HELP! Applying Schengen Visa for ROC citizens

Hello! I have the following urgent questions regarding the Schengen visa. I truly hope someone can help me with the answers. Thanks!

  1. My wife and kid will be travelling to Germany and France for 2 weeks (no travel group, purpose is tourism). They will spend slightly longer time in France. Question: can they apply for the Schengen Visa at either the German or French Institutes in Taipei even if the point of entry/exit is Germany? (I read on the German website that this is the case, but I’d be interested if anyone has actually entered a Schengen country from Taiwan on a visa issued by another country than the entry country.)

  2. Since they need to get the visa without any delay, does it make a difference whether they apply at the German or French Institute (in terms of paperwork, speed, requirements, questions asked, etc). In other words: is the visa easier to get at either of the Institutes?

  3. Can anyone tell me what the exact required documents for visa application are? For instance, if I apply for the “French” Schengen visa, do I need to show hotel reservations for the whole stay and in both countries? I assume I need to show them the receipts of the roundtrip flight tickets. But anything else such as bank statements, invitations, household registration, etc?

I guess I can get the answer to my 3rd question by calling the German or French institutes. But if anyone has real life experience that would be helpful, cuz I found there is often a gap between what is said on the phone or internet (even by officals) and what happens in real life.

Probably a long shot to ask here, but if anyone can provide some answers, that would be great. THANKS!

Read this for now, it’s from the Belgian office beltrade.org.tw/english/schengen.php

I think that most forms are uniform … for all Schengen countries

Note: Since it’s your wife & kids maybe ask the German Institute, there might be an easier way than the one I describe below. IN any case double check with the German Institute, they are very helpful.

Anyway, I was in a similar situation in August 2009: I am German with “Wohnsitz” in Germany, was going to Europe, taking an ROC citizen (whom I am not married to) with me, entering/exiting in Germany, visiting other countries including France.

If I remember correctly, the German institute told me you should get the Visa from the country you will be staying in longest - but on the other hand, no one will know exactly anyway. So probably getting the German one is easiest for you as well.

“My” ROC citizen got a German Schengen Visa. In our case the Lufthansa / Swiss Airlines Office in Taipei where we booked the flights took care of getting the visa, so I don’t know what exactly they showed the German institute in terms of flight reservation / tickets.

Generally we needed:

  • Form “Application for Schengen Visa” (from German Institute Website, make sure to apply for multiple entry if you travel in Europe! Names in Hanyu Pinyin, Short Stay, 3 Month, Tourism + Visit to Family of Friends, Host person Pays, means of support is Cash)
  • ROC Passport
  • Letter of Invitation (I invite for travel in Europe, and state I will pay everything)
  • Copy of my passport
  • Copy of my Taiwan ARC
  • bank statement (printout of a online “Kontoauszug” of my German bank account)
  • statement of earnings (Copy of my contract stating how much I earn)
  • Health Insurance for Europe (For my ~50 days stay the German Institute told me its not necessary)
  • Plus the Reservation of both flights (Ticket not necessary if I recall correctly - in our case these reservations were provided by the Lufthansa office I guess)

Here is an example close to the letter of invitation I sent. Make it as personal as possible :slight_smile:

[quote]<My Name & My German Adress>

Letter of Invitation

Dear ,

I, , born would like to invite you, , born , to visit my home country Germany with me, while I stay there from to .

You can stay with me and I will pay for the cost of your stay for the duration of the whole visit. I will bear all your responsibilities including, but not limited to, financial responsibilities, air ticket fare, medical insurance, housing and food. You will stay with me in my apartment located at the above mentioned address, as well as for ca. <Number of days, smaller than number of days in Germany!> days travel together to some of our neighbor countries. We will return to Taiwan together at the end of the stay.

For use with your Visa application at the German Institute Taipei I also attach:

  • a copy of my German passport
  • a copy of my Taiwan ARC
  • a bank statement
  • a statement of earnings

I hope that this will be everything you need for the Visa application. Should anything more (for example a “Verpflichtungserklärung”) be necessary, you, Lufthansa or the German Institute Taipei should feel free to contact me in any of these ways:

Mobile phone in Taiwan:
Work Phone in Taiwan:
Fax: <My FAX number in TW
Email:

I am looking forward to a nice vacation together, and hope that I can show you as many interesting insights into the European culture and history.

<City, Date, Signature>
[/quote]

My old dear needs a Shengen visa when we go Europing. She gets it through a travel agent. Easy as pie. Never had a problem. We generally go to the UK first (no visa required) and then either France or Germany, depending on who we’re visiting first. Never had to have any kind of letter or hotel reservation or anything like that.

Hi! Thanks A LOT guys for the useful information. Olm, that really sounds like a major pain in the ass, getting all that paperwork done. I heard from my colleagues that the process is a lot less complicated if done through a travel agent (same as Sandman suggested). So I think I’ll try that route first. BTW, can anyone recommend a good travel agent for this purpose? (I bought the flight ticket directly from the airline, so I have no travel agent.) Thanks again.

Not really much hassles for me… more like 10 minutes copying / printing out that stuff about me & my financial situation, plus filling the form. Hey come on, Europe is worth a bit of work ^^

Actually, i tried to be over cautious, trying to be as complete and convincing as possible. The ROC citizen in question had a year or so before been denied a US tourist visa for two times, and I wanted to make sure the German visa works OK.

I guess for your wife the procedure should be much more straightforward anyway.

Related news, Taiwan is still waiting for visa free status on Schengen issue

etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content … ety_TAIWAN