what is the extreme timing for applying a Schengen visa?

A friend of mine tend to apply one not sure which country and he is not going to renew his irp
It expires end of May so likely gonna less than a month once he is able to get an appointment luckily.
Someone told him that he is able to apply one .
Do the visa application center even accept this type of application?
His plan just travel to Schengen area then leave.
back to his home country so like a once off trip.
Try to get some valid answers for this for him not losing any money..

Visa application centres cannot arbitrarily reject an application. However, they do advise applicants when there is a big possibility that an application may be refused due to certain conditions not being met or certain documents being missing.

For all Schengen countries, the general consensus is that the applicant must have an IRP card that is valid for more than 3 months from the day when the applicant intends to leave the Schengen country. If that is not met, it is more likely that the visa will be refused.

However, the visa officer will still review each application on its merit. There are plenty of examples of those who got a visa approval with their IRP validity less than 3 months.

Visa application centres will likely advise the applicant not to submit it - some may sound like they are refusing to accept it, but the applicant just has to insist on submitting it.

oh ok thought they will refused to take the application as the documents checklist on most of the embassy required 3 months before.. the staff just checking the list one by one to see it match or not...

anyway thx for the answer. guess nothing will stop him to apply then.

Just remember to submit a cover letter explaining the situation. It’s not too uncommon these days to submit an application with an IRP with less than 3 months of validity.

littlerr wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 21, 2025 9:51 pm

Just remember to submit a cover letter explaining the situation. It’s not too uncommon these days to submit an application with an IRP with less than 3 months of validity.

Interested cuz last year when I applied the Spanish one they refused to take my cover letter as I wish I can get longer duration... Because the staff clearly said is not on the list

Again thank you for the solution

Yeah some visa centres and staff can be really cocky. Their only purpose is to scan your documents, take photos and fingerprints, and liaise with the embassy. They shouldn't arbitrarily decide what is needed and what is not.

Having said that, you can always combine cover letter and itinerary together. That way they have no reason to reject it whatsoever.