Refusal to issue a Schengen visa: causes and consequences

Express Newspaper answers current, inconvenient and unexpected questions. Today we asked an expert why you might be denied a visa, what the consequences are and what to do in such cases.

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A possible refusal of a Schengen visa is one of the main deterrents to traveling to European countries. Of course, if you competently approached the collection of documents, you are unlikely to be denied a visa. And yet it happens that, due to the decision of the consulate, the trip is canceled, and so is the vacation. Our expert will tell you what to do if you are denied a visa and how to avoid it.

What is a Schengen visa?

A Schengen visa is a special type of travel sticker that is affixed to the passport of travelers from visa countries. It provides the opportunity to enter the Schengen zone and freely cross the borders of participating countries.

The agreement was signed by 26 countries of the European Union. To visit each of them, there is no need to request a separate entry permit. The original version of the agreement provided that the creation of a single zone would save guests from going through passport control. But today this preference exists formally. Due to the large flow of migrants and the threat of terrorist attacks, many signatory states have strengthened control at the borders, and therefore, although conditional, they still have to go through the procedure for checking passports.

Embassy and consulate employees treat all applicants for a visa stamp with great exactingness and pedantry; If you receive a refusal at one mission, the chances of opening a visa at another are sharply reduced. And yet it is a mistake to say that if your passport is “decorated” with a Denied stamp, then requesting Schengen again makes no sense.

Before going to the consulate and applying for an entry stamp, study in detail what a Schengen visa is.

What to do after a Schengen visa refusal

If you once failed an immigration check, this does not put an end to your plans for other travel: you just need to meet a number of conditions so as not to repeat the sad experience.

How to Avoid Rejection

You were not issued a visa because you made a mistake in the documents or did not collect the entire package? Quickly figure out what the problem was and try again - this can be done the very next day.

For all other cases, you need to contact the embassy (or consulate). Since 2010, Russia has had an agreement in force that obliges immigration officials to provide all the necessary information for such requests. They will explain to you why you did not receive permission to enter a particular country, and will give recommendations.

Filing an appeal

If you do not agree with the decision of the immigration service, you have the right to challenge this decision: within a month from the date of receipt of the refusal, you have the right to contact the service of the country you intended to visit. It is best to submit an application with the text of the appeal drawn up in the state language of the “destination” to the consulate in person.

If it is not possible to visit, you can send it by regular mail or email (in the latter case, you should attach a PDF file). In most cases, it makes sense to go through this procedure for those who have already lost money due to a canceled trip.

What will the stamp look like if you are rejected?

When it comes to what a refusal of a Schengen visa looks like, many people imagine a certificate and a separate form. In practice, you can find out that you are denied permission to cross the border from your own passport.

When the package of documents is reviewed, events can develop according to three scenarios:

• they will issue you a visa;
• you will be given a stamp that the documents have been accepted;
• a refusal will appear in your foreign passport and you will receive a motivated letter about the reasons for this decision.

And if in the first case we can only be happy for you, in the second we can clearly talk about a mistake by the consulate staff (although we have to deal with it extremely rarely), then the third option assumes that you will see a small stamp containing one alphabetic and one numeric symbol . For example, "1-C".

There are few options: consular officers use numbers from 1 to 4 and the letters A, B, C, D.

Why can a visa be refused?

It is better to be prepared for unpleasant events, and therefore you must know the reasons for refusal to obtain a Schengen visa:

• providing false or distorted information. It is well known that the package of documents must include a certificate issued at the place of work indicating income. But not all applicants can demonstrate a level sufficient for travel, which is the reason that the figures in this document are exaggerated. If the lie is discovered, refusal cannot be avoided;
• forgery of documents. Most often, falsified papers are provided when applying for a guest visa in the form of an invitation. Keep in mind that it will not be difficult for the consulate to expose the fraud;
• absence or insufficient (in the opinion of consulate staff) documents confirming the purpose of the trip;
• insufficient funding for the trip. If the funds in your account or your income are not enough, representatives of the visiting country will simply prohibit you from entering for fear that there will be no reason for you to live as a guest;
• damaged reputation on previous visits. Those who can be denied a Schengen visa are violators of migration regulations. If you were dishonest about the rules of entry/exit or stay in the Schengen country, this will certainly be recorded in a single information database;
• first trip to Schengen. A clean passport can also cause a refusal. And although it is not an argument in itself, it can become a decisive factor in the presence of other errors;
• previous refusals due to deportation or violation of migration rules.

