Schengen visa - reschedule booked flights

[Random123]

Hi all,

Have applied for Schengen visa for Switzerland on 19 September. The visa application shows still under process at embassy.
They mentioned general wait time of 15 working days and it has been 10 working days till today.
The travel dates I mentioned is 10 Oct - 30 Oct. I know should have applied earlier but couldn't. The 15 days timeline ends on 12 Oct.

Needed help on the possibility to reschedule flight to later date. The flights are fully refundable tickets on Qatar airways.

Can anyone who has experience or knowledge on this help provide your inputs ?

Will try calling embassy today and seek their inputs on the same.

Thanks

 

[vagrantadam]

One of my friends was travelling to Germany and had to reschedule her flight due to delay in visa processing.
Better would be to wait till this weekend and then reschedule.
Calling embassy is not going to be of much use as they wouldn’t entertain calls enquiring visa status.

 

[Random123]

One of my friends was travelling to Germany and had to reschedule her flight due to delay in visa processing.
Better would be to wait till this weekend and then reschedule.
Calling embassy is not going to be of much use as they wouldn’t entertain calls enquiring visa status.

Thanks a lot for the reply
The embassy had 2 hour slot for visa related queries. Tried calling yesterday and luckily they answered after waiting for 1 hour in call
I explained that I called regarding rescheduling and not status of the application
They mentioned it has been 10 working days and will definitely take 15 working days to process application
Hence they suggested to reschedule tickets and send updated itinerary and other documents to the mail mentioning the reasons
Thought of waiting till Monday but the hotel reservations would be charged on booking.com by today itself

 

[CARDBITRAGE]

Thanks a lot for the reply
The embassy had 2 hour slot for visa related queries. Tried calling yesterday and luckily they answered after waiting for 1 hour in call
I explained that I called regarding rescheduling and not status of the application
They mentioned it has been 10 working days and will definitely take 15 working days to process application
Hence they suggested to reschedule tickets and send updated itinerary and other documents to the mail mentioning the reasons
Thought of waiting till Monday but the hotel reservations would be charged on booking.com by today itself

Your travel date would be in 4 days. I think it's better you reschedule your trip and submit the revised itinerary based on your new travel dates. It's best to push your new itinerary by 1.5-2 weeks.

 

[Random123]

Your travel date would be in 4 days. I think it's better you reschedule your trip and submit the revised itinerary based on your new travel dates. It's best to push your new itinerary by 1.5-2 weeks.

Thank you for the reply. Yes I have moved the dates forward by 11 days and sent the updated details along with NOC from the employer
Hope this should be fine.
I ended up applying with less buffer time since was stuck in deciding places and itinerary and whether to travel due to personal reasons until the last minute.
But would suggest atleast couple of months for peace of mind if possible.

 

[Harry1]

I have heard they always send visa only 1-2 day before travel irrespective of when u apply 😅.

 

[Random123]

I have heard they always send visa only 1-2 day before travel irrespective of when u apply 😅.

Oh thanks, this is new to me. They clearly said we will need 15 working days (excluding weekends and public holidays).
In my case, earlier travel date was 10th but it has been only 10 working days since application reached. So they were surely it won't be possible and ideally should be today if in case what you said holds true !

 

[thanix]

I have heard they always send visa only 1-2 day before travel irrespective of when u apply 😅.

Not really, most of the times we apply 60 days in advance and got the visas before their committed time.

 

[Random123]

Not really, most of the times we apply 60 days in advance and got the visas before their committed time.

Thanks for the reply. Have rescheduled for 21st Oct now.
I know should have applied earlier but do you have any idea in general if this would be fine ?

Also would they give 30 day duration with 90 days validity or only for exact dates ? I am asking because plan is to cancel these refundable tickets and book normal ones

Thanks in advance

 

[thanix]

Thanks for the reply. Have rescheduled for 21st Oct now.
I know should have applied earlier but do you have any idea in general if this would be fine ?

Also would they give 30 day duration with 90 days validity or only for exact dates ? I am asking because plan is to cancel these refundable tickets and book normal ones

Thanks in advance

Yes, It should be fine. Most college admission and summer holiday is over.

Answer to second question depends on what have you requested and for what purpose? Also, is this the first visit?

 

[Random123]

Yes, It should be fine. Most college admission and summer holiday is over.

Answer to second question depends on what have you requested and for what purpose? Also, is this the first visit?

