Schengen business visa

[wpilr_nov12]

Hi All,

I have a few questions :
1. What is the quickest way to apply for and get a Schengen visa for business purpose for a week, visa applying from London. I needed to know which location/embassy would be quickest from your experience.

2. Is there a template letter my employer can use? They are a UK company, and have never been in this situation.

3. The visit is to meet with multiple client companies. Would they also need to issue me an invitation letter?

Thanks for your help.

[CR001]

The client company needs to send a letter of invitation. You need proof of accommodation and flights etc.

You need to apply at the country embassy where you will be visiting or landing first if multiple countries.

[Cayos]

The processing time is roughly the same at all Schengen consulates, the only difference would be the appointment date to lodge your application.

[CR001]

The processing time is roughly the same at all Schengen consulates, the only difference would be the appointment date to lodge your application.

Your post has been edited. Please refrain from advertising on the forum. It is against the T&Cs (click)

[wpilr_nov12]

Thanks for the reply.

Next question: if I enter France from UK on Monday and leave France for UK on Wednesday of the same week, how many days have I stayed in a Schengen area?

[cs95tdg]

Next question: if I enter France from UK on Monday and leave France for UK on Wednesday of the same week, how many days have I stayed in a Schengen area?

3 days. From memory the date of entry and exit are included in the calculation.

[cs95tdg]

Just an additional note, if you foresee that you'll be travelling frequently you should probably aim to get a circulation visa (valid for 1 or more years). Whether one will be granted will depend on your previous travel history to the schengen area over the recent past.

If requesting a long length multiple entry visa, that should be mentioned in the employer letter with justification. This is independent to the business invitation that you'll need.

[wpilr_nov12]

thanks cst...dg (after a long time).

In my case, this involves EC/EU project spread over multiple countries, but first point of entry is France. I will be visiting some local authorities in France (some villages) on behalf of EC/EU. Who should write the invitation letter? My local (UK) bosses don't have a clue. We are a private company undertaking a EC/EU project.

Thanks

[cs95tdg]

Yes, good to see you back online.

I think the most straightforward way for you appears to be for the first local authority that you will be visiting in France to issue the business invitation letter. The ideal situation would be if they could explain that you will be travelling to the Schengen area frequently over XX period for XX purpose to justify the need for a multiple entry visa that is valid for the period you require.

I was in a somewhat similar situation 2 years ago, needing to travel across several Schengen states over the period of a year for a programme of work. Getting the invitation letter in time with the relevant information proved to be somewhat of a challenge for me as well. The main reason being, the inviting party not being familiar with immigration matters. I ended up drafting a lot of the letters myself after reading the requirements posted on the embassy websites and getting some information from the third party that deals with immigration matters for the company I work at. The letters should be printed on official company letterheads and you should have the original sent to you by post/fax to submit with your application.

Just to give you a sense of how they appear to decide on the validity period of the visa they issue, it does appear to be closely linked to the recent Schengen visas that you've had and whether you've adhered to the visa conditions - i.e. no overstay etc... What happened in my case was, I requested for a multiple entry visa valid for 1 year when I applied for business travel (German Consulate). They however only issued me one that was valid for 3 months. I had one single trip Schengen visa in my passport at the time I applied. I had to apply for another Schengen visa, before I was granted a circulation visa - valid for 2 years by that time even though I didn't need it. I ultimately had 3 Schengen visas issued to me over the span of 1 year.

My final Schengen visa was issued by the French consulate and was quite straightforward. You can find the complete list of documents required on their TLS contact website.
https://fr.tlscontact.com/gb/LON/page.p ... ness_visit

Hopefully that will give you what you need. Just post back, if you have any further questions.

[wpilr_nov12]

Hi all,

still working on Schengen visa (regrets on not Naturalization, another story, another day).

Now need to work on the Netherlands meeting as destinations redrafted by employer due to recent tragedies in France.

Invitation Letter and Employer's letter - who does it need to be addressed to? VFS page does not mention it. Embassy staff said "addressed to yourself, of course". I have read other posts where 'To whom it may concern' were not OK.

I want to get it addressed to the authority, but not sure if this should be consulate or where.

Any suggestions with address details?

Thanks

[cs95tdg]

Interesting that they said it needs to be addressed to yourself.

Mine were all addressed to 'The Visa Officer', and the Embassy address in London was given in the letters, as I was applying in London (even though the application was being submitted through a intermediary such as TLS contact/VFS). You can get the address from their embassy website.

[wpilr_nov12]

Done. Got 6 mth multi visa from Dutch consulate. Thanks for your help cst..dg.