What would be the best possible itinerary to obtain a 6-month multiple-entry schengen visa?
I hold a UK tier-2 work visa (Indian citizen) which will expire in May-2018 and I'm looking to apply for my first schengen visa. My aim is to receive a 6-month multiple-entry schengen visa for which I have two options -
Apply through the French embassy: Itinerary would be around a week in France and a week in Germany. I know of at least 5-6 people who managed to get a 6-month multiple-entry schengen visa by applying for a 2-4 week vacation through France. Some of them didn't even visit France, they made ghost bookings for the visa but if I go by this route I will visit France as I'm not too keen on breaking the 'visa rules'
Apply through the German embassy: Itinerary would be two or three 5-day trips over a course of 6 months. Justification for this would be that my girlfriend works in Germany and also I would be staying with her (she has a blue card but it's just been a month since she moved to Germany) However, the German embassy page states that the maximum duration they would provide a visa for is just 90 days? (link -> http://www.uk.diplo.de/Vertretung/unitedkingdom/en/07/Visa/1Info-Schengen-visa/Schengen-Visa.html)
I'd rather not visit France straight away so would prefer #2 over #1 provided that #2 is not a hopeless cause. I'd very much appreciate your thoughts/suggestions/experiences.
Note: I'm also planning on calling up the German embassy to enquire as well but wanted to check here first!
Best Answer
- With Schengen C visa, you can stay for a maximum of 90 days out of every 180 days. That maximum applies regardless of the number of visa or the countries which issue them, and individual visa may specifiy a shorter duration and validity.
- It is a very bad idea to lie (those ghost bookings you mentioned). If that is found out, your credibility on this and future applications will be damaged.
- Generally, multiple-entry visa are given to applicants with a history of single-entry visa, or when a single trip takes the applicant into and out of Schengen several times (like a trip to France, the UK, and Italy in that order).
As an UK resident, you may be seen as a low-risk visitor, but the general principle still applies.
Pictures about "What would be the best possible itinerary to obtain a 6-month multiple-entry schengen visa?"
Get a Long Term 6 Months Multiple Entry Schengen Tourist Visa | Kenyan YouTuber
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Ann H, Andrea Piacquadio, George Dolgikh @ Giftpundits.com, RODNAE Productions