I applied for the Appointment at BLS Mumbai on the 24th of April 2026, the closest alot available at that time was for Friday 15th May 2026.

Background:

I am a 29M Indian working as a Manager in an MNC. I have a 10-year US visa and 2-year UK visa.

Travel history includes US, Phillipines, Singapore, Iraq.

I was traveling to London for a business meeting and decided to club a 3-day stay in Madrid on the way back.

Documents Submitted:

- Visa Application Form (Printed from Website)

- Hotel Confirmation for London and Madrid (Refundable)

- Flight Tickets (Dummy)

- Ticket to the Tour of the Santiago Bernebao Stadium

- Insurance

- Current Passport Copy

- Old Passport Copy

- UK Visa

- US I94 Form

- Cover Letter with Day-wise Itinerary

- 3-months bank statement

- CDSL Demat Portfolio

- EPFO and NPS statements

- Company contact with CTC

- 3-months of Payslips

Submission:

The BLS centre was empty it was only me and only 1 counter was functioning. I did not take the courier service due to some stories I have read here. They said it being a Friday they will send my application on Monday.

Monday morning at 9am I received a message saying that my application has been received by the embassy. Same day at 4pm I received a message saying my passport is ready for collection and I should collect between 4-5pm. I went and collected it the next day.

Visa:

3 months multiple entry Tourist Visa.

Got my Spain Schengen visa approved today after a previous rejection, so thought I’d share my experience since this sub helped a lot.

Background:
Indian passport holder
UAE resident
Banking professional in Dubai
5-figure monthly salary
Applied through BLS Spain Dubai

Previous rejection:
I had a Bulgaria application rejected in December last year. I went through a travel agency and the issue was clearly my itinerary. It was split awkwardly between Bulgaria and Greece (around 10 days each), which likely made the main destination and purpose of travel unclear. This was also mentioned in the rejection letter. (Bulgaria is not your intended destination)

This time I kept everything much cleaner and simpler.

What I submitted:
NOC + employment letter
Bank statements with sufficient balance (150 euros per day)
Flight reservations - dummy
Hotel bookings - real
Travel insurance - from Sukoon
Cover letter - very basic stating I have extensive travel history, one previous schengen (in 2010) and have followed all visa guidelines.
Straightforward itinerary focused mainly on Spain, hotel bookings for the 3 different cities, duration and return to the original hotel before flying back to Dubai.

One thing I changed this time:
I avoided overexplaining the trip. No detailed attraction lists, no excessive day-by-day tourist plans. Just a realistic, direct itinerary with proper supporting documents.

Visa result:
Approved by Spain
Multiple entry
16 days stay
Valid Aug–Sep 2026

Appointment was on the 18th of May, got delivery dispatch message on 19th of May, got my passport today (21st of May)

This sub honestly helped a lot during the process, especially while figuring out documentation and itinerary structure.

Happy to answer questions if it helps anyone else.

Hi everyone,

So i got an email from VFS on Tuesday saying my passport has been dispatched.

It’s Thursday right now and i haven’t got any text from DX and my tracking number doesn’t work. How long does it usually take after the dispatch email? Because i think it’s supposed to be 24-48 hours right?

It’s just make me so anxious waiting for this visa result because my other 2 friends visa from italy is inadmissible and the other is rejected.

Thank you everyone!

Itinerary

HUNGARY (Days 1–21)

Week 1: Budapest

16 June – 22 June

·       Arrival in Budapest

·       Check-in at Stylish Riverside Rooms

·       Danube evening walks & central Pest cafés

·       Visit Buda Castle & Fisherman’s Bastion

·       Vintage/creative shopping at Ecseri Flea Market

·       Visit Museum of Fine Arts Budapest

·       Day trip: Szentendre (galleries & riverside studios)

·       Parks: Városliget + café culture

 

Week 2: Pécs

23 June – 29 June

·       Arrival in Pécs

·       Check-in at Hungaria Apartments

·       Explore historic centre & Zsolnay Quarter

·       Zsolnay Cultural Quarter

·       Mecsek Hills nature walk

·       Pécs Cathedral area sunset

·       Day trip: Villány

·       Café & creative district exploration

 

Week 3: Lake Balaton Region

 30 June – 06 July

·       Check-in at Villa Angel'OK

·       Visit Lake Balaton

·       Lavender fields in Tihany

·       Lake walks & slow travel days

·       Bike rental around Balatonfüred

·       Day trip: Veszprém

·       Day trip: Keszthely

·       Visit viewpoints & nature spots

 

SLOVAKIA (Days 22–33)

Week 4: Bratislava

 07 July – 13 July

·       Arrival in Bratislava

·       Check-in at 37B room in Bratislava

·       Old Town & Danube walks

·       Devin Castle ruins

·       Blue Church

·       Visit Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum

·       Day trip: Vienna

 

