Introduction

A flight booking and travel itinerary are key documentary requirements for a Schengen visa. In this article, we discuss the relevance of these documents in an application for a Schengen visa. Depending on the purpose of your visit, your visa may be refused if you fail to submit either of these documents.

Travel Itinerary:

An itinerary is simply a document that details your travel plans. It usually provides details of hotel bookings, flight arrangements, and daily activities or schedules for the duration of your stay. An itinerary is only required for journeys undertaken for tourism or private purposes. It must usually specify the places you intend to visit by way of schedule of activities.

Article 14(1)(a) of the Visa Code states an applicant for a Schengen visa shall present documents indicating the purpose of the journey. Further, Annex II (A)(3)(b) of the Code states that for journeys undertaken for tourism or personal reasons, the applicant must submit documentation relating to their itinerary. The Visa Code describes itinerary to include “confirmation of the booking of an organized trip or any other appropriate document indicating the envisaged travel plans.” Bookings on organized trip or tour guides, and tickets for entry into tourist sites could be submitted as evidence of itinerary.

A key requirement of an itinerary is that it must be plausible. The schedule of activities must be arranged in a manner as to make your plans credible. For example, it may be more reasonable to visit tourist sites that are in close proximity to one another on a particular day, rather than a disjointed schedule of visits that are miles apart from each another and lacks coherence. If your itinerary is implausible or disjointed, this may raise doubts on the credibility of the purpose of your visit and may cause your visa to be refused.

Another requirement is that the duration of the itinerary must be consistent with your travel dates. Specifically, it must be consistent with the travel dates as shown on the visa application form, flight booking, hotelreservation, and travel medical insurance. If your itinerary shows discrepancies with travel dates shown on other documentation, your visa may be refused.

Flight Booking:

A flight booking is a document that shows that you have booked a place on an airline to travel at a future date. It specifies your departure and return dates, and any connecting flights, if applicable. You must submit a flight booking regardless of the purpose of the visit. You can make a flight reservation either by yourself or through an agent.

Article 14(d) of the Visa Code states that an applicant shall present information enabling an assessment of their intention to leave the territory of the Member States before the expiry of the visa. And Annex II B (1) of the Visa Code lists “reservation of or return or round ticket” as one of the documentations that may be submitted in proof of intention to return. A flight booking is therefore a key documentary requirement for a Schengen visa.You must consider this information when making a flight reservation either by yourself or through an agent:

o          the document must specify your name;

o          It must clearly show your arrival and departure dates and times;

o          It must show the flight name and a valid reservation number;

o          It must show details of any connecting flights;

o          It is must show a return reservation. A one-way reservation will not meet the requirement.

o          Your travel dates must be consistent with the dates on your visa application form or other supporting document. If there are discrepancies, this may lead to a refusal;

o          Do not buy a ticket unless the Embassy specifically requests you to do so.

Conclusion:

A Schengen visa is generally a documentary application. However, it is not sufficient to provide documentation merely because they are required. Keeping these details in mind may save you time and unnecessary expense that may result from a refusal.

Schengen Travel Insurance

One of the most important requirements while traveling abroad is to have a valid travel health insurance policy in place to combat any unforeseen medical emergencies. A person traveling to the Schengen zone or the citizens of any country within the Schengen area are highly recommended to purchase a suitable Schengen TravelVisa Insurance for the expecting visitor from another country as the guarantor of the visitor.

The importance of Schengen Visa Insurance

The majority of European countries come under the domain of Schengen regulations. The Schengen area includes-Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

All the above 26 countries mandatorily require Schengen travel insurance, without which it is not possible to obtain a Schengen visa. Hence, anyone who is planning to travel to any country in the Schengen zone is needed to buy suitable Schengen travel visa insurance also known as Schengen visa insurance or Schengen visa health insurance.

Is Schengen Visa Insurance compulsory to take?

Among the many requirements taken into consideration when applying for theSchengen visa, one is to have mandatory travel insurance.

Travelers who wish to visit Schengen zone need to factor in any kind of unforeseen expenses that might crop up. There are several reasons why it is inevitable and should be considered with due seriousness. The importance of the Schengenvisa insurance can be summed by the significant excerpt from Regulation (EC) No810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council in 2009, which is as follows.

“… Applicants for a uniform visa for one or two entries shall prove that they are in possession of adequate and valid travel medical insurance to cover any expenses which might arise in connection with repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical attention and/or emergency hospital treatment or death, during their stay(s) on the territory of the Member States.

