Guide to Greece Schengen Visa Requirements
While planning a trip to Greece—the mythological land once ruled by the Greek gods and goddesses, it is imperative to know about the Greece Schengen Visa Requirements. Not to worry, with a fast-emerging tourist circuit, travel to this exotic destination has become a lot easier than you think. Here’s everything you need to know about Greece Schengen Visa Requirements.
WHAT IS A GREECE SCHENGEN VISA?
Greece Schengen Visa is not very different from the other Schengen Visas. The only thing could be that you’re applying for the Schengen Visa at the Embassy of Greece, instead of any other country. Even if you don’t have a first-hand experience of applying for a Schengen Visa before, the Greece Schengen Visa Requirements shouldn’t bother you at all, as it’s very easy and straightforward.
While there are other short stay visas like a business visa or tourist visa, applying for a Schengen visa at the Embassy of Greece would be the best choice of all, particularly if Greece is your first point of access to Europe or the place where you will be spending most of the days of your trip. It allows you to travel across all the Schengen countries, with Greece being your main destination.
Depending on the duration of your visit, you can apply for either a short-term visa or a long-term visa to Greece. While a short-term visa limits your stay to not more than 90 days, a long-term visa allows you to stay in Greece for a period longer than 3 months. Generally, you can apply for a long-term visa if you’re planning to go for your studies or for work.
Greece Schengen Visa requirements include submitting a lot of documents and can take up some time. So, if you’re planning to arrive in Greece on a particular date, it is always recommended that you apply for visa anywhere between 3 months and 15 days before your intended arrival date. This is because, even though the processing of a Greece Schengen visa usually takes about just 15 days, in some individual cases, it has even extended to 2 months.
GENERAL GREECE SCHENGEN VISA REQUIREMENTS:
Some of the mandatory documents that you need to produce while applying for a Greece Schengen Visa are:
A duly filled Schengen visa application form, which should preferably be filled using blue ink pens. It should also be signed by the applicant. If you are a minor, it is necessary that your application is signed by both your parents, stating their consent along with the photocopies of their passports.
Your Passport is a mandatory document throughout your travel. So, you need to ensure that it is valid for at least three months from the date of visa application. Remember to check your passport well ahead of applying, so that you can ensure that it has at least two blank pages in it. In case you have an old passport, you might have to submit that along with the new passport.
Two identical photographs, which are printed on photo quality paper, need to be submitted along with your documents.
A medical insurance. The reason behind including the medical insurance in Greece Schengen Visa requirements is to cover any sickness or injury that may happen during the travel duration.
A confirmed flight itinerary or flight reservation: It is always safe to provide a confirmed flight itinerary than flight reservation, as booking a flight ticket in advance might be too much of a commitment and you always need to aware of the probability of your visa getting refused. In case you plan to visit other countries too, you would need to attach individual itineraries for each separate country you are visiting. You could be even asked to produce the return tickets when you apply for a short term visa. This is to ensure that you’re not going to be, in any way, a burden for their country.
Hotel reservation for visa application: You will need to make hotel reservations, whether it be Greece or any other country you are visiting, even before you leave.
Means of subsistence: You have to submit the original bank statements for the last 3 months. This document is mandatory and it must have the signature of the authorized signatory of the bank along with the original stamp.
Personal covering letter: This letter should contain all details about the purpose of your visit, including the entire travel schedules and itinerary. You should address the letter to your nearest office of Embassy of Greece, and send it after attaching all the other documents mentioned in the Greece Schengen Visa Requirements.
ADDITIONAL GREECE SCHENGEN VISA REQUIREMENTS:
There are certain additional Greece Schengen Visa Requirements that you can furnish before applying for a Schengen Visa at the Embassy of Greece. This would greatly help you in gaining the trust of the Immigration officers and, eventually, get you the visa!
First, depending on the purpose of your travel, an invitation letter from the family member or from the company you will be visiting (if it’s a business visit) can also be included along with the other documents. Remember to include the visiting place’s address and phone number if possible.
Secondly, if you are employed or self-employed, you can submit your employment contract, the NOC from the employer, the current bank statement for the last 6 months as well as the certificate of income tax to make your application stronger. In case, you’re a student, you can pin your proof of enrollment and NOC from school or university.
APPEARING FOR A SCHENGEN VISA INTERVIEW:
When you have all the documents cleared for the further approval, the next step is that you will be asked to show up for an interview. The interview could be elaborate or brief — it all depends on the interviewers. During this interview, it is possible that you might be asked for the additional documents, so be prepared to produce the additional Greece Schengen Visa Requirements that are mentioned above.
It is best if you can divide your documents into different sections. This can make it easier for you to present them in a neat order, and you don’t have to fiddle with the contents during the interview.
The most important section of the interview is, obviously when the interviewer asks questions about the details that you’ve mentioned in the documents. Revise the contents of all the documents before the interview in order to provide clear and concise answers without leaving a space for suspicion.
Additionally, remember that appearing in a formal, yet simple dress code is preferred by most interviewers.
If you’re even a bit worried about all the Greece Schengen Visa Requirements you have to fulfil, please don’t be. While choosing a suitable package for your flight reservation for visa or travel insurance with us, you can also ask our friendly support staff members to help you through any difficulty that you may have during your Schengen visa application. In order to simplify the whole process, Visa Reservation Services also provides a host of other services, such as hotel reservations for visa or preparing flight itinerary for visa. If you want to know any further information about our immigration services, so contact us directly.
