For most visa applications, you will need to make hotel bookings in advance to prove that you have the ability to sponsor your trip. But what if your trip is either not finalised or you want more flexibility? Then you can make hotel booking for visa application and once your visa is approved, you can proceed with your actual reservations.
But how do I make a temporary hotel booking? Can I make hotel bookings and cancel them once my visa is approved? Are there websites or services where I can make hotel bookings for visas?
This article will answer these questions for you as well as show you a simple way to make hotel reservations for visa Application without using your credit card.
If you want to get to the point and get right to making your hotel bookings for visa application, then download the FlightGen App and begin making your bookings.
With the FlightGen App, you can make not only hotel but also temporary flight bookings (hence the name).
- Instant generation of flight itinerary and hotel bookings for visa
- Choose your own flight and hotel and get pricing in your own currency (very important !!)
- The cheapest option, when compared to other sites where they charge close to $20 per booking (just $10 for unlimited flight and hotel itineraries),.
- No extra payment to add co-applicants
How can I get a hotel booking for a visa?
Although there are several websites such as booking.com which allows you to make hotel booking without credit card, they are of some obscure hotels or at a very high price which casts doubts with the consulate.
There was one instance where the customer made a hotel booking at a hotel that is 200 km away from the city center, and his visa was rejected.
If you make cancellable bookings, a credit card may be required, and the hotels can add a lockin for the amount on your credit card, which will be released after 60 days. Here is an example of the same on stack overflow.
This is what booking.com has to say about this.
The best part about using the FlightGen App for our hotel bookings for visa is that we can choose the hotel and currency as we want.
What this allows us to do is choose a hotel and make a booking as if our visa is approved. And once my visa is approved I can make the actual booking for the same hotel.
For instance, let us say I would like to make a booking at Bravo Hostel. I can use the FlightGen app to make a hotel itinerary for this hotel, and when my visa is approved, I can go on to make the actual confirmed booking for Bravo Hostel. This way, I can make sure that I have no unforseen trouble at the immigration counter.
Are only hotels accepted for visa application?
No. There are many other documents that can be submitted as proof of accommodation (sometimes called proof of stay) such as :
- Hostel bookings
- Invitation letter from the host (Applicable for vistor visa)
- Rental agreement (For long-stay visas such as student visa)
- Rental of a caravan or motorhome
- Organized group or holiday tours
As you can see above, the type of visa determines the kind of proof you will need to submit. For many other countries, you can just show means of subsistence, which means you have to provide proofs such as bank statement or credit card with sufficient balance to show that you have enough money to take care of your travel needs.
What details should be mentioned in the document hotel booking for visa application?
Your hotel confirmation letter must contain such details:
- Your full name.
- other guests who will stay with you.
- Hotel address
- Dates of your stay
- Hotel booking code
The consular or visa facilitation officer who is examining your visa application will use this details to determine to duration of your visa depending on the details you have submitted here. For instance, if you have 3 days booking in France, 2 days in Germany and 4 days in Spain, then the visa officer may determine that a validity of 14 days might be enough for your visa.
If you want to get a visa that is valid for 20 days, then you can submit a temporary booking for 20 days, say add 7 days in Netherlands. This will give you the buffer to explore more if time permits.
You can also submit dummy hotel booking as proof of accommodation. Although this method may sometimes be referred to as a fake hotel reservation, this is by no means a fake booking. It’s just a booking without paying the price before the approval of the visa application.
To make a hotel booking without paying the price you could use the services of FlightGen
Can invitation letter be used instead of Hotel bookings?
Yes, you can use the invitation letter (sometimes called as a sponsorship letter if the host is taking care of your expenses) in place of hotel bookings for your visa application , this type of visa is generally called as visitor visa and not a tourist visa. But do note that it is not just a simple letter that the host can type out for you in case of a Schengen visa.
The host must go to the local town hall and then fill in a specific from that then needs to be authorised by the officials to be used as an invitation and this is a lot of headache. So it makes sense to apply for tourist visa by making hotel bookings instead if your trip is less than 20 days. Once your visa is approved you can visit the host.
- In France, the host is required to provide an authentic copy of the “Declaration d’Accueil” (a document serving as a guarantee). This also holds true if the host is from Luxembourg.
- In Austria, the host is required to obtain the “Elektronische Verpflichtungserklärung” from their local municipality. The paperwork must be submitted to the Austrian Authorities no sooner than 30 days before to the applicant’s visa appointment date.
- In Belgium, the original document called “Engagement de Prise en Charge – Verbintenis tot Tenlasteneming 3 bis” needs to be endorsed by the municipality and bear the raised seal of the foreign office.
- In the Netherlands, the host is required to provide the original “Bewijs van Garantstelling,” as well as three salary sheets/reports and the work contract of the individual extending the invitation. If the host is autonomous, they must further file the company’s registration in the trade register, the “down aanslaginkomstenbelastingen” tax decision, an official document from the “Belastingdienst” tax authority, and a copy of their profit and loss account.
The host is required to compose an Invitation Letter, in which they explicitly verify your accommodation arrangement at their residence. The contents of this letter must include the following information:
- Check-in and check-out dates,
- Location’s address:
- Host’s full name,
- The host’s contact information, including their email and telephone number,
- Host’s signature:
- The spatial extent of the location and the population residing within it.
