Schengen Visa For Tour Of Europe

[beano2274]

Whilst all advice is, or should be, welcome and the OP can decide which is useful to him and which is not; I would like to point out that the OP is Canadian and so not an EU citizen. Therefore more evidence is required from his partner than would be required from the partner or spouse of a British citizen.

Does being a Brit really carry weight for EU/Schengen Visa purposes?

Being a European allows your Thai partner to travel with you and not pay for the visa, they only pay a fee for the admin work, should also not be too heavily restricted in travel, as they have the rights of freedom of movement to go with you (as far as I remember)

Edited January 23, 2012 by beano2274

[mackes]

I travelled with my gf in Europe last year and the info we got from the Swedish embassy where we applied for Visa is that it is what it says, a Visa to Schengen area and therefore the Visa is equally valid in all Schengen Countries regardless of where you got it. You can travel as you want whitin Schengen during the Visa:s validity period. For us it was only one week more than planned.

[jehricaholic]

I would apply for the visa at the French embassy but do not tell them about your acutal plans, get the flight confirmation and hotel bookings prepared and after obtaining the visa cancel them all, use booking.com for hotels.

I just applied for a Schengen for my wife at the Swiss Embassy, I put on the forms when we would arrive and depart Switzerland, however I also informed them that we would be going to the UK to visit my mother, so they deducted those dates from the validity of the visa, so now we will go on holiday for 11 days but my wife only can stay in Switzerland for 7 days, as we plan 4 days in the UK, dumb of me, next time gonna keep my big mouth shut and not give the real details.

Note - I did not apply she did, I just did the paperwork, stops confusion that might happen from my second paragraph.

Sounds like a plan for round 2 should this 'Italian' Visa be refused, I could apply at France or Portugal Embassies if I modify the itinerary giving France, Portugal and Italy 4 nights equally.

This Schengen thing sounds like a great process once the kinks are ironed out, but for now I'd have to say it kinda sucks, but still nowhere near as bad as Expats having to deal with Thai immigration

I would just say am going to one country only and leave it at that, remember you only need airticket confirmation, most agencies will give you this including atninter.com, also hotel bookings can be cancelled free of charge www.booking.com, state you would like multi entry as you might travel into another country for a days sightseeing, I put down am staying near the Swiss/German border area so frequently crossing into Germany from Switzerland

Multi-entry is only useful when leaving/returning to EU/Schengen territory repeatedly. One can travel to several countries within Schengen with only a single entry Visa, however once you leave the EU (ie return home) you need a new Visa to come back to the EU.

[jehricaholic]

Whilst all advice is, or should be, welcome and the OP can decide which is useful to him and which is not; I would like to point out that the OP is Canadian and so not an EU citizen. Therefore more evidence is required from his partner than would be required from the partner or spouse of a British citizen.

Does being a Brit really carry weight for EU/Schengen Visa purposes?

Being a European allows your Thai partner to travel with you and not pay for the visa, they only pay a fee for the admin work, should also not be too heavily restricted in travel, as they have the rights of freedom of movement to go with you (as far as I remember)

Last I heard Brits were not Europeans

[theoldgit]

Last I heard Brits were not Europeans

You heard wrong.

[alyx]

I think that the main difference between your case and the OP's one, is that they are not married, at best they are in a civil union, which, in France has no meaning , when it comes to evaluate whether a visa is granted or not, although it is better to state it.

We have a same sex marriage (via South Africa) not recognized in Thailand and he put his marital status as 'single' on the application. If asked by Visa, I am his BF. He is currently being sponsored to come to Canada with me, processing time is 22 months!

1) withTls you may apply for him , or accompany him

2) first port of entry is France, I insist

3) book two more nights in Paris, shorten the stay in Portugal, this way they will have nothing to say about it

4) you are married, this is not recognised by the French authorities,( that is what I meant when I said Civil Union at best,

Just write down "other" and include the marriage certificate. Thai's recognition is irrelevant

5) As for transportation this is trickier as I usually rent a car from here

Edited January 23, 2012 by alyx

[alyx]

Whilst all advice is, or should be, welcome and the OP can decide which is useful to him and which is not; I would like to point out that the OP is Canadian and so not an EU citizen. Therefore more evidence is required from his partner than would be required from the partner or spouse of a British citizen.

Not only that: partnership is not a factor when it is considered, just left to the mere appreciation of the officer, full stop

[alyx]

I am not going to quote al the messages but one thing is sure: some of you confuse the fact between being married, which is taken into consideration and not being married carrying absolutely no weight at least in that very case) it is as plain as that

I do not quite understand: did he apply with the Italian Embassy? As you say that if he is turned down there he will apply at another Embassy......Weil,when one one has been turned down in any of the EU's posts one is listed, so no point in trying their luck somewhere else

Uk are part of Europe: they simple do not want to enter the Euro zone

That being said, one needs to apply at both representations if one needs to travel to UK and the rest of Europe. This is why so many think that UK nationals are not european whereas, de facto, they are. This is why the term of Shenghen might not seem to apply to UK in that case

Uk are a pragmatic nation rather than an idealistic one, leading to their understandable stand

Edited January 23, 2012 by alyx

[jehricaholic]

I am not going to quote al the messages but one thing is sure: some of you confuse the fact between being married, which is taken into consideration and not being married carrying absolutely no weight at least in that very case) it is as plain as that

