Dear Editor/Rob V.,
I want to clarify the new Schengen visa rules as of February? My question is the following: my wife and I want to have her daughter come to the Netherlands for a holiday next year for 2 months. Is it wiser to wait with the visa application until after February 2 or not? Because I understood that after February 2nd you could do it online except for the fingerprints. But before then you have to go to VFS, and there is a kind of interrogation there, which may lead to a rejection sooner.
My wife found that very intimidating at the time, although it was at the embassy, but still. Furthermore, I am aware of all regulations regarding the conditions, and also that a visa granted for the new rules that you must travel within 3 months.
Thank you in advance for your comment(s)
Regards,
Rob
Hello Rob,
I would just make the application 2-3 months before the intended entry date. If that is before February 2, that's a bonus. The process is gradually becoming more digital, but the digitization I am writing about is initially in the background: there are no more papers going back and forth on the plane. But that has recently been done or this will happen as soon as the decision officials are no longer in Kuala Lumpur but in The Hague. In the foreground will also become more digital (filling out an application form, for example), but that will not go completely digital overnight. Whether you submit the application in January or February will therefore make no difference to the submission at the counter.
However, as an External Service Provider (ED), VFS has fewer powers than Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel. The VFS employees work with a checklist, they are not allowed to ask questions to the applicant. So no more interviews, let alone a real interview (a real interview of more than 1-2 questions has always been done separately and in theory that can still take place at the embassy, but is a rarity). For some time now, the decision officials have been working purely on the basis of the enclosed supporting documents* and have become less lenient in recent years if the supporting documents were not complete. So whether you apply in January or February, people will not be stricter or more flexible about that either.
There is a difference: the price tag (higher fees) and soon you will no longer be able to avoid VFS (and therefore the service fee that comes on top of the fees). So I certainly wouldn't especially wait until February.
Success!
Regards,
Rob V
* Please note that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes about the hardly any interviews anymore:
“Interviews
One of the most striking changes since the regionalization and the outsourcing of visa applications is the fact that interviews are almost no longer conducted, although DCV initially recognized the importance of this for high-risk applications. The main cause of this is the growth in the number of visas, which puts pressure on the visa process and leaves little time for interviews. Another reason is the changed structure of the visa process, which means that it also takes more time to organize an interview. More than 80% of visa applications are made at EDVs, where only intake takes place and no interviews are allowed. This must be done at an embassy, at the request of the case decision officers at an RSO/CSO. However, they operate in a 'production environment', in which meeting lead times is an important result indicator and there is often no time to look up additional information, make inquiries at an embassy or conduct an interview. Although some interlocutors doubted