Issuing Schengen visas in Thailand under the microscope

Thanks for sharing your experience. All the more regrettable that the Belgian embassy could not be reached for comment. I have emailed them 3x in six months time at the visa affairs department and the last time also a CC (copy) to the general address with the friendly request that if they do not wish to comment, please let me know. No reaction.

My personal impression is that the Belgians are more focused on checks and lists (think of the housing checks by the local agent for new residents, for example). Presumably “large age difference” is also on the list of suspicious cases. That alone can never be a valid reason for rejection, then there must be more at play. An applicant (that is officially the Thai person and not the Belgian sponsor) can object to this. Possibly with the help of a lawyer.

The most important points to establish in an assessment are:
– Is the described destination correct? Is that valid? Is the applicant bona fide?
– Will the applicant return in time? Think of bonding with the country, especially work (how many workers can get 3 months off, not much in Thailand!).
– Is the trip affordable, are all other requirements met (travel insurance, etc.)?
If that picture is correct, one should have practically nothing to worry about.

Know that when applying for a visa, you can indeed ask some questions. In the Handbook- which gives an explanation of the rules laid down in the Visa Code - for embassy staff, they write about this:

“3.3.1. Should the applicant appear in person for submitting the application?
Applicants should submit the application in person at the consulate as a general rule. Applicants must also submit the application in person when fingerprints are to be collected. The objective of the submission in person is to allow consular staff to gain an impression of the substance of the application and ask questions about the purpose of travel and the documents submitted. It is important to obtain ample information from the applicant upon submission of the application irrespective of the practical circumstances for the collection of the application and the supporting documents in order to determine the purpose of the journey.”

Where deemed necessary, a more extensive interview can be conducted. Perhaps the (Belgian) embassy can explain why it considers a (bigger) age difference relevant, why people think it is necessary to ask questions about this or that this fact alone can even be a reason for a rejection. Or was there more going on in your example and the overall picture was not correct? An explanation from the Belgian embassy would be nice here.

If you are dissatisfied with the service, I would personally write a polite letter to the embassy. If that does not have the desired result, you may want to escalate it to your Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the European Commission.

Also remember that the person who takes the application at the desk is not the person who assesses the application. It is quite common for local Thais to work at the counter and thus serve the applicants. Subsequently, a national employee of the embassy* will decide on the application.

Still no success at the Belgian embassy? Alternatively, the sponsor (Belgian) and foreign national (Thai) can book a holiday together to another country. A few weeks in Spain, for example. Not shot is always wrong, and if a couple is married, they fall under more flexible ones EU regulations.

*For the Netherlands, the assessment has been taking place in Kuala Lumpur since last year. The embassies in South East Asia act as the front office, Kuala Lumpur acts as the back office for the entire region.

Dear Nico, what you are talking about are immigrants. People who have entered on an MVV (Schengen type D visa), this article is about a short stay of a maximum of 3 months on a Schegen visa type C.

But to answer succinctly:
The Dutch government has set various requirements for immigration. For example, the foreign national must integrate within 3 years (by passing the Civic Integration Exam at A2 level or a higher piece of paper such as State Exam NT2 level 1 or level 2). If this is not met, you will receive DUO or municipality on your pocket (due to failure to pass the exams), there are fines on it, I don't know how high they are exactly. It may be stated somewhere http://www.inburgeren.nl

After that you will receive the IND on your roof, which will threaten to withdraw the residence permit. Then it is time to consult an aliens lawyer…

Don't forget the other requirements, such as having a sustainable and sufficient income. In any case, no (more than supplementary, or better yet none at all) going to draw social assistance, because even then you will have problems with the IND.

Dear Yvan, it is a pity that apparently even energetic Flemings cannot get in touch with their embassy, ​​not really good PR in my opinion. I quietly hope that there are people who can talk to the Belgian embassy (doesn't necessarily have to be about visas).