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Types of failures

According to the new requirements of the Visa Code, starting from 2021, diplomatic missions of European powers are required to justify why they do not want to open entry to Schengen for this or that citizen - in case he considers it necessary to appeal their decision.

The letter designation on the stamp carries information about what category of visa you requested:

• A - airport,
• B – transit,
• C – tourist visa,
• D – national.

The digital code is the reason for the refusal. Let us immediately note that a stamp with the number 4 and any of the letters (A4, B4, C4, D4) is very rare. Usually it means that the refusal you received is indefinite.

Most often you can see the following combinations:

• C1 – refusal to issue a short-term tourist visa, which is due to incomplete information in the visa application;
• C2 - means that the reasons also cannot be considered serious, but in order to obtain a visa, you will have to appear for an individual interview. Sometimes such a stamp may mean that the hotel reservation has not been confirmed (if the stamp was placed, but was not invited to an interview);
• C3 – indicates problems with the documents provided. In most cases, the consulate accompanies such a refusal with an exhaustive list of papers and explanations. If there is no such letter, you should find out from the visa officer what exactly did not suit him.

Codes B1, B2, B3 indicate that you were not issued a transit visa, and all marks with the letter D mean that the national sticker was denied.

Reasons for the ban on entry into the Schengen area

A visa can be denied for a variety of reasons, but it remains at the discretion of the consulate whether to inform you of them or not. Often the reason can only be guessed at. To make it easier to decide, let's consider the most common of them.

False information about yourself

This is not about an error in writing the date of birth or other minor blots. Embassy employees are tolerant of such shortcomings and allow them to be easily corrected.

There will be big problems if you provide knowingly false information about yourself . This could be false information about your place of work and income, or about booking a hotel where you are not actually going to live. The veracity of this information is very easy to verify, and if a discrepancy is detected, your visa will be refused in the form of a stamp in your passport. With such documents, it will be difficult for you to obtain a visa in the future, since you will have to explain the circumstances of the previous refusal.

False documents

An even more severe case. For providing a fake, even if it is just an income certificate, you may face an indefinite ban on entry into the Schengen zone. Therefore, you should not try to inflate your income, or hide fines or criminal records.

The most frequently falsified document is an invitation to the country, so they began to check it with special care, and now such falsifications are useless.

Lack of finances

The consulate is interested in wealthy tourists whose visit will have a positive impact on the country's economy.

Another purpose of their checks is to identify potential emigrants . Low incomes and lack of property in one's own country raise suspicions about a desire to stay abroad. Having a family helps smooth out the impression. Consular officials do not suspect persons who have spouses and children in their homeland to emigrate. But loneliness with a low income raises additional doubts.

Read where to get a certificate for a Schengen visa. Are fingerprints required for a Schengen visa? Find out now.

Blank pages in passport

On your first trip, you will receive increased attention, since there is no past positive experience. Therefore, the documents must be in perfect order so that there is no chance of doubting your integrity.

If your passport is clean due to its recent change, be sure to provide the consulate with your previous document with stamps on receipt of the visa.

Damaged reputation

A common reason for refusal is the presence of violations of the rules of the Schengen zone in the past. For example, if you violated the terms of your stay in a foreign country on a previous trip. An even more hopeless case is when you have a record of violating the laws of one of the Schengen countries; in this case, you can’t hope for a positive solution.

Passport refusal stamps

If you have already been denied a visa once, the officer checking you will definitely contact the consulate that issued the refusal for details.

If you received a previous refusal due to errors in documents or lack of finances, the visa will most likely be approved . For more serious reasons, the failure may recur.

Medical insurance

Failure to provide health insurance is a legal basis for visa denial. According to the visa code, entry into the Schengen zone without obtaining this document is prohibited.

Lack of a specific purpose of travel

The question of purpose does not arise only when applying for a tourist visa.

If you are going to work or study, you must have supporting documents - about enrollment in a university or an invitation from an employer .
Other reasons must also have some kind of documentary justification.

How to get a visa issued

There are a number of actions that can be taken to prevent failure:

• You must attach to your application as many papers as possible that would give you a positive description. Even if they are not on the list, they will help convince the consular officer of your trustworthiness and good intentions. Such documents include certificates of registration of the right to own property, a certificate of family composition, deposit agreements with banks;
• Pay maximum attention to filling out the application. Any mistake, typo or incorrectly filled in column can be a decisive factor;
• You shouldn’t hide the negative aspects of your life. If your salary is small, back it up with evidence of other sources of income. The unfortunate fact itself may not have a special effect, but concealing information is another matter;
• check whether you have any outstanding obligations to the country of your visit;
• Attach old passports with previous expired visas to the package of papers.

