This is a question on behalf of a Thai National who will be travelling through 4 Schengen Visa countries over a period of 3 weeks. The first country will be Holland but is it necessary to apply to the Dutch embassy as the first port of call for the Schengen visa or can the application be made to any of the countries along the tour route?

No ulterior motive for this other than he figures if he goes to one of the other embassies in this case the Hungarian embassy the last port of call before returning to Thailand he thought this would be less busy.

They should apply at the Consulate of the Schengen Area country which is the main destination, if they are touring and spending a similar time in a number of countries then they should apply at the Consulate for the country where they are entering Schengen.

They seem to be being a little more strict at the present time, I have knowledge of a person who was entering and leaving Schengen via one country twice during their trip, they were also spending a similar time in three other countries, so they applied at the Consulate where they originally planned to enter Schengen. That consulate refused to process the application, and wrongfully retained the fee, as they were spending a few hours longer on another countries soil.

Many thanks for that info, I agree I think that is the safest thing to do.