The insurance shall be valid throughout the territory of the Member States and cover the entire period of the person’s intended stay or transit. The minimum coverage shall be EUR 30,000”.

A flight or airline ticket is either a paper-printed or an electronic document, purchased by a traveller from an airline company or a travel agency. The ticket proves that the traveller has a reserved seat on an airplane, which will take him / her to their destination.

Almost all Embassies or Consulates of the Schengen Area are clear towards their visa applicants, telling them not to buy the full Air Ticket before the visa will be actually issued.

Still, sometimes you will not get along with visa requirements submitting only the Flight Itinerary and Flight Ticket Reservation. This since particular Embassy or Consulate of Schengen country has the authority for asking you to provide the actual Airline Ticket, if it needs to make sure you actually have a planned trip to a specific destination in Europe. Most of the Embassies or Consulates accept Round-trip Flight Reservation with a Flight Itinerary as a form to prove you have a prearranged journey. Though, they want you to provide the actual Flight Ticket once you get your visa approved.

The moment you own a Flight Ticket, you have in your hand the ticket with which you can travel to your destination, once getting the visa. We recommend you not to buy the full Air Travel Ticket before being certain you will getyour Schengen visa approved. If failing to follow our advice, you can risk losing your money on a costly Flight Ticket without actually travelling to your planned destination.

How to Get Verifiable Flight Itinerary for Your Visa Application Without Paying for an Actual Ticket?

Gettinga flight reservation or itinerary and hotel booking is very simple. Fortunately, a lot of company offer this service online nowadays. However, it is very important to ensure that you are working with the right travel company. You need a company that can give you a verifiable flight itinerary that can be accepted by every embassy. Your travel agent should also be able to deliver this itinerary very fast without charging you a lot of money.

The easiest way to get your flight itinerary and hotel booking for your visa application is to follow the steps below:

1. Visit Flight Itinerary for Schengen Visa choose the package that is rightfor you.

2. Choose hotel booking if it is required

3. Submit your travel details by filling the form properly.

4. Make your payment online and instantly you will receive the invoice from company side on your email address.

1.         And after the given time period simply check your email for your flight itinerary (and hotel booking)

Conclusion:

Working with reliable and trustworthy flight itinerary travel company the visa application process very easy. Remember, an embassy can ban you from ever visiting their country if you use an unverifiable flight itinerary. Always work with a company that is reliable and provides a flight itinerary that can be easily verified by any embassy.

Many U.S. citizens are under the impression that health care in Europe is ‘free’ and they question whether travel insurance is necessary for Europe.

According to the Department of Health UK, hospital treatment through the National Health Service (NHS) “is free only to people who live on a lawful and properly settled basis (‘ordinarily resident’) in the United Kingdom (UK).”

With some exceptions, if you do not normally live in Europe, you will have to pay for any medical treatment you receive regardless of whether you are a citizen or have lived or worked in the UK in the past.

The following are the exceptions:

•           Emergency treatment given inside an Accident and Emergency department or NHS emergency walk-in center. Treatment given after admission into a hospital is not free.

•           Treatment for certain infections diseases (including STDs, but excluding HIV/AIDS) when it is the first diagnosis and connected to counselling sessions.

•           Compulsory psychiatric treatment

•           Family planning services

This means that any treatment beyond the initial emergency care and non-emergency treatment will incur a charge. For example, if your child starts running a fever and you take the child to a doctor, you’ll need to pay for that medical treatment out of pocket. After all, a fever – while concerning to you as a parent – is not a qualified medical emergency.

Other than the above, overseas visitors are charged for their hospital treatment unless they are otherwise entitled to NHS hospital treatment free of charge. The list of these people includes students living in the UK less than 6 months, refugees and asylum seekers, diplomatic staff working in embassies … and the list goes on. In short, the casual traveler from the U.S. is not included.

It’s important to recognize the following three things when you’re deciding whether or not to get travel insurance for a trip to Europe:

1.         Travel insurance has a lot of benefits in addition to medical care – like trip cancellation, interruption, evacuation, and repatriation – to cover the priciest travel disasters.

2.         Even if your emergency medical care is covered, you will still have to pay for prescription charges and other charges levied by the medical facility.

