and the EU are not quite the same, the UK and Ireland never signed up, nor did Cyprus. Some EEA countries although not in the EU are also in Schengen.

Schengen is more about freedom of movement than visas, it abolished internal border controls. If you are not a national from a Schengen country you need a visitor visa to  enter, commonly called the Schengen Visa as it is a standardised format for the area.

I was stationed in Germany early 70s and had to show my passport at the border control every time we went to Venlo in Holland a few miles away, not any more all border posts have gone.

[sandyf]

28 minutes ago, oporhatch said:

Thanks for all your responses  - did anybody use the VFS premium service is it worth it

 

I live 3 hours from bangkok, so will be travelling for the appointment 

 So if i am missing something,  probably can access it through laptop, phone etc 

but then would need printer etc      

Just wondered to pay for the service 'belt and braces'  

I wouldn't pay VFS for anything that I didn't have to, been dealing with them for 15 years and had a few problems.

With Switzerland you have the choice of VFS or using Swiss Consular services, I would take the latter but whatever is most convenient. I have just done one for Germany and no longer had a choice. Last one I did for Germany was done at the embassy and got decision at the appointment, all very efficient.  Now VFS has taken over it is a bureaucratic nightmare and a lot more expensive.

If you use VFS you will go to the same office as I did and best bet is to get there by MRT to Samyan. On leaving the MRT keep an eye on the exits, one of them will take you up into the shopping centre. Office is fairly easy to find on 4th floor, I think to the left at the top, if you see Italy it is the other direction. No point getting there too early as they won't let you in until 10  minutes before, it says only the applicant but he let both of us in. Good luck.

[ipeterrobinson17]

On 5/1/2024 at 2:51 AM, oporhatch said:

Thanks for all your responses  - did anybody use the VFS premium service is it worth it

 

I live 3 hours from bangkok, so will be travelling for the appointment 

 So if i am missing something,  probably can access it through laptop, phone etc 

but then would need printer etc      

Just wondered to pay for the service 'belt and braces'  

although my natural response would be to not pay for any extras, i was not the one going for the appointment/interview.

 

i have paid for the premium service once, particularly because she was feeling very nervous about it all. she had a specific timed appointment and was supposed to be in a separate quiet area but i don't think it was much different to everyone else.

 

that appointment was very late (more than 2 hours if i remember correctly) and i think i paid extra around 100gbp in total.

 

for the most recent appointment earlier this year, it was still late (around 1 hour), this time i only paid for a few extras (SIM card, text updates on progress - which was 1 text message!, courier return of passport, and the cheapest admin/checking option) so i think i paid extra around 20gbp in total.