Week 5: High Tatras

14 July – 19 July

·       Travel to High Tatras

·       Check-in at Guest House Privát Štrba

·       Cable car day

·       Mountain lake walk

·       Wooden villages nearby

·       Day trip: Poprad

·       Transition toward Poland

POLAND (Days 34–45)

Week 6: Zakopane

 20 July – 23 July

·       Arrival in Zakopane

·       Check-in at Domek Pod Reglami

·       Funicular to Gubałówka

·       Nature, wooden architecture & markets

·       Day trips: Tatras valleys

 

Week 7: Kraków & Cultural Depth

24 July – 31 July

·       Travel to Kraków

·       Check-in at Pokój kapsułowy 7

·       Old Town & Kazimierz

·       MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art

·       Visit St. Mary’s Basilica + Wawel Cathedral

·       Day trip: Wieliczka Salt Mine

·       Reflective visit: Auschwitz

HUNGARY (Days 46–60)

Week 8: Győr – Western Hungary

01 August – 04 August

·       Arrival in Győr

·       Check-in at Lima Hostel Győr

·       Baroque old town & café culture

·       Riverside walks at sunset

·       Day trip: Sopron

 

 

Week 9: Eger – Culture & Regional Depth

 05 August – 08 August

·       Travel to Eger

·       Check-in at Kertész-ház

·       Eger Castle

·       Valley of the Beautiful Women wine area

·       Historic centre wandering

·       Thermal bath afternoon

·       Day trip: Miskolc

 

Week 10: Budapest – Contemporary Art Phase

09 August – 10 August

·       Return to Budapest

·       Check-in at Hermina apartmanház

·       Visit Ludwig Museum

·       District VII

·       District VIII

·       Bartók Béla Boulevard area

 

Week 11: Festival & Departure

11 August – 15 August

·       Attend Sziget Festival at Óbuda Island

·       Experience music, installations, and live art environments

·       Final reflection & documentation

·       Departure from Budapest (15 August)

 

I was recently rejected for a 60 days trip when I applied in March for a trip mid April. I was going to visit my friend in Italy but because it’s not a registered relationship, I mentioned it as my friend clearly and submitted the invitation letter from her. They suspected a romantic relationship anyway but gave the reason as “lack of supporting documentation”. However I didn’t wait and immediately reapplied ( trust me, take control and act quick, it’s the only way you can control your story). For my reapplication, I shortened the trip to 45 days and acknowledged my previous refusal in my cover letter. They called me for an interview (telephonic). Suddenly out of nowhere at 3:30pm on a Friday. They thoroughly “almost interrogated” me. I answered everything. Just being honest talking firmly (nothing to be scared, they are not “gifting” you a trip, they are doin their job so nobody owes anyone anything) then they anyway gave me a 60 day visa. My original trip from was April 15th, now it’s from 25th May.

My visa is valid for one year, allowing me to stay in Germany for 86 days on a single entry. Will this visa issue a problem with staying in Germany for 86 days and then leaving? My concern is about staying for 86 days in one go. I'd appreciate help from anyone who knows.

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.

I’m an 18-year-old Indian student planning to travel to Budapest, Hungary, but from what I’ve researched, the Hungarian embassy seems quite strict with tourist visas, especially for young applicants.

Because of that, I’m considering applying through another Schengen country first and then traveling onward to Hungary. I wanted to ask which embassy would give me the best chances as an Indian student with limited travel history.

A few details about my profile:
- Parents are sponsoring the trip
- Father is a government employee
- Around ₹15 lakh available in bank statements
- I’m enrolled in the Indigo Cadet Pilot Program
- Previous travel history: Thailand and Saudi Arabia
- Purpose is genuine tourism/travel

I know visa approval depends heavily on documentation and the visa officer’s decision, but based on experience and approval trends, which embassy would you target among:
- France
- Switzerland
- Austria
- Czech Republic
- Slovakia

Which one is generally considered more reasonable or gives better chances to young Indian applicants?

Would appreciate honest advice, especially from Indians who recently applied for Schengen visas.

So a bit of backstory first.

I am from a Schengen country (The Netherlands) and I have a girlfriend from the Philippines that wants to visit here to see the country and meet my family.

I have visited her before but we wanted her to visit my home country as well. Thus we applied for a Schengen visa, which was then denied for several reasons, but as far as I know the main reason is “We don’t trust you will go back to your home country”. This of course sucks, but I get it needs to be strict. We were looking to reapply but refrained from it. We thought it would be better to build our case and not waste money to just get another rejection on her name.

It didn’t help the situation that I did not exactly know what her part of the paperwork looked like exactly, which is why I can’t pinpoint a problem. What is good to know is that I both had sponsorship and accommodation papers for her and she applied under a friends & family visa. I have heard that needing a sponsorship is a big red flag, which I do understand, but she literally does not have the money to support herself in the country here, and she likely wont have that in the near future either, so we had no other option. Since they give us the option to sponsor I would assume thats a valid way of applying.