3.         Travel medical coverage is typically really cheap – it’s simply not worth NOT having it.

Ultimately, it’s the traveler’s decision whether or not to take the risk and travel without travel insurance, but given the fact that the largest portion of any full-featured travel insurance plan is the cost of insuring trip cancellation and interruption, it really makes no sense not to have travel medical coverage – even when you travel to Europe.

 If you’re thinking of traveling to Europe, you’ll need to get your Schengen visa application started as soon as possible. As you may be aware there are a lot of documents that you need to supply to the embassy or consulate you’re dealing with. One specific piece of evidence you will need to provide is proof that you have adequate travel insurance. Without this, your application may well be rejected.

If you’re not sure how to go about purchasing a suitable travel insurance policy for a Schengen visa this article will give you all the information you need.

Traveling these days is a lot different from what it used to be. Hearing stories of how others bribed the border patrols in Burma to travel the Golden Triangle or were starving with a stomach bug on a train trip through Europe makes anyone wish they were born 50 years ago; when traveling was a slower, present state of flow (or starvation). Not full of smartphones, Instagram-updates, flash packers and…. PAPERWORK…

These days you need a visa to travel to most countries or continents, and the embassies require a lot of information from you; including a hotel reservation for visa applications. It takes the spontaneity, flexibility and not to mention FUN out of traveling. So how do you go about getting all the required documentation, including a hotel booking for visa applications without paying the full price or being denied the visa? Schengen visa flight reservation exists for this exact reason. We have been in your shoes, without finding any solution other than to actually book expensive flights, and that was even something the embassy did not recommend.

That’s why we created a Schengen visa flight reservation; a way for everyone to get their flight, hotel, train or bus itineraries for the price of a few cups of coffee. Contact us anytime on WhatsApp with any questions you might have about hotel reservations for visa applications.

A quick Google search for “hotel reservations for visa applications” or the even more popular “flight reservations for visa applications” will give you a few different options:

•           Just book a hotel (and lose the money if your trip plans change)

•           Book a hotel and cancel the booking later (and lose money when you don’t remember to cancel 2 out of the 20 hotels you needed for your Euro-trip, or when you missed the small writing on the cancellation policies, or maybe you don’t own a credit card and can’t actually make the booking?)

•           Make a fake booking in Photoshop (and have your visa application denied when the Chinese embassy calls the hotel to verify your booking.)

For more information, Please Click Here: https://www.schengenvisaitinerary.com/

There are certain things that are not covered by travel insurance and you need to know what they are.When you are considering which policy to buy, you must take note of these exclusions. In addition, the terms and conditions regarding any exclusions may vary between insurance companies, so it’s advisable to check thoroughly before purchasing the policy. If these are not covered, you may wish to consider taking additional cover to ensure you are fully protected.

1.         Pre-existing conditions such as asthma or diabetes

2.         Any sports which are deemed as high-risk such as skiing or scuba diving

3.         Travel to high-risk countries where there could be war, natural disasters or terrorism

4.         Acute onset of pre-existing conditions. This means a sudden or unexpected outbreak or recurrence of a pre-existing condition which occurs spontaneously and without advance warning either by a physician’s recommendation or by symptoms, is of short duration, is rapidly progressive and requires immediate care

Why do you need travel insurance for a Schengen visa?

There are many reasons why you need travel insurance for a Schengen visa, but here are just a few.

1) Health emergencies

Travel insurance ensures that any health emergencies are taken care of during your travel. These could range from having an accident to falling sick and requiring medical attention. If this were to happen, you may be looking at expensive medical bills. Not only that, some countries might not even give you access to medical help if you do not have travel insurance. In addition, each country’s health system is different, for example, some hospitals provide their ambulance services through a private company, so you would be expected to pay for that.

2) Travel delays

It may have never happened to you before and the likelihood is small, but lost luggage, cancelled or delayed flights do happen which could seriously affect your trip, so this is another reason why travel insurance is so important.

3) Schengen Visa

If you are applying for a Schengen visa, you must provide proof of adequate travel insurance. Without this, there is really no point in applying because it is a mandatory requirement for all visa applicants. It is one of the most important documents that needs to be submitted to the embassy when you apply for your SchengenVisa.

According to the “Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009”:

“Applicants for a uniform visa for one or two entries shall prove that they are in possession of adequate and valid travel medical insurance to cover any expenses which might arise in connection with repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical attention and/or emergency hospital treatment or death, during their stay(s) on the territory of the Member States. The insurance shall be valid throughout the territory of the Schengen Area Member States and cover the entire period of the person’s intended stay or transit. The minimum coverage shall be EUR 30,000”

1. Now, you may wonder which countries fall in the Schengen Area. There are 26 countries that fall in the Schengen region – 23 from Europe, and other 3 being Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. You can travel to these 26 countries with a single visa.

