In case you are planning to travel to Europe from the UAE, you should surely try to get a Schengen visa. With this visa, you can get unrestricted access to the complete Schengen area, including Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and the other 22 of Schengen visa countries of Europe.
When to apply?
In case of applying for a Schengen visa from the UAE, you must apply at least 15 days (2 weeks) prior to the date of leaving and no more than 6 months prior to your trip. You can take the help of immigration companies in Dubai.
Cost of visa
- Adults applying for the visa must pay €80.
- Children below 6 years, holders of diplomatic passports, and other persons in special categories can apply for a visa-free of cost or at a discount.
- Some Schengen countries will accept visa fees through online payments before submitting an application. As for other countries, they accept payment during the visa appointment process.
Who can apply?
Passport holders of UAE can gain entry to a Schengen country and can stay up to 90 days within a period of 180 days, free of visa. But all the persons residing in any of the seven Emirates of the UAE who do not have UAE passports and do not belong to any of the categories of Schengen-exempt candidature must obtain a visa.
Documents required
- Application form: Must be duly completed with accurate information.
- Valid passport: Must be not older than 10 years and must be valid for a minimum of 3 months after the period of visit.
- Two photos
- Itinerary of travel: Proof of flight tickets to and from the Schengen region.
- Travel insurance valid in Europe: Must have coverage of at least 30,000 Euros in case of any medical emergencies during a trip to Europe.
- Accommodation proof: Documents indicating proof of accommodation throughout the trip. This might be hotel bookings/rent agreement/ letter of invitation from your host of stay during the trip.
- Proof of finances: This is proof that you have enough finances to support you during the period of your stay. These include a statement of bank account/ letter of sponsorship/a combination of the two.
Additional documents may be required based on whether you are a minor or your status of employment. All details can be found with best visa consultant in Dubai.
Process of application for visa
- First, check which consulate or embassy to which you must apply. Find out which office of the country deals with visa applications or whether it has outsourced the process to external agencies.
- Schedule a meeting with the visa centre/ consulate/ embassy.
- Attend interview for visa: You must carry all necessary documents.
- Most Schengen countries make it mandatory for applicants to visit in person for the process of application.
- Since all visa applicants need to submit biometric data (photo and fingerprints) as part of the process of visa application, you must be present in person for the visa interview.
- But if you have already submitted bio-metric data in a previous Schengen visa interview, your presence in person may not be required.
- Await a response: The embassy will process the visa usually within 15 days after processing it through the Security systems of the EU. The maximum time period for this is 60 days.
In sum, these are the leading aspects of applying for a Schengen visa from the UAE.