r/visas

Thought I’d share my experience since reading posts here helped me while applying.I applied for a Japan tourist visa through VFS Gurgaon, and my overall experience was smooth.

Timeline:
Submitted my application-16.06.2026
Application forwarded to embassy -18.08.2026
Received my passport with the visa -24.06.2026

Documents I submitted:
Passport
Visa application form
Cover letter explaining my trip
Detailed travel itinerary
Flight itinerary
Hotel bookings
Bank statements
Employment documents (NOC/leave approval and supporting documents)

If anyone is applying through VFS Gurgaon or has questions about the application process or the documents I submitted, feel free to ask.

I am applying for a Tourist visa to Germany. I have gathered all my documents including invitation letter from my friend. I have previous visas to UK and Ireland.

The problem I’m facing is that on 25th June my sister transferred a large amount in my account. It accounts 90% of my balance. My appointment is on 27th July. The reason of the transfer is obv for my trip.

I have asked her to write me a gift letter and will be attaching her bank statement.

But will that be enough or there’s a chance of visa refusal.

I’m so disappointed after learning the status of my visa application today. I’m an Indian, and wanted to visit South Korea as my first international trip. I have a stable income job at one of the top financial MnCs, I had sufficient balances, proof of income and last 1 year ITR as i only started working last year, since i graduated from college last year only.
In my cover letter i explained the purpose of visit, and the reason for not having ITR of 2 years.
The reasons for which they rejected the visa were as follows:
7. Failed to sufficiently explain the purpose of entry.
8. Failed to explain that family ties and economic circumstances would lead to a return within the scheduled period of stay.

What should i do?
A) Should I re-apply, with detailed itinerary, flights/hotel bookings and everything, revamping my cover letter and providing rent agreements etc? Will that increase my chances?

B)Should i just try for a different country? As i’ve been reading all over reddit that south korea has grown strict about their visa business lately.

Seriously SO disappointed, need help from people who applied for Korean Visa in 2026, and got it approved

Hi everyone,

Asking legal questions on Reddit is never a good question, but this is one of my last resorts. I am currently in Madrid doing an internship, and my time is almost up. I've had some frustrating complications with my visa. I had an internship visa that expired at the end of May. I also have not been able to find an appointment at the police station of the Oficina de Extranjería. I leave at the very end of this month, and I'd like to be able to travel where I can since this is my first time in Europe, but I'm worried about getting stopped somewhere along the way. I have been trying to get answers from my attorney at my interning organization, but I haven't gotten much for answers.

I guess the ultimate question is, if I'm on an internship visa, does my tourist visa via my US passport automatically begin, or am I out of status and not supposed to be in Spain?

Hello, I know ETIAS hasn't implemented yet but i want to ask what are my chances of getting ETIAS when i have 1 day ESTA overstay 6 years ago? I had an overstay due to miscalculation of dates, I have learned it wasn't smart to leave on the last day of my trip.

When i was denied ESTA i successfully got B2. I'm just wondering if it would denied me to enter Europe.

Any opinions will help 🫶

I have indian pssport and a usa GREEN CARD but expired and an extension letter for 48 months that is for coming back to usa but for entering mexico? Do i need to apply for a mexican visa? Or will my valid b1/b2 visa on my expired passport works? Hearing mexied things from chatgpt and claude 😔

How much money do they want to see in your bank statement if you want a multiple entry visa?

Suppose I want to stay in Japan for only 4 days and I have USD 5k in my account. Will that be enough?

Thanks for answering my question.

I have a European refuge travel document and will be transiting through Heathrow for 1 hour. Do I need a transit visa? If yes which one?

It says this in the transiting without a visa section. I don’t know if it applies to me

\*\*a common format residence permit issued by an European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland

For context

The country of issuance is Spain under the convention of 28 July 1951.
I’m travelling back to Spain from a holiday but transiting through London.

I got rejected for a Turkey tourist visa and I'm trying to understand what I could have done differently. And when i should consider applying again.

I'm an Indian student with no personal income, just got graduated so thought i'll do a solo trip. so my dad was sponsoring my entire trip. I submitted his bank statements, sponsorship letter, financial documents flight itinerary, hotel booking, travel insurance, and all the documents required.

Since I don't have much money in my own bank account, could that have been the main reason? Or are student applications with parent sponsorship generally viewed as weak?

I'd really appreciate any advice on what I could improve if I decide to reapply. Thanks!

Hi everyone. I have a transit e-visa which says expiry date 24 July 2026. I enter India (Bengaluru Airport) at 8pm on 24 July and then leave on another flight at 6am on 25 July. Will this be OK?

The official e-Visa helpline (telephone and email) doesn't answer my question. I have looked at the Indian visa regulations which make me hopeful: the validity period for transit visa is framed in terms of entering India (in contrast to other types of visa), provided one's stay does not exceed 96 hours. Therefore, is it fine to enter before expiry date and leave after, provided that is within 96 hours, or does one have to leave within the duration of the transit visa validity too?

Any opinions very gratefully received. Debating whether to just spend USD96 on another transit visa so that I am definitely able to make my onward connection without trouble.