I do not quite understand: did he apply with the Italian Embassy? As you say that if he is turned down there he will apply at another Embassy......Weil,when one one has been turned down in any of the EU's posts one is listed, so no point in trying their luck somewhere else

Uk are part of Europe: they simple do not want to enter the Euro zone

That being said, one needs to apply at both representations if one needs to travel to UK and the rest of Europe. This is why so many think that UK nationals are not european whereas, de facto, they are. This is why the term of Shenghen might not seem to apply to UK in that case

Uk are a pragmatic nation rather than an idealistic one, leading to their understandable stand

My Thai partner walked into the French agency for Schengen Visas, was turned away when they discovered he was spending more time in Italy (1 day) than France, then walked down the road to the Italian agency for Schengen and applied there. He's now awaiting the 5-7 day deliberation on the verdict!

[7by7]

Some posts have been deleted.

Keep it civil, or I will start handing official warnings and suspensions.

[7by7]

Whilst all advice is, or should be, welcome and the OP can decide which is useful to him and which is not; I would like to point out that the OP is Canadian and so not an EU citizen. Therefore more evidence is required from his partner than would be required from the partner or spouse of a British citizen.

Not only that: partnership is not a factor when it is considered, just left to the mere appreciation of the officer, full stop

Civil partners of EU citizens are, or should be, treated the same as spouses of EU citizens under the regulations; as should be unmarried partners of EU citizens. That is many of the questions on the application form, and document requirements, do not apply to them (those marked with an asterisk) and the visa is free; provided they are traveling with or to join their spouse or partner.

However, different Schengen states do appear to have different interpretations on what constitutes civil partners and unmarried partners.

[alyx]

I am glad you added "should" as in "should be treated the same way" Well they are not.

In France one thing is officially recognised when it comes to visa, it is " conjoint" when two adults, man and woman, have declared living together. Diffent from the PACS, kind of civil union, which is not listed in the choices and those have to provide the same documents, as well as answer all questions, as the basic tourist with no connections to the country where they are applying. Of course, as said above, it is always helpful to join the proof of this union, although it gives one no right to claim against if turn down. Unlike on the French soil, where this union, when cited, eases the path at immigration gates ( although two adults of the same sex, married, will hear that this is not recognised in France: then better to have entered a civil partnership ) bank, administration

That being said there is the official interpretation and the personal consideration of the officer in charge with the case who is certainly considering under a positive light, the documents in hands

[jehricaholic]

I can't comment on other Schengen countries but the French processing centre (TLSContact) advised a colleague's girlfriend in July last year that she should not submit her application there because her itinerary showed she would be spending more time in Italy than in France (2 more nights), even though her first entry in the Schengen zone would be France. She was advised that if she proceeded the French Embassy could reject her application on that basis and the application fee would be lost. They recommended she either apply at the Italian Embassy or modify her itinerary to spend more time in France. She opted for the latter option as the Italian Embassy in Bangkok has a reputation for being particularly rude to Thai applicants and very stingy with the period of stay granted. After getting another appointment with TLSContact 10 days later, she submitted an application with a revised itinerary and got the standard 3 month multi-entry Schengen visit visa.

Note that on her first visit to TLSContact, they returned the Schengen visa fee but kept the THB 1,200 TLSContact "surcharge" --- the cost of their advice, I suppose.

This advise was spot on!

My Thai travelling partner had his appointment first thing today at the TLS office in Bangkok (I stayed in Pattaya), they turned him away because his itinerary (as posted above) showed that he was staying 5 nights in Italy and only 4 nights in France. They told him to apply at the Italian Embassy.

All was not lost... The Italian Embassy has a 1-900 number for Thai Visa applications/appointments. He called them up and they said he could stop by today with his French Schengen application form (Italian form is different, you would think a Schengen form would be universal!). He went there but his appointment went not so smoothly, they asked him for the transportation booking to Italy (we have the booking for the flight home from Italy, but nothing has been booked between Schengen countries, and our arrival flight goes to France). Anyways, they then asked him how we were to arrive in Italy, and the confusion began with the misinterpretation of 'train' and 'plane'. Somehow the confusion was resolved and they accepted his application. Within a week we shall get a result.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Today we got a phone call and he has an appointment/interview next Tuesday with an Italian Visa officer... so much for a 7 day wait for a result

[alyx]

Hey

I guess your friend went to his appointment yesterday and hope it was a positive interview

[jehricaholic]

Hey

I guess your friend went to his appointment yesterday and hope it was a positive interview

Yes Thanks, the interview was apparently quite painless, only asking who he's travelling with and the Italian cities on his itinerary. He got the impression the interviewer was a 'big boss' type at the consulate.

Unfortunately, he paid extra to have sms notification and passport delivery, It's now Thursday, no sms thus far and this is the exact thing we see when we search online for his application (no edits):

"Processed application has been handed over to (Courier company name) on 01/02/2012. You can track the movement of your application envelope on the website (Courier partner website address) using the (Courier Company name) Reference Number"

Does 'processed application' mean a Visa has been issued?

Edited February 2, 2012 by jehricaholic

[alyx]

Hey, unfortunately, there is no meaning to it: just that a decision has been taken. You should get it today otherwise contact the company in charge