Did you need an invitation or hotel reservation confirmation to apply for the visa? I didn't find any information on web.

Charlie
My wife is Thai I'm British and we married in Switzerland 6 years ago. Normally we have had no problems getting a visit visa from Geneva but you will have to pay.

The only free route is to move to France or Germany using the EU treaty rights then exercise these in the UK (Very complex and not worth it)

I would imagine they would give your wife a 6 months visa in the first instance but normally in the past they gave my wife a 5 year visit visa.

Don't confuse them by suggesting its a combination of visit and business just keep it simple
ash

Hello All,

I thought I contribute again to this forum for those non-EU passport holders with B-permit.
I recently went to the French embassy to get a business schengen visa and the process was quite nice. The main point is getting all the documentation right.

The French embassy are quite strict when it comes to accepting your papers for visa processing. However, the times of appointments are quite flexible. You can phone them any time because they are open 24/7. The other downside is that make sure you only phone them for appointments and not ask complicated questions in English. All the information you need is on their website (in French and German) and they will tell you this again and again. So, make sure you carefully read their website before asking the unneccessary questions in English otherwise they will get annoyed. Annoyed mostly because the info is on their website and because their English is not so good.

Here's what you need for a business visa:

1. Valid passport - 3 months
2. Valid B-permit - 3 months
3. 2 passport photos - color and make sure you get the standard passport photos accepted everywhere ( I think they are called biometric photos these days)
4. A letter of invitation from your host and this letter must be posted and signed because they only want original ( in the case of hotel reservation - it must be a letter by post!)
5. Health and travel insurance that covers the days you are there. I recommend the vivao tourist eg. for 10 days you pay 10CHF
6. Recent salary statement from your company AND bank statement reflecting how much you have in your bank account
7. Completed application form (downloaded off their website)
8. Self-addressed envelope with 5CHF stamp on it
9. 100CHF in cash for processing fee
10. Flight and train tickets - orignal
11. Make ONE copy of everything you have because they will take those copies

For business visas, it takes a week to process even though they did mention on their website that it takes at least 2 weeks to process.

I hope my information will help ease some stress in getting these visas. Otherwise, enjoy your stay in France! Viva la France!

Take care,
Sue

Don't forget that the Schengen visa is free for spouses and families of EU citizens and the documentary requirements are not so onerous. We generally found the German embassy to be the easiest because you used to be able to deposit the papers via the honorary consul in Basel and after the initial visa they gave 2 or 3 year visas. In Nov 2008 Schengen visas should not be required for B permit holders or C permit holders , not sure about L permits etc. ash

Hi,

I'm living in Bienne, I would like to have a schengen visa to go around.

When I was living in Vaud, I could call the French Consulate in Geneva, saying that I asked for a visa to go shopping in Yvoire, France. It works all the time.

Now, I don't know if I could have the same trick, to call a German/French consulate/embassy, saying that I need to go shopping from Bienne.

Do you know some name of such German/French town that can easily reached from Bienne ? And that is wellknown for shopping activities for swiss residents ?

Thanks

GoogleMaps?

It may not help. Some border cities never receive Swiss buyer, I guess. Thus those city names might supprise the visa processors at an Embassy.

Frankly, if you got a visa for shopping from Vaud to Yvoire , which is known for souvenirs' shopping and architecture rather than shopping malls, I wouldn't worry.

That's a good hint.
I will address to the Embassy of Germany in Bern, since otherwise for a French one I must go to Zurich.

And I am about to pick "Weil am Rhein" as the German village.

Thanks

Hello helpers.

Now, I'm stuck and hope that someone might point me out of this mess.

1. I wanted to apply for a "shopping visa" so that I don't have to give any invitation letter.

- 27. Feb: I went to the French Consulate in Zurich (Signaustrasse), hoping that things go easy as what I have got in September 2007 at French Consulate in Geneva.