Also the main purpose of the visit was just getting to know everyone and everything here, so aside from a few set plans the itinerary was not really specific at all (we applied for 2 months visit).

Now on to the present:
The next plan is for us to meet in Asia somewhere at the end of the year for a week or 2. Then after that we want to apply for a visa again around the start of 2027.
For our case, these are the main changes that are currently in my head:
* she now owns her own small business (started recently), which we were told we hopefully can use to tell the embassy “I need to get back go my home country because i have a business there”. She did not start her business just for visa purposes but hopefully it can help?
* we have visited each other again (building our proof of relationship) and she has one more “visited another country and didn’t overstay” on her record, which will then be a total of 3 international travels
* we will buy real flight tickets this time (previously were dummy tickets as far as i am aware)
* I don’t know the exact length of her stay that we want to apply for, but if chances of approval are higher if it is less time then maybe im thinking of 1 month instead of 2
* I will most likely get approval from my work to work abroad in the philippines for a few weeks. the idea is to get the approval, book the flight tickets for her, and also book my flight tickets to the philippines on the same flight as her return would be. this hopefully shows the embassy she will actually return to her country since i will also go there with her and actually bought flight tickets + have work approval already
* we will still need to do the sponsorship + accomodation

so based on this information, what chance do you all think we have? is it worth applying again once the time comes?

Has anyone tried to get 30 day Schengen visa for France on H1B with an Indian passport for the first time? What are the support documents needed?

Documents reached consulate on 6th may,

Called for rebiometrics on 15th may,(10 mins work)

Visa printed on 19th may.

Well it was my 3rd application, had asked for longer duration(submitted whole year insurance) but request wasn't accepted ,received only 25 days multi entry .

the documents and process was good.

Anyone who recently travelled to Frankfurt airport can share their experience for immigration and ees !!

Posting on behalf of my friend:

“I recently had my US student visa (F1) approved and will be heading there in mid to late August.

I work in India, and plan to have my last working day in the first week of July.

Currently planning a Europe vacation (starting from France) with friends some time between my last working day and when I head to the USA.

Question - Will I be under extra scrutiny while applying for a Schengen because I’d be unemployed at the time of my trip? Even though I’m employed at the moment, the visa officer could easily see my F1 visa stamped on the passport and guess that I could potentially be unemployed during the trip.”

TIA!

I had my visa appointment in Manchester on 5th May. I have my travel dates on the 24th May. I’m really nervous now as I’ve had no response. Have read things on here where people in mid April appointment dates are also waiting for their visas. What can I do ? I’ve already emailed the consulate but no response. When you call their numbers it’s just automated voices that don’t help at all and impossible to speak to a real person.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

I have made a typo error in my employer's name in the german visa form. Now the application is already gone. One alphabet in the company's name seems to be missing, I overlooked it while checking. Will I be refused visa coz of this type error in the form? I am really worried. My resident permit and all other docs match the employer name.

I want to warn people before they waste money like I did. I paid for the automatic visa appointment catching service from @VisaCatcherBot because they advertise it like it automatically books appointments for you faster than everyone else. But when the system actually tried to work, the visa website kept giving errors after filling everything in. It would fail during the process and no appointment was secured at all. The worst part is that they still kept part of the money and refused to give a full refund even though the service literally did not work. So basically: Automatic catching failed completely Website errors made the process unusable No successful booking No proper refund I know visa appointments are stressful and people are desperate, which is exactly why services like this should be honest. If anyone else had similar experiences with @VisaCatcherBot, please comment because I’m seriously starting to think this whole “automatic booking” thing is misleading at best.

I have a one-year multi-entry visa with a 90-day validity period. Staying there for 86 days constitutes visa misuse. I would appreciate it if knowledgeable people could comment and tell me if I will experience any problems in the future.

I am traveling from India to Barcelona on June 1st on a National Type D Visa. My stay is for 4 months.

I have booked my outbound one-way flight, but I haven't booked a return ticket yet as i am not sure when will my contract end exactly and will prefer to book around my tickets around that. So should I expect any trouble from airline gate agents and spanish immigration officers?

Thankyou so much!

My application was on April 16th
My flight is tomorrow 21st May which is for a business meeting on the 22nd

Received a text message April 17th saying that it’s been sent to the consulate

May 13th I received my enrolment email

I am yet to receive anything and it’s stressing me out as the same thing happened last year and I ended up missing my meeting which affected my job.

I’ve done everything I can think of from calling, emailing, visiting both BLS and the consulate in person yet nothing has been done and I’m all honesty I do not know what to do

Does anyone have an idea of what can be done?