The first thing we recommend to our customers when arranging a trip to Europe is to schedule a Schengen visa appointment, without which your travel will be impossible.
Getting a Schengen appointment is cumbersome so if you want to outsource the headache of doing so you can fill the below form and your appointment query will be handled.
Without an appointment, All your flight, hotel and travel itinerary is going to be useless when you are planning a trip and then you hear no appointment slots are currently available vfs.
Especially after the pandemic, the number of slots has been drastically reduced leaving many travellers plan in tatters.
Can I go directly to VFS without an appointment ?
VFS is considered to be a sensitive data storage area. So you will not be allowed to get inside VFS without an appointment. The security around every VFS premises is mandated by the Schengen consulate.
How many days before my travel should I book my appointment ?
Typically, you must book your appointment 2 months before your travel. In fact appointments are available only for the next 3 months and as time passes future dates are released.
If you had not booked your appointment do not blame yourself as there has been 20 million visa applications and typically a single Schengen visa consulate can only process 50 Schengen visa applications a day.
How to get an appointment for Schengen visa ?
There are many websites which provide Schengen visa appointment services, we have used travelvisabookings.com before and it worked. You can click the below link for help
Here is how it works with them.
- Fill the below form and complete payment of $10. You will get an email with the details.
- You will get a response form them within 8 hours if an appointment is available along with the price.
- If you are ok with the same you can go ahead with the booking and you can complete payment.
Usually they would be able to get you an appointment based on your requirements or suggest you what you can do next.
Is an appointment needed for Schengen visa application?
Yes. You will need to get an appointment with either the Schengen consulate or with any of the third party visa processing companies such as VFGlobal or BLSS Spain. Or you can use other 3rd party services to get appointments for you.
It is the responsibility of these visa processing centers to make sure there are enough appointments available to the visa applicants as they are charging $25 as handling fee for the privilege.
Where to get a Schengen visa appointment ?
You must schedule your Schengen visa appointment with the Schengen country in which you will spend the majority of your time during your trip. If you spend equal days in two countries, you must make a Schengen appointment with the country of initial entry.
For example, if you are travelling to Germany, Italy, and Spain for 10 days, with 5 days in Germany, 3 in Italy, and 2 in Spain, you must schedule your appointment with the German consulate in your jurisdiction, since you will be spending the majority of your time in Germany.
For the same example, if you are spending three days in each country, you must still obtain your Schengen Appointment with Germany because it is the first port of entry into the Schengen region.
Based on the above rule, you can now figure out which consulate you must apply your Schengen visa with.
The next step would be to make an appointment at YOUR relevant consulate.
How to book an appointment for Schengen visa online ?
In short, how to get a Schengen visa appointment varies on your jurisdiction, thus there isn’t a single link we can share with you though the process is online.
However we will be creating a series of articles that will focus on getting one from the most important cities.
Most of the Schengen countries have an online portal where you can make your appointment. If VFSGlobal is the main visa facilitation service in your city, then you will need to make an appointment with them. Here is a sample Schengen visa appointment for Germany in India.
With vfsGlobal, the challenge is identifiying this URL where you can make an appointment as the above link is only valid for Germany Schengen visa from India. Whereas if I want an appointment for Germany from Ireland then the link is
https://dublin.diplo.de/ie-en/-/2353490
You see why there is confusion ? You could use the services of schengen visa experts to book your Schengen visa appointment for you.
Can I get one appointment for my whole family ?
No, Each individual applicant must have one single appointment for each family member . On the VFSGlobal portal, one account can book upto 5 Schengen visa Appointments. But dates for everyone to get the appointment on the same day might not be possible.
Can the appointment that is given to me be verified ?
Yes. You will get a unique ARN(Appointment registration number) which can be used to verify your appointment with VFS or the consulate.
How long do I have to pay for my appointment with TVB ?
Once we send you the payment link the payment must be done ASAP, at most 10 hours before the appointment is sent to another applicant.
Once I have received a quote for the appointment, within how much time do I have to pay?
Time is very crucial, we usually make around 250 appointments a day, if the demand is high then you have less than an hour to make the payment and complete the appointment. Sometimes our reseller can put the appointment to auction and usually there are always takers for the appointment.
So if we do not get a yes or no from you within 1 hour then we will consider your request as not interested and provide the appointment to someone else.
In which countries do you provide the Schengen visa appointment booking service?
We are currently operating in the below countries, we will soon be adding as many countries as we can.
- USA
- UK
- India
What details would you need from me in order to book the appointment?
We will need your name, passport number, expiry date passport issue date, etc. You can either type this information or send us a photo of your passport and we will take care of that for you.
The information needed by the consulate varies from one country to another. So we will be in touch with you for additional information.
How much would it cost to get an appointment?
This varies from one consulate to another. The consulate officers in New York and San Francisco may charge a different amount than the one in say San Antonio. Also, the appointment date also plays an important role in the price for an appointment. If you need an appointment within the next few days, then it would be more expensive than if you are ok with getting your appointment 10 days or more later.
We charge $50 as our service fee.
Does VFS accepts Walk-in appointments for visa ?
No. There is no walkins possible for appointments as this will be seen as a security threat for the Visa Application Center.