Do not forget that all Schengen countries treat those who make their first visit to their territory differently. Some are more loyal to newcomers, while others will treat you with great suspicion and caution. Choose the consulate of Finland, Spain or Italy to apply for your visa for the first time. But opening a French or German visa will be somewhat more difficult.

Procedure for obtaining a Schengen visa

To begin with, it is worth noting that a Schengen visa, like a regular one, can be of different types. This is determined mainly by the purpose of the visit and the period of time of the planned trip.

Types of Schengen visa

1. Short-term visa category C. This is a regular tourist visa that is issued to all foreigners. This visa is issued not only to tourists, but also to businessmen who come to Europe for seminars, business meetings and transactions. Regardless of the validity period of the visa, you can only stay in the country for 3 months in one half-year.

2. National visa category D. This visa allows you to stay in the country for three to six months. The visa is suitable for workers, students and businessmen.
3. Resident card. A residence permit is issued for one year and during this entire time you can live in a European country and then renew it right on the spot.

Detailed video about obtaining a Schengen visa to France on your own.

Obtaining any of the listed types of visas is almost the same procedure. The main differences are the presence or absence of an invitation, as well as the set of documents and their validity period. More noticeable features of obtaining a Schengen visa are characterized by the category of the travel document.

Required documents to obtain Schengen

This point is one of the most important. It is the loss of documents or the provision of an incomplete package of papers, as well as banal errors and typos when filling out questionnaires and forms that become the most common reasons for the rejection of an application and refusal to obtain a Schengen visa.

The list of documents consists of the following papers:

1. Foreign passport, as well as the original of the old passport, if available.
2. Three photographs measuring 3.5x4.5. Photos should be taken against a light background and be in a simple style. In no case should the photograph be framed by a frame, corners, ovals, etc.
3. Certificate from the place of employment. This document must be certified by the seal of the enterprise, as well as the signature of the head of the organization. The certificate must indicate the applicant’s position, the amount of his salary, and length of service at this place of work. There should also be information about the organization itself. Its physical and legal addresses, registration certificate, in some cases, a certificate of payment of all tax fees. In addition, the applicant must present his work record book. Template in Russian, in English.

4. Bank account statements, which will confirm that the applicant has sufficient funds.
5. Copies of tickets, as well as hotel reservations, a copy or reservation of a return ticket.
6. Confirmation of connections in Russia. This includes economic, family and other social ties. This is necessary in order to assure representatives of the visa department of the embassy that you have somewhere to return and why. These documents are optional. But the more documents confirming your connection with Russia you provide, the higher your chances of obtaining a visa. For the same purposes, you need to provide documents confirming the existence of real estate or your own business.
7. Insurance. When entering most countries, you must take out an insurance policy that will cover the entire duration of your trip.
8. Copy of national passport. You need a spread and a page with a registration stamp.
9. Questionnaire. Filled out in Latin letters, first and last names are indicated as in the passport. There should be no difficulties in filling out, since the questionnaire is translated into Russian and English.

   Application for a Schengen visa

When submitting documents, additional paperwork may be required. It is important to remember that it is better not to be lazy and provide as many documents as possible. This not only reduces the risk of refusal to obtain Schengen, but also significantly speeds up the process.

Here you can complete the application form for a Schengen visa

Also, do not forget about the requirements for foreign passports, because in their absence, visa documents simply will not be accepted:

• Damaged passport. Passports that have been torn, wet (stamps and visas blur), damaged with a pen, etc., are not accepted by embassies and visa centers.
• An expired passport. The validity period must be at least three months from the end of the intended trip. Passports that are older than 10 years are also not accepted.
• The passport must have at least 2 blank pages for arrival and departure stamps. If a child is included in the international passport and the trip is carried out with him, then you need to have a total of 4 free pages.
• A false passport or a passport in which the information has been changed - the dates on visas, arrival and departure stamps from Schengen have been corrected.

What to do if you refuse

Each person who was unable to obtain a visa has two possible options:

• request a visa stamp again, adding additional documents to the package of papers;
• file an appeal.

If you receive a refusal, but there are at least a couple of weeks left before your trip, feel free to try to submit your application again. Conduct a thorough analysis of what you did wrong and re-visit the consulate.

Do not forget that the reasons why you may not receive a permit may even be unpaid fines in the country of your visit.

If the officer suspects that you intend to migrate to his state, prepare evidence that you have reasons to return to your homeland. This could be real estate, children, your own business or work.