Do you mean the visa offices? I can't find any numbers on that. I doubt whether embassies count how many people submit an application through an intermediary (such as a visa agency or lawyer), and certainly not what the result is or whether such an external party was worthwhile. That is something only the applicant can say afterwards (guessing). With difficult applications (Thai with a less than prosperous track record, such as multiple visa refusals for various countries), I can imagine that someone would want to make the application via an external party who is more aware of the grounds for rejection and the options for objection. Especially if the applicant or sponsor does not feel confident enough despite the good official and unofficial (this blog, forums about migration & visa) sources with requirements and tips. Personally, I would advise you to do everything yourself with proper preparation, in case of a bad outcome, you can lodge an objection through a lawyer. The “no visa no fee” agencies are probably experienced, but they still have to cover the costs they incur on lost applications… and if there are many difficult files, that will also increase the price… Perhaps one of the readers will have experience with this want to send a letter with experience to the editor?

Dear TH.NL, ​​sorry to hear that. I don't know how long ago that was, as you can see, the rejection rate has been falling for some time and the embassy's staff also changes over the years. We cannot judge the how and why of the rejection in this way. After all, we do not know the content, so it becomes speculation as to whether some points in the application were indeed reasonably regarded as heavily negative, whether the assessor was objective at the time or not, etc. Not a bright idea, but in recent years, statistically speaking, the chance that you get a rejection from “our embassy” quite small.

In the event of a rejection, a prompt response is indeed required, within 4 weeks the applicant (the Thai) must object. The applicant can also authorize someone by means of a signed letter in which the applicant indicates that they are authorizing another person to act on their behalf. See: http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/visa/vraag-en-antwoord/kan-ik-bezwaar-maken-als-ik-geen-visum-voor-nederland-krijg.html

I don't know exactly how it works, as far as I know the procedure is briefly as follows: the applicant comes to the desk, a few questions are asked to determine the purpose and nature of the application. You may take some notes. For further processing (going through documents, etc. everything that is physically required for the application) it then goes to the decision officer. This is happening in KL these days. Then I can imagine if notes are not really favorable that this is taken into account. The content and scope of the questions and notes will also depend on the documents submitted. In our case my girlfriend was ready with 3-4 questions: name, why to the Netherlands, and 1 or 2 more questions, not very interesting .. all possible questions were also described in an accompanying letter: why did she want to come to the Netherlands, how long, what were we planning, why would she go back, what obligations did she have in Thailand (work, what kind of work).

Have other people experienced awkward, inappropriate questions, questions that didn't seem directly relevant to the whole procedure? Difficult to formulate an answer? Half questions? Can't answer questions clearly? I can't say anything about this myself since the questions were short, logical and unremarkable. The answers too.

Take a guess, an example: someone makes a very insecure impression, everything remains a bit vague (what exactly does someone want to do, why does the applicant hardly know how the trip will be paid for?), what exactly does the applicant want? Why vague or evasive answers? Then I don't think you score any points. A note “unclear answers to questions x and y” can then be included by the assessor. It ultimately tests on points such as the risk of establishing a business, the purpose of the trip, sufficient finances, etc.

If the assessor has any questions for the applicant, there is the possibility of an additional, more extensive interview.

There is currently no hard and fast rule on when you get an MEV, in general it is common practice that you get an MEV on the third application, or when requested by the applicant (and the necessity clearly plus the reliability of the applicant is estimated to be sufficient). If you plan to travel more often (1-2x per year or more), ask for an MEV and substantiate this: “in the coming years I want to go on holiday to the Netherlands at least once a year, or possibly more”. An MEV then saves the applicant and embassy time. Someone who has had a visa before can automatically get an MEV for 1-2 years if they do not dare to ask for it themselves. You are free to ask any questions, if someone believes that an MEV is required for the first visa application, you can simply ask and substantiate it. If they do not agree with the applicant, you will simply receive a visa with 5 (or 1) entries. Some fear unjustly that the application will be rejected or that this would be seen as something negative (why??? ghost stories).