Thanks.
Sorry for not specifying details
Yes it is first international visit. Have applied for short term tourist visa. Gave itinerary for 20 days.
Don't need huge leeway but thought if they give visa for more validity, can schedule some time later than applied journey date in case flight bookings become costly.

 

[thanix]

Thanks.
Sorry for not specifying details
Yes it is first international visit. Have applied for short term tourist visa. Gave itinerary for 20 days.
Don't need huge leeway but thought if they give visa for more validity, can schedule some time later than applied journey date in case flight bookings become costly.

Swiss and Schengen generally gives the exact no of days requested but the period will be within 3 months starting from requested date. Hope you provided strong itinerary with hotel bookings and strong finances to support for 20 days.

 

[Random123]

Swiss and Schengen generally gives the exact no of days requested but the period will be within 3 months starting from requested date. Hope you provided strong itinerary with hotel bookings and strong finances to support for 20 days.

Thank you so much for the details.
Yes the duration is fine with what I requested, wanted validity to be flexible !
Yes have shared itinerary along with salary slips, ITR, ESOP statement and NOC from company.
Unfortunately have 5L in bank balance since recently paid for down payment. Hope that is fine.

Would you mind if I DM you for any queries if needed ? Thanks

 

[CARDBITRAGE]

Thank you for the reply. Yes I have moved the dates forward by 11 days and sent the updated details along with NOC from the employer
Hope this should be fine.
I ended up applying with less buffer time since was stuck in deciding places and itinerary and whether to travel due to personal reasons until the last minute.
But would suggest atleast couple of months for peace of mind if possible.

Yup. Most countries have become quite pesky these days with Schengen visas. I think a buffer of 45-60 days is better to avoid any last-minute surprises.

 

[navam]

What's with employer NOC still required? Yeh scam karke bhagne wale toh sab business mein hain, humein kaunsa koi advance salary de raha hai Jo hum lekar bhaag jayenge?

Also on a serious note, it took my sister 23 days for visa she applied via Netherlands.

 

[Random123]

What's with employer NOC still required? Yeh scam karke bhagne wale toh sab business mein hain, humein kaunsa koi advance salary de raha hai Jo hum bhaag lekar bhaag jayenge?

Also on a serious note, it took my sister 23 days for visa she applied via Netherlands.

Yes they mentioned in the checklist for NoC from employer

https://visa.vfsglobal.com/one-pager/switzerland/india/english/pdf/checklist-tourist.pdf

Thanks for sharing , was it 23 calendar days or working days ?

 

[ishanmontella]

True. I am a frequent traveler to Europe. My last 2 Schengen Visas have been of 2 years each from Spain & German embassy. But this year, I applied again from German embassy, and received Visa of only 6 months validity, while my wife received only 45 days validity visa (She is traveling to Europe for the 3rd time in last 2 years). We showed an itinerary of 32 days!

So, yes, Schengen countries have recently not been so generous with the Visa duration to Indians.

Yup. Most countries have become quite pesky these days with Schengen visas. I think a buffer of 45-60 days is better to avoid any last-minute surprises.

 

[Random123]

Have sent mail in morning with updated flight and hotel tickets, itinerary and insurance documents. Now got reply that they don't consider any requests via email and will contact if any documentation is needed. Should have mentioned the call that I had with embassy staff yesterday. Have now replied mentioning the same call.

Now again not sure if they will consider it. But I have already updated all the flight and hotel tickets to new dates. I can only try calling again on Monday.

 

[navam]

Yes they mentioned in the checklist for NoC from employer

https://visa.vfsglobal.com/one-pager/switzerland/india/english/pdf/checklist-tourist.pdf

Thanks for sharing , was it 23 calendar days or working days ?

Calendar days, she got it on 23rd September.

 

[thanix]

Thank you so much for the details.
Yes the duration is fine with what I requested, wanted validity to be flexible !
Yes have shared itinerary along with salary slips, ITR, ESOP statement and NOC from company.
Unfortunately have 5L in bank balance since recently paid for down payment. Hope that is fine.

Would you mind if I DM you for any queries if needed ? Thanks

No worries, they don't really look that much into savings bank balance as it can be moved out easily after you apply. What they look is mainly why you will come back to India instead of becoming immigrant.

Yeah sure, message me anytime. Some times my reply will be delayed as I have a day job 🙂