Filing an appeal

You need to resort to this way of solving the problem when your trip “burns out”. In this case, it is necessary to focus on the requirements of the migration legislation of the state that refused the visa. At its core, an appeal is a letter in which you must set out all the reasons why your visa request should be reconsidered. Be sure to include all documents that can support your arguments with your letter.

You need to contact the consulate within a month after the decision was made not in your favor. Compose the text of the appeal in the official language of the country that rejected you. It is best to file an appeal in person.

If it is not possible to come on your own, send a letter by mail - regular or electronic. In the second case, the document should be attached in pdf format.

If your application is approved, the consulate will send a notification that you can submit your documents again. In this case, the visa will be placed on top of the refusal stamp.

At different consulates, the filing of an appeal is carried out in different forms, in fact, as is its consideration. Let's look at the most popular destinations:

• Belgium and Denmark - the appeal is made to the Supreme or District Court, the Ministry of Migration Affairs.
• Germany - the application is submitted to the consular department. If you receive a refusal again, you have a month to appeal to the administrative court in Berlin.
• Spain – you can contact the Spanish consulate within a month.
• Luxembourg – you have exactly one month to apply.
• Italy – the refusal stamp will be affixed in Italian. You have 2 months to file an appeal. You need to contact the Lazio Administrative Court.
• Norway – you have only 3 weeks to submit your application.
• The Netherlands accepts applications for a month after refusal.
• Sweden and Finland - it is not possible to appeal a decision to refuse representation from these countries.
• France – you have 2 months to file an appeal. You will have to contact a special commission. If she rejects the application, then you can petition the State Council. You will have 2 months to do this.

What to do?

If you receive a visa refusal, you should under no circumstances agree with it. Consent means inaction on your part. If you do not protest, a record of your guilt will be included in a single database of refusals, and the likelihood of obtaining a visa at another consulate will be reduced to zero. The procedure for appealing a visa refusal will vary depending on the country.

Belgium

The Belgian Embassy usually accompanies its refusal with a written explanation of the reason. This document and the request to cancel the refusal should be submitted to the State Council.

You have only 1 month from the date of the refusal to appeal . If the State Council cancels it, you must contact the embassy again, submitting a package of documents for obtaining a visa and the Council’s decision.

Denmark

Danish laws do not contain any time limits on filing an appeal.

The first step in protecting your rights will be to contact the Ministry of Refugees and Immigrants. If the appeal is unsuccessful, an appeal is filed with the Danish judicial authorities.

Germany

The first step is to make a repeated request to the consulate to review the decision.

If you receive a second refusal, you should seek help from the Berlin Administrative Court, it is only important to do this within 30 days.

Italy

The Italian embassy always indicates the reasons for its refusals, and this is done in the applicant’s language. From the date of receipt of the official document, you have 60 days to file an appeal to the Lazio Administrative Court .

Norway

The period for appealing a visa refusal to a given country is only 3 weeks . The appeal is submitted to the consulate, which, in turn, transfers it to the Office of Foreigners, which is the final authority for considering such controversial issues.

Read how to get a visa to Finland. Is it easy to get a UK visa? See here.

How to independently obtain Schengen for 5 years? Instructions in the article.

Sweden and Finland

The legislation of these countries does not provide for a procedure for appealing a visa refusal . But you can try to resolve the situation by submitting an application to review the decision at the consulates of these countries.

France

The consideration of appeals is carried out by a specially created Commission of the French Consulate.

You have 60 days to appeal.

You can find out what to do if you receive a refusal and where to file an appeal at the embassy of the country you are interested in. This issue cannot be postponed, since the possibility of appealing a decision on issuing a visa is usually limited in time.

How could a refusal affect subsequent visa requests?

Given the complexity of the procedure, the relevant question is whether a Schengen visa can be opened after a refusal. Theoretically, you have no prohibitions on the subsequent filing of an application, and you can contact the consulate immediately after learning that your trip is in jeopardy.

But so that your efforts are not wasted, first find out why the visa was not granted to you. If the issue is an incomplete package of papers or errors in the application, then no special problems will arise. First, eliminate the grounds on which you were denied, and then reapply for the visa.

If the problem is more serious, then, most likely, information about the refusal will go to the general information base and other Schengen member states will learn about your situation: therefore, opening a visa at a representative office of another country will be problematic until the misunderstanding is resolved.

