French Schengen visa refusal for 1 month languague course.
Hello everyone,
I'm supporting my niece from Thailand to study French language in Paris for 1 month. She will stay 1.5 months (Mid june - end July) to also travel and get to know more of France. Her visa request was refused indicating "the information submitted regarding the justificaiton for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not reliable"
My niece is a 3rd year student in a public university in Bangkok. She will definitely have to go back to finish her last year of bachelor degree in August 2026. As her uncle, I am the sponsor covering all payments. She had submitted the following documents:
Cover letter.
Round trip air-ticket - 17 June to 29 July - non refundable
Receipt/certificate from the language institute in Paris - 29 June - 24 July.
Proof of accomodation: Apartment rent contract, this maybe the weak point!. I rent a room in an apartment for her to stay with a local family so she can practice french. it's far better than staying with me and we speak in Thai. It is just a standard format contract between my niece and the owner. It was signed by the owner, scanned and sent by email, then signed by my niece and submitted to the embassy. I already transfered a 500 euros deposit to the owner. In addition, I had to sign a guarantee letter in case of damage, etc.
A statement of honor from me as a guarantor as well as my bank statements showing sufficient funds to support this project.
Her own bank statement to show the coverage of her stay.
She didn't submit her student certificate from her Uni as it arrived later than the appointment date. She submitted only her student card as evident.
We plan to re-submit with improvement points as follows:
Stregntening the cover letter to show her tie to come back to complete her degree. Should she mention that the stay/language course is part of her experience to obtain further study i.e. master degree in France? Can it be interpreted as a red flag to the consular?
The student certificate was received on hand.
Her continuous enrollment in French lanaguage at Alliance Fracaise in Bangkok.
A copy of the ID card of the apartment owner - wonder if it will help or how to further strengthen the proof of accommodation evidence.
Thank you in advance for any comments, additional ideas, thoughts to improve the file for submission.
Cheers,
Tee