ca.funke wrote:cs95tdg wrote:Thanks Christian. Knowing that UK visit/tourist visa's generally only have a 6 month validity period, I was wondering whether a similiar validity period would apply for Schengen Tourist visa's as well. But it's certainly good to hear that's not the case. My other travel will be outside Schengen, so dual entry should be fine.
5 years is the
theoretical maximum. Even if you apply for it, it´s in no way guaranteed that you will actually be issued with anything like that.
cs95tdg wrote:Based on former experience, does anyone have a recommendation on which consulate (in London) to be the better to approach for my visa? - France vs. Netherlands. Both trips will be similar in duration, so I'm thinking I may have a choice of which Consulate to submit my application to.
Officially, you have
>>no choice<<. If your trips are equal in length, you have to apply with the country you enter first.
My tip: Do apply with France, as you want to go there first. Tell them you want to go to France twice, not mentioning the Netherlands.
Reason: Like this they will think "oh god, we may have to deal with this guy twice, so let´s just give him double entry".
If you talk about the Netherlands being your other destination, their reasoning will be: "Single entry, and we´re out of the loop. Next time he´ll have to deal with the Dutch, thus not our problem, thus single entry".
That´s what I would do.
Rgds and good luck,
Christian
Thanks for the information & tip.
Have been looking through the supporting documents required by the French consulate, and looking at the following I think there may be a problem in telling them that I want to go to France twice instead of France & then Holland. I.e. because of the evidence required below.
10. Hotel booking, copy
A reservation confirmation issued directly by the hotel clearly stating your full names, the dates of check-in and out, the hotel address and contact details. Hotel booking should cover the whole period of your stay.
11. Proof of travel, original
A confirmed return ticket to France (plane, ferry, bus, etc.) or booking fully paid from your travel agent
I can most probably get around the Hotel booking by making a second hotel booking in France which can then be cancelled. But for travel I will need to purchase a second train/airline ticket & possibly forfeit the fare because I intend to go directly to Netherlands the second time.
Unless I could get away without providing the travel ticket for the second trip. Any ideas as to whether this would be acceptable?
The last time I applied for a multiple entry schengen visa was quite a while ago, and in that case I had a Eurorail pass allowing travel across the entire Schengen region, so this aspect didn't come into the picture. I'm guessing the convenience of applying for a dual entry visa will come at a price.