Dispelling myths

Myth one: reapplying for a visa stamp must be done at the same consulate that rejected you. Most often, travel agencies resort to such tricks because they simply do not want to return your money. They motivate this by the fact that with the Denied stamp, there is no point in looking for happiness in other representative offices. In fact, the consulates of different countries have different degrees of loyalty, and the requirements for applicants may vary somewhat. Therefore, if you prepare a new package of papers and contact a more friendly representative office, then you will have a chance to get a visa again.

Myth two: having been refused, you can only put a visa stamp in your passport in exchange for a bribe. This “service” is also in great demand among agencies, which offer to save the situation for 300-500 euros.

In practice, not a single embassy officer will take such a step. And a visa can appear in your international passport only by submitting false documents: at best, you will receive a second refusal and lose time and money, at worst, you will be completely banned from entering Schengen for falsifying documents.

Myth three: to get a visa, you will have to change your passport. Do not forget that all visa information is entered into a single system accessible to all countries. This means that even if you present a clean passport, your entire visa history will still come up during a background check.

Countries that often deny visas to Russians

The Schengen zone is quite friendly towards tourists from Russia: the average refusal rate at consular services is no more than 1.2%. Despite the friendly attitude, some states impose additional requirements on Russians, which is why the refusal rate is quite high:

1. Portugal (2.8%). The authorities of this country are often faced with illegal migration and attempts to employ citizens of the former USSR, therefore they put forward strict requirements for foreigners.
2. Netherlands (2.5%). Here, great importance is paid to the financial side of the trip. Refusal will follow if the traveler cannot confirm a sufficient level of savings in his accounts.
3. Italy and Spain (2.3%). Countries are considered the most loyal when issuing multiple visas for a year, however, when making their first trip, a tourist will have to face increased attention to his person and quite serious checks by Italian and Spanish services.
4. Germany (2.2%). The basis for obtaining a visa to a German state is an invitation from a resident of the country, a hotel reservation, a detailed travel itinerary and a certificate of the necessary financial resources. If the migration officer suspects attempts at illegal migration, he will refuse to issue a permit.
5. Poland (2%). Polish authorities do not issue permits to Russians who do not have the finances to travel and who have a loan in their homeland.

This is a ranking of countries that very often deny the coveted mark.

Let's sum it up

In 2021, the attitude of European states towards Russian citizens regarding the issue of visas has become more loyal. This is evidenced by statistics on failures:

In total, in 2021, the number of refusals was 9.29 of all applications, and the estimated number of visas issued reached 3.2 million. If we consider that the average failure rate worldwide is 6.9, then we can say that the Russian indicator is not the worst. This suggests that the process is not as scary as it is usually described in the press.

Even if you receive a refusal, be sure to take some action. Especially if you know that your intentions and actions are pure. If you leave everything as is and do not file an appeal, the fact of refusal will remain in the international database, and subsequent requests for a Schengen visa will face constant obstacles.

Documents for visa in 2021

The US Embassy does not have specific requirements for the package of documents in 2021. The main document is a foreign passport. The remaining documents depend on the type of visa you are applying for.

You need to understand what exactly will be important in your case and select papers to prove this situation.

Basic documents

• Justification of the purpose of the visit. When visiting the United States, the applicant must document the purpose of the trip. Invitation from business partners, close relatives or friends. In addition, an invitation letter from the educational institution indicating the duration of study and the payment made, indicating the exact places of visit for a tourist visa. The priority when applying for a non-immigrant visa is proof of the purpose of the visit.
• International passport. You can have an old-style passport or a new biometric one. The passport must have a blank page for the visa and for stamps. The validity period must be longer than the duration of the trip. The validity period of the visa itself may not correspond to the validity period of the passport. The visa is issued for a period of three years and does not depend on the period for which the passport was issued.
• Old passports. If you have old passports with visas in them, you must bring them to the interview. They are proof of previous trips abroad. It is difficult to obtain a visa if you do not have two or more visas to the Schengen countries.

• Certificate from the place of work. It must be submitted on the organization's letterhead with the company logo. It is necessary to correctly indicate the data: last name, first name, length of service, position, salary. The certificate must be certified with the seal of the enterprise and the signature of its director.
• Certificate from the place of study. It is also issued on the letterhead of the educational institution with its name, class or course in which the applicant is currently studying. In addition, you must attach your student ID and grade book.
• Marriage certificate and a copy of the document. In addition, if you are married or have children, you must provide marriage documents and the child’s birth certificate.
• Financial solvency. An extract from your bank account with the indicated transactions for the last six months.
• Documents for movable and immovable property. They are not particularly important at the interview, only if the property is really of high value.