Chaotic Austria Visa Approval
My Austrian Schengen visa process was genuinely one of the weirdest experiences I’ve had. This was my first Schengen application.
Applied for a C-type business visa on 25 March for a conference trip.
Got rejected on 17 April because “my institute didn’t reply to their verification email.”
Except… neither my institute nor I had actually received any such email.
I appealed immediately explaining this. Then on 5 May, the appeal also got rejected for the exact same reason — still no email received by anyone.
At this point my travel dates were getting too close, so I just gave up on the appeal and filed a completely new application on 6 May.
And then things got even stranger.
On 7 May, the embassy suddenly sent the verification email related to the old rejected application to both me and my institute. My institute replied the same day.
Then on 12 May, I got a call from the embassy asking me questions about my conference, travel plans, etc. (likely linked to the new application). A few hours later, I received another email saying my previously rejected appeal had now been approved and asking me to resubmit my passport.
The goofiest part? My passport was already with them because of the second application🙏
I mailed them explaining both application numbers and the whole situation. Exactly a week later: visa approved.
Still have no idea what actually happened internally at the embassy lmfao. Wasted a ton of money and time.