Getting a Schengen visa

December 11, 2006 2:37 PM

In which one of the Schengen countries is it easier to get a Schengen visa?

My Chinese flatmate wants to get a Schengen visa for his wife who's still in China and who wants to visit him (we're in London) and travel around Europe with him. He heard that getting a Schengen visa was easier in some countries than in others. Is that true? If it is, where is it easier to get one?

posted by celine to travel & transportation (5 comments total)

It probably depends more on the country you are from. I applied for a 6 month visa to Spain last year. Normally US citizens can go without a visa except for travel longer than 90 days. The Chicago consulate was helpful and seemed to speed the visa through. If he is Chinese, then he would have to check the lines in the consulates in his home country. Dunno.
posted by JJ86 at 2:45 PM on December 11, 2006

No input on the easiest country for a Schengen visa, but the UK is not party to the agreement at all. With a Schengen visa, your flatmate's wife would have a valid visa for almost all of the rest of Europe, but not for the UK.
posted by insouciant at 3:15 PM on December 11, 2006

You can apply for a Schengen visa in a third country, i.e., the flatmate's wife can apply for a Schengen visa when she's in UK, (if timing is not an issue.)

Consulate-wise, I've only dealt with French and Italian ones in US. The Italian one strikes me as more bureaucratic.

The requirements for Schengen visa application are pretty much identical no matter which consulate you apply from, but the guideline is that it should be either the initial entry country, or the country where you spend the most part of your trip.
posted by of strange foe at 3:30 PM on December 11, 2006

2 or 3 years ago the Swedish embassy in London turned it round in about 48hours with no hassles.

Not sure if that's particularly outstanding in comparison to others, but it was very painless and didn't have a huge line waiting on either occasion we went there.
posted by selton at 3:37 PM on December 11, 2006

Not the Italians.
posted by lilithim at 5:11 PM on December 11, 2006