2. Having stated that, it could get confusing as to which country you should approach, to apply for a Schengen visa. As a thumb rule, you apply with the country where you are staying for a longer amount of time.

E.g. Say, you are staying in Spain for 5 days, Portugal for 5 days and Germany for 12 days, then you should apply your visa with Germany. If your stay is equally divided among 2 countries, then you must apply with the country that you’ll be visiting first.

3. If you have to travel to a European region that doesn’t fall in the Schengen area, you’ll need a valid visa for that country as well.

E.g: If your itinerary is Switzerland + London, then you’ll need to have a valid Schengen as well as a UK visa.

If that’s still confusing, send in your application for visa and we’ll get all that sorted for you.

4. Indians do not have the facility of visa on arrival for Schengen visa. They need to apply for a Schengen visa before their departure dates and can stay up to a period of 90 days.

5.Indianscan get a single-entry or a multiple-entry visa based on their itinerary for 90days only valid for 6 months i.e. If you have a multiple-entry visa, you can use it over a spread of 6 months, up to its validity. Post that, you’ll have to apply for a new visa.

6. Know your purpose of visit. This will help you in knowing which visa you should be applying for – tourist visa, business visa, transit visa or the like.

Documents required for Schengen visa

1. Schengen application form duly filled and signed.

2. Recent passport size photograph, passport valid for at least 3 months prior to your departure having at least two blank pages.

3. Confirmed return air ticket with hotel reservation.

4. Secured medical insurance covering expenses up to 30,000 Euros, depending on your duration of stay.

However, you’d need the following additional documents if you are travelling to meet your friend or relative staying in a Schengen country.

1. Bank statements for the last 6 months. In case you do not have a bank account or lack sufficient funds, ask a friend or relative to sign an ‘official affidavit of support’ and carry this original document along with the Schengenvisa.

2. Purpose of visit and duration of travel written down in a letter.

3. In case you are a first-time traveller, you would be required to submit your income tax returns for the past 3 years, appointment letter, proof of legal entity of the company.

4. Reference letter from your employer.

5. In case you’re the owner of the company, then bank statements and tax returns have to be attached.

Schengen Visa

A Schengen Visa is the document issued by the appropriate authorities to the interested party for visiting/travelling to and within the Schengen Area.

The Schengen Area is comprised of 26 countries that have agreed to allow free movement of their citizens within this area as a single country. Of the 26 countries bound by the Schengen agreement, 22 are part of the EU and the other 4 are part of the EFTA.

Schengen area covers the majority of European countries, except for the United Kingdom and countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Ireland soon to be part of the agreement. However, there are countries that are not part of the EU like Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein yet do belong in the Schengen area and cherish the free movement policy.

Who needs a Schengen visa?

Thecitizens of the non-Schengen member countries are requested a mandatorySchengen Visa in order to enter the Schengen Zone. There are exceptions to this rule, however: for some countries that are not part of the Schengen Agreement yet aren’t required a visa to enter the Schengen zone.

Visa Application Requirements

In order to travel to one or more of the Schengen Zone countries, as aforementioned, one needs to apply for a Schengen visa at the designated embassy/consulate. There are however, certain requirements similar to every embassy/consulate that have to be met in order to pursuit the application. A unified exemplar of the requested documents with the additional information is meticulously described and listed at Schengen Visa Application Requirements section.

Types of Schengen Visa

Regarding the nature/purpose of the travel, there are several types of a Schengen visa issued by the designated embassy/consulate.

•           1. Uniform Schengen Visas (USV):

The Uniform Schengen Visa stands for a permit of one of the Schengen Area Member Countries to transit or reside in the desired territory for a certain period of time up to the maximum of 90 days every six-month period starting from the date of entry. According to the purpose of traveling the Uniform Schengen Visaapplies to all of the three categories, “A”, “B” and “C”.

•           2. Limited territorial validity visas (LTV):

This type of visa obtained allows you to travel only in the Schengen State that has issued the visa or in some other cases, in the certain Schengen States specifically mentioned when applying for the visa. Apart from these Schengen countries, this specific visa is invalid to any other Schengen country not specified prior.