I was told to miss one "Accident Insurance" whose minimal cover is 30 K Euro. http://www.consulfrance-geneve.org/0...S/courtsej.php
Une assurance voyage couvrant les frais de rapatriement pour raison médicale, les soins médicamenteux et hospitaliers d'urgence. Cette assurance doit être valable pour la durée du séjour dans l'espace Schengen et sa couverture minimale doit être de 30.000 euros

(Last September in Geneva they did not ask me for this, and they issued my visa just 30 mins after I show them all other documents)

- 03. Feb: I send one attestation of accident insurance, from my employer, which says (1) The medical fee in schengen state can go to the maximum of 2 times a corresponding fee in Switzerland, and (2) the transportation fee (frais de repatriement) is about 16 K Swiss Francs

- 05. Feb, the French Consulate phoned me to say that what I submit is not enough as proof to what they require (30 K Euro). It is a supprise.

2. I have booked one EasyJet 2-way ticket (fly to Amsterdam on 12 March, return on 17 March). I planned to use this schengen visa to fly to the Netherlands.

Now I don't know what to do

Thakns for your time

i thought 2008 is free for all!! no you mean i still have to go and apply to go and shop??? no way crazy stuff suppose my swiss wife will have to do the shopping then.

god damn that means the bills will get really high.

Hi all
So I've paid to CSS to cover my "shopping trip", 94 CHF for 60 days.
It is not easy to be a non-Eu :-)

Oh no, one friend of mine who works for a Travel Agency says it is normal to have an accident insurance while voyaging abroad for just 25 CHF, for the period of at least 3 months.

Why is it cheap? Since an insurance company might want to delegate the selling to a travel agency, and wants to have as many customers as possible.

Just to inform some of you

The Schengen implementation is delayed till 2008Q3.

The Swiss are unhappy about the delay. Creates complications for visitors to the UEFA Football Championship in June. The matches are in both Switzerland and Austria. Citizens of certain countries would need 2 visas.

Cause of the delay are certain EU countries, which have not yet ratified the Swiss/EU Schengen agreement.

Latest complication: Germany wants to punish Liechtenstein for being a tax haven. So LI is threatened with exclusion from Schengen. Implication is that Switzerland must set up border controls with LI! But there are no "borders" and LI has custom and currency union with Switzerland. This hassle is not yet resolved. Worst case is Switzerland cannot join Schengen till Liechtenstein appeases the Germans!

The Germans are also unhappy with Swiss accession to Schengen. They say they cannot then stop all the Germans driving over with bags full of cash .

Just read this on the Swiss embassy website:

Important Notice : Switzerland intends to join the Schengen visa scheme on 01. November 2008. From that date, persons requiring a Schengen visa to enter the Schengen States will also require a Schengen visa to enter Switzerland.

So for anyone who previosly didnt need a visa to tour CH for a maximum of three months (eg. South Africans), they will need to have a Schengen visa.

Hi everyone

I'd like to get some information about Schengen Visa. I'm a swiss resident with B permit but I have a passport that required visa from almost all the countrys in Europa and that it's really annoying because sometimes my husband and I would like to go for holidays and I have to apply for visas, so my questions is...how can I get a Schengen Visa valid at least for 1 or 2 years??? where can I apply???
thanks a lot for the future answers

greetings

Jessica

One or two years? You must be joking.

A Schengen country embassy? That's just a wild guess.

well my dear friend if you don't have an answer why do you bother answering??? anyway..just don't bother
thanks

My dear friend, I'm sure you'll retrospectively agree that I've answered your question with a degree of perfection rarely attained.

Most embassy's will only issue a Schengen Visa for the duration of your B permit. Which means that if your B permit is valid for a year then you'll get a Schengen Visa for one year. Try the French Consulate in Zurich, that's where I would get my Schengen Visa's from. You normally have to make an appointment and take alot of forms along. They're usually pretty quick in issuing the visa (within one week). You can forget about getting a two year visa from any embassy if your B permit is only valid for one year.