Schengen Visa for a Filipina

[simono]

I have a question about applying for a Schengen Visa for my girlfriend to come to Spain with me in December. We live in Koh Samui and have already acquired the Visa for the UK part of our Trip, but now I must apply for the Spain part of the Trip now. She is on an ED Visa which has been stamped until December and that is the Year finished on the Visa. We are going to apply for her second ED Visa before we leave to go to the UK.

However, as part of the Schengen requirement you need to have a Re-entry stamp for when we come back into BKK in January. So my question is, can she get a Re-entry stamp now for January, even though the last ED Visa stamp is only good until December?

Slightly confusing but I hope that makes sense! Thanks in advance ...

[beano2274]

never read that part in the schengen visa application about re=entry permit requirements.

Answer to your question, is no, the re-entry permit is only valid upto the same day as the extension, if she has an extension,

[simono]

it was mentioned as part of the supporting documents. as we have no time to do a visa run for her 2nd year ED visa, i may just have to rely on the fact that the schengen peole shall see that we have the uk visa along with return flights from both bkk to uk, as well as just a one week stay in spain with return flights and accommodation booked and paid for. also with a letter from the school confirming her enrollment for 2015 should be enough to suffice one would assume ???

[theoldgit]

I would include a covering letter explaining just that, point out that the current visa expires before you intend travelling to Spain, adding that you will be applying for a new Thai Ed visa and re-entry permit before you travel, cross reference with the proof that you have enrolled for the new course.

Don't assume that they will put two and two together, point everything out.

Also provide details of where you live in Samui, this should help convince the officer of your stability in Thailand.

[Donutz]

I'm a bit confused, who's re-entry stamp are we talking about? A Thai re-entry stamp? The Schengen nations won't care about Thai or other foreign exit/entry stamps... Why should they?

There is no requirement in the Schengen rules to have aany foreign entry/exit stamps. Though ofcourse border staff is required to stamp most types of travel document on entry and exit. I imagen it's exactly the same in Thailand and the UK or any other border: passports are to be stamped on crossing the external border.

The best approach would be:

1) Get the Visa of your main (first) destination. In this case the UK

2) Prepare the visa of the other country (countries), in this case the Schengen area. Show the Spanish embassy that the applicant has a UK visa and Thai educational visa so they know she will be able to enter and exit both. Since the ED visa will expire and will have to be extended I'd cover that in a accompying letter. Use this letter to explain your travel plan and purpose aswell as reasons and abilities to return to Thailand. Ofcourse also make sure you meet the other requirements such as the medical travel Insurance and suffiicient funds per day (don't know how much the Spanish require, this amount is different for each Schengen member). As supporting evidence a reservation/option for transport (flight, ferry, ...) into and out of the Schengen area is enough. As is a booking (reservation) for accomodation. Most embassies strickly advice NOT to make any definitive financial commitments untill the visa has been granted, though some will wish to see the actual paid transport and accomodation ticket/bookings upon collecting a granted visa. There would be no need to already pay for transport and hotels. If you would I'd suggest a site that easily lets you cancel at no or minimal costs such as Booking.com. Yuo wouldn't want to waste money on a cancelled trip!

- Know that you can apply directly via the embassy . Personally I'd prefer that route especially since this seems a les straightforward application (Thai citizen to Spain and abck again) and you wouldn't want to face incompetent staff. External service providers such as VFS or TLS sadly are a bit less ontop of all the regulations, andf even embassy staff at the counter may not know everything (hopfully the actual staff that processes the visa would be nearby though incase there is any confusion upon handing in the application). You'd also save yourselves a service fee.

- See the Schengen FAQ pinned at the top of the forum for more information.

Edit: Obviously you'll show the Spanish embassy that she'll have entry to both the UK and TH by showing the granted visa(s), together with covering sufficient reasons of return you should be all good.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Donutz

[simono]

Thank you for the advice one and all!!