I'm a US citizen living in US with my 5 month old baby and my husband is indian living in India. While applying for entry visa , my daughter need a parental consent form to be notarized. And I got it but it doesn't have his actual signature by pen, only 2 stamps are there. Is this fine or should I go back and ask him to sign? If someone knows, it will be helpful

Hello, i need your help regarding my visa application
Age: 24 yo
Country: Jordan
Visa: standard visa
Status: unemployed and single
I need your advice, I need to apply for a visa to give an exam (ORE exam) in the uk my sponsor is my brother (he has 4k pounds) and I don't have enough savings(almost 1k pounds) in my bank account so my all family is here and I am living with them
The exam provider will give me a visa sponsor letter for the exam and I will be going only for 5 days I can insert a document that I'm enrolled with a course since 6 months to study for the exam
I have been to the uk before and got back home with no violation
I have a good travel history and had Schengen visa before but I got one rejection of Schengen visa as well I have never overstayed or something in any country I have been to
What are the chances and what things I can do to improve my visa application?
Thanks in advance

So, this happened to a friend of mine but I feel partially responsible so I thought I'd share it here.

My friend and his wife are Sri Lankan passport holders who have lived in New Zealand for over 5 years and are both permanent residents here. They're some of my closest friends.

They were going back to Sri Lanka this October and, being Malaysian, I heavily promoted staying over in Malaysia for a few days to explore, enjoy the sights and the food.

They ended up booking a hotel and flight tickets, and applying for Malaysia eVisa. They submitted all the required documentation including bank statements, flight and hotel details, and proof of employment and their leave approval letters from employers. I know they're very diligent with their paperwork as they've helped me previously with my own New Zealand visa applications.

Sadly, they were all ready to go but a few days after applying they received visa rejections. No explanation other than "did not meet immigration department requirements". They tried to contact the consulate in Melbourne which processed their visa but both the phone and the email were unreachable. They ended up paying over NZ $1000 to rebook their flight tickets and cancel their hotel booking, and NZ $100 out of pocket for their visa application fee.

I was left quite red-faced after the whole deal but I wanted to make this post as a bit of atonement.

The eVisa process can be quite opaque. Visa rejections can happen anywhere, but without proper information on why the application was rejected it's really hard for applicants to re-apply with confidence that it won't get rejected again. They are the sweetest people and have told me they will revisit Malaysia once they get their NZ passports in 2 years, but I wanted to write this to let everyone know about the process and its pitfalls.

I am an Indian citizen, living in the US. My H1B stamp is expired (June 2025), but I have a valid I797A till 2028. I was hoping to stop for a few days in Istanbul on my way to India (For H1B Stamping) at the end of July. I applied for the Turkish e-visa with my i797 document number. It was approved automatically. There is conflicting information online that the e-visa might be approved but the Airline might not let me board since my visa stamp is expired or that Immigration in Turkey may be a problem for the same.

Has anyone traveled to Turkey with an I-797A as a supporting document?

Has this ever happened to anyone?? It was approved fairly quickly. My first time ever being in the USA. I was in Canada about a month ago but I don’t see how that would affect the us. There’s NOTHING that should stop me from being able to come there and all the information is correct.. help… I’m stressing as my trip is on Friday.

ESTA was approved in like 10 minutes last week and today got an email from them that says im not authorised to enter anymore on ESTA. I was fully eligible , EU country, no criminal record, never been in banned countries and usa aswell. Its so frustrating after booking my tickets and hotel. Anyone that might know why or happened to him?

I wear a hijab but when I clicked my passport photo at that time I wasn't wearing one, so for the visa if I get the picture clicked while wearing hijab (showing ears obviously ) as I soon will be travelling to korea would be ok or would it cause an issue?

I have been granted a tourist visa for Turkey. I am allowed to stay in Turkey for a maximum of 14 days. However, my visa says “single entry.” Does this mean I cannot split my holiday into two separate trips of 7 days each

Thought I’d share my recent experience applying for an Italy Schengen visa through VFS New Delhi, as I found Reddit extremely helpful during my own application process.

Getting an appointment was by far the hardest part.
We started looking for Italy visa appointments on 6th June, and at that time the closest available slots were towards the end of July. Instead of giving up, we kept checking the portal 3–4 times a day for the next few days. On a late Saturday night, we managed to find two appointment slots for 15th June and booked them immediately.

So if you’re struggling to find an appointment, keep checking regularly. Cancellations do appear.

Application Timeline:
• Appointment Date: 15 June
• Application Submitted: Monday
• Dispatch Email Received: Friday evening
• Passports Delivered: Saturday

Overall, the experience at VFS New Delhi was surprisingly smooth.

The staff handling Italy applications were extremely helpful, polite and professional throughout the process. One thing that stood out was that they offered printouts, photocopies and even passport photos free of charge, which is quite uncommon at most visa application centres.

For context, this was my 5th Schengen visa in the last 10 years and my 3rd Schengen visa in the last 3 years.

We were hoping to receive a 2-year visa this time, but were granted a 1-year multiple-entry visa. Of course, we would have loved 2 years, but we’re still happy with the outcome.

As for documentation, we submitted everything exactly as per the checklist. One thing I always make sure of is that my flight booking has an active and verifiable PNR.

I know many travel agents provide dummy tickets where the PNR either doesn’t exist or cannot be verified online. Personally, I prefer submitting either fully refundable tickets or reservations with a valid, active PNR that can be checked by the embassy if they decide to verify it.

Hope this helps someone who’s currently going through the process.

Happy to answer any questions.