Visa for Thai girlfriend to schengen, Help pls

[Wwonka]

My Thia girlfriend want to come here to visit me for 10 days (and maybe we get married).

 

I would like to know in which country  to get a tourist visa for her most easy and cheap, without too much paperwork etc.

 

In my country they are very strict about papers and rules etc. so its not too easy here, that is why i would like to know which countries you guys have experience with is more relaxed with this matter.

 

I think the most easy is to apply as a tourist and book a hotel stay??.

 

I have heard and read here that france, portugal and italy maybe best places to go, is that correct?? or are there other options

 

And what do they require regarding papers, fees and money, and how does she do it?

 

We plan that she fly to the country where she apply to get visa, and i pick her op there.

 

All help is appreciatede in this matter.

[theoldgit]

Which country are you a citizen of, are you intending that she should spend time with you in your home country?
Your girlfriend should apply at the consulate that has jurisdiction for the country which is her main destination.
You might find the pinned topic at the top of the forum helpful, its author, Donutz, has provided all the details you might need.
You cannot cherry pick a consulate, it needs to be the consulate for her main destination.
She needs to apply for a visa in her country of residence, which would be Thailand.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Wwonka]

Thanks for your reply, but i know that already, and that is not the question.

 

I am a danish citizen, and according to my previous experience and in regards to the laws here, it can be a pain in the a.... to be treated with understanding here, hence the question.

 

 i would like to know which embassies people have obtained visas from with the least problems??

 

Cherrypicking is not the thing here, its simply a matter of using the embassy with the more relaxed attitude, and i know thats possible, i have seen it before, just interested in getting som practical info, not so much peoples opinions if its possible or not, more interesting is how to to do it, and where to go :-) 

 

I am not a total newbie with regards to the schengen rules, but as i write i am interested in actual and practical experience with embassies in Bangkok, who gives the least problems issuing a Schengen tourist visa. and how to do it.

[flyDelight]

Belgium or Spain.

[7by7]

The main requirements and fee are the same whichever country she applies to, although some countries may set additional requirements these are minimal. The standard fee is the same regardless of which country she applies to, although some  also charge a handling fee for applying via a visa application centre. See Donutz's pinned topic.

 

The problems which people have encountered are all to do with various Schengen embassies not complying with the regulations regarding qualifying non EEA national family members of an EEA national; Spain it seems being the worst culprit.

 

But as a girlfriend is not a qualifying family member* she will have to apply in the normal way so she should not encounter these problems whichever embassy she applies to.

 

*Unless she qualifies as your unmarried partner. Each country has it's own requirement for this; mainly to do with how long you have been living together.

[Donutz]

If you are not a newbie to the Schengen visa rules you probably are aware that the visa fee (60 euro's unless you fall under exceptions) is the same for all member states. And that one has to apply at the country that is the main destination, thoughif it's genuinly not clear where you will spent the most time you'd have to apply at the country where you will enter the Schengen area.

 

I don't want to come across as rude but I get the impression that you want her to apply at a ''more relaxed' embassy and then head for Denmark. That would be against the rules as it would be a disgenuine application and a case of visa shopping. Embassies obviously despise such acts and it makes them suspicious and less relaxed. The VIS system is a database the EU has created to record visa related informationon alien applicants, one of it's goals being to crush down on visa shopping. All member states can track the previous attempts of an applicant on Schengen visa applications.

 

As far as I know Denmark is not notorious for giving applicants a though time. The Spanish are the most notorious and other embassies are known to reject more applications than others (Belgium and Sweden refuse the highest percentage). 

 

Annual statistics can be  found as Excel files near the bottom of the EU Home Affairs page on Schengen visa policies:

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/visa-policy/index_en.htm

 

That may give some impressions on the attitude of embassies though from what I gather the embassies (except Spain perhaps) are not that different in attitude. Obviously so since the rules are pretty much the same across all members except details such as how solvable an applicant needs to be and no embassy wishing to encourage visa hopping, especially not on the receiving end by handing out visas like candy.

 

So if for some reason you feel uncomfortable about a holiday in Denmark, sure go on a holiday together to say the Netherlands, Germany or Austria and genuinly make that your primairy holiday location. I would not expect a much easier time then dealing with the Danish embassy. And if the visa is refused an appeal (which is free and highly suggested since on a second applucation ALL Schengenembassies can quickly refuse the visa by pointing to the first rejection and that circumstances have hardly changed) the appeal would go via the national authorities of said country. I'd much rather appeal and deal with the authorities of the country that I live in rather than dealing with authorities a few countries over.