Interview Questions for 90 Days Schengen Visa?

mtitude

I am female, 22, from Mumbai, India. I work as a freelancer, so do not particularly have a full time job. I have backpacked India extensively and I now wish to backpack Europe in mid November. I am applying for a short stay 90 days Schengen Visa via the Netherlands embassy. Since it is my first time abroad (no previous entries in passport), I am a little skeptical about the questions that I will be asked. On papers, I am showing that my mom/dad are sponsoring me. I have a Dutch Male Host in Netherlands - who is like a brother - so I am not going to stay in hostels/hotels. On the application papers, the PURPOSE of travel I am hence showing is - both Tourism & Meeting Friends/Family.

Please suggest me all the possible questions and tips to crack the interview. I really want to travel. Many thanks in advance

Love.

capt_mahajan

The only advice I will give you is be honest.

I have got numerous Schengen and (before that) European visas down the line- although the paperwork etc and the attitudes of some officials can be annoying, I would rather not get a visa than go there except with a businesslike- and honest- attitude.

Never been refused.

__________________
.
Outside the machine

nayan

yes, be honest.

I hope you have return ticket?

Are you going to stay your entire trip with your hosts family? Otherwise you should have an itenirary and relevant hotel bookings in other cities.
I hope the majority of the stay will be in netherlands(otherwise you should apply from the country where you will spend the majority of the trip).

Wildhorse

I suppose your plans are set and you have booked a flight already....
Just want to draw your attention to the fact that November is one of the worst months - weatherwise - to travel in Europe. Unless you are extremely lucky or unless you will spend the entire time in the very deep south of Italy or Spain, chances are that you will see a lot of rain, clouds, possibly snow, slush, etc. On the other hand, if you want to spend a lot of time in museums (and there are many excellent museums all over Europe), the weather doesn't matter.

federica

Do you have an invitation letter of your host? I think it's mandatory if you don't have hotel bookings (At least for a German visa it would be).

Good luck for your visa! And although November is not really the best time for travelling in Europe, have a great time there!

mtitude

On papers I am showing that I will be spending most of my time in the Netherlands and just go around a bit but .. ofcourse I will be traveling many of South European countries too

I know that the weather is going to be quite gloomy but this works for me. Being an Indian and a Mumbaikar, I have had enough sun and heat all my life. Now I would like to snowboard, read a book along the fire side, wear boots and long coats and ofcourse visit museums and interesting stuff like that... Also, in winters, everything will be incredibly cheap - so its perfect time and situation for me. (also coz, my parents are just shown on the paper but I am sponsoring myself, so I want to save money too!!!)

I do have a Town Hall attested invitation letter from my friend and I have blocked my air ticket too. Infact, I have all the paper work in place. I will be going for interview coming week.

Just need tips to crack the interview, heard Netherlands embassy is quite hard nut to crack!!! Like, what if they doubt my intentions of travel etc...

Thanks for responding.!!

KABAARY

The Dutch are really nice people.....my only complaints about them are that they are generally too bloody tall in height and have a strange fetish for cycling. Don't worry yourself into a tizzy.

mtitude

@ Kabaary: 2 of my well traveled friends told me since its first time I am traveling abroad and that too directly for 3 months/alone/staying with a local host etc - there are 200 percent chances of getting my visa rejected. I am kinda scared!!!!!!!!!

KABAARY

You need to change your friends....

Netherlands is a very tourist friendly country...and this is presumably not of interest to you but I find the ladies rather appealing in appearance - especially love the rosy cheeks (on the face that is, I hasten to clarify)....Alas, all towering over me though (am I getting repetitive ?).

federica

Kabaary is right, the Netherlands are one of the most tolerant European nations, can't imagine that their consulate staff is different.

Maybe your friends wanted to impress you a little bit

In general it's more difficult for younger people to get a visa, especially for young men.

Being honest and clear during the interview is still something I'd recommend. These people are not stupid and dealing with lots of applications, I guess they're quite experienced and could take it personal when they feel someone is not telling the truth. And you know what the result would be...

Just a side note: Don't know from where you got this "incredibly cheap". Costs for train tickets, hostel fares, food, entrance tickets and a couple of other things don't change, be it winter or summer.

KABAARY

Well actually hotel rates and train fares do change though not just because of the season....train fares for trips other than on rush hour are lower, in some touristy places like Amsterdam, the hotel tariffs are lower than those for weekends, etc etc.

Price of Black Forest pastries in India keeps shooting up though

nycank

Sugar,flour,milk,.....all shooting upwards...

__________________
bade bhaisaheb is outsourced

hitanshu

If you want a more stringent country, try Italy, esp if you are punjabi

__________________
SMASH!!!!

dillichaat

Don't worry, as long as you are honest and have documentation (like it seems you do) it'll work out fine I think. The application procedure and criteria are the same across all Schengen countries, btw. It's generally people who have no documentation (proof of sufficient funds, invitation, someone in the country who knows and will vouch for them) or lie who get into trouble -normal, imho- a consular official I know (not connected to the netherlands embassy btw) once interviewed a guy who proclaimed being an artist making a living drawing portraits and the like but his documentation was sketchy. They handed him a sheet of paper and a pencil, turned out he drew like a 3-year old. Needless to say, the visa application was not approved.

__________________
When the wise man points out the black hole, the fool looks at the finger.

mtitude

Hmmm... My interview is finally day after. Will they tell me then and there itself if I am through?