•           3. National Visas

Thenational visa of “D” category is granted to the certain individuals who are tobe studying, working or permanently residing in one of the Schengen countries. The national visa can be of a single entry, granted for the people who are in need of residing in the Schengen country for a certain period of time, or for a sole purpose after which they shall return to their country.

Are you at a stage where your dream of the grand European tour is converging towards your plan for a European tour? Undoubtedly, Europe is one of the primary choices for Indians traveling abroad. This place has a perfect blend of history, traditions, and the comforts of modernity.

But before that, you would need a Schengen visa to travel to most countries in Europe.

Schengen:

Schengen refers to the EU passport-free zone that covers most of the European countries. With 26 countries, it is the most extensive free travel pass in the world.

So which countries can you visit with a Schengen visa?

All the 26 countries in the Schengen area (alphabetical order) are as follows: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

So, if you are planning that Grand Euro trip and your point of entry into the continent happens to be one of the countries mentioned above, you will need a Schengen visa.

What exactly is Schengen visa issued for?

•           Transit through or an intended stay in the territory of the Schengen states for no more than 90 days in a total of 180 days period (short-stay visa).

•           Transit through the international transit areas of airports of the Schengen states (Airport transit visa)

•           Hence it is imperative to know that if you plan to study, work, or live in one of the Schengen countries for more than 90 days, then you will have to apply for a national visa of that European country and not a Schengen Visa.

Things to consider before applying for a visa

The most critical point to keep in mind before applying for a Schengen visa is to check and maintain your account balance. You will be required to be able to provide bank statements of a certain number of months (usually 3) before your visa interview. Once you are confident that you have adequate money to cover the days of the trip, move ahead with the visa application process.

For Indian passport holders who need a tourist visa, the next careful step you need to take is to get your entry and exit tickets, which are refundable since getting a visa is not guaranteed.

In the worst-case scenario where your visa application is rejected, you will have the option of cancelling your tickets and save some hard-earned money that you spent on them.

If you need a visa for traveling to the Schengen Area (you can check it out on iVisa), you will need Schengen Visa insurance to apply for it. Take into account that not all countries are required to have a Schengen visa to visit the Schengen area. We will talk about which countries are required and which are not in the following section.

But before jump in, let’s check why even if you don’t need a Schengen Visa, it can still be very helpful to buy Europe travel insurance. Here are a few of our own experiences that show how useful it can be to have travel insurance for Europe:

•           I was studying English in Ireland with my cousin when he had to have emergency surgery for appendicitis. His insurance covered all the costs upfront.

•           My brother was on a study tour in Italy when he came down with gastroenteritis and spent three days in the hospital. His travel insurance for Europe covered the costs of his hospitalization.

•           On a trip to Germany, my suitcase never came. Luckily, my Europe travel insurance covered all my clothes and basics that I needed for the trip.

•           Some years ago, I had a trip to Ukraine planned. For family reasons, I had to cancel it, and since I didn’t have Schengen travel insurance, I lost the money for the flights.

•           My mom’s bag was stolen in a bar in London. She didn’t have travel insurance for Europe and lost her cell phone, wallet (with ID and credit cards inside), and camera.

As you can see from the examples above, all kinds of unexpected things could happen to you while you’re traveling. It’s always better to have the security of travel insurance for Europe rather than to risk learning your lesson the hard way.

WHAT DOCUMENTS DO I NEED TO TRAVEL TO EUROPE?

The answer to this question will largely depend on if you’re traveling to a country that is included in the Schengen Area or not. Keep in mind: not all European countries are part of the Schengen Area. Some European countries are part of the Schengen Area, some are part of the European Union, and some are part of both.

Here’s the difference between Europe, the European Union, and the Schengen Area: Europe is a continent that comprises 50 different countries. Within that continent, different countries have various agreements and accords with each other. The European Union is made up of 28 European countries that have formed a political and economic union. On the other hand, the Schengen Area, which consists of 26 European countries, is a zone where all of the member countries have gotten rid of internal borders. This means that once you’ve entered the Schengen Area, you can move freely from one country to another.

Insurance for the Schengen Visa

When traveling to Europe for 90 days or less within a 180-day period, you will likely be required to get a Schengen visa. This visa will allow you to travel freely between the 26 European countries belonging to the Schengen area without having to go through customs at each border. To qualify for the Schengen visa,you will need to purchase a health insurance plan that meets a strict list ofrequirements, and also produce a letter from your insurance company, stating that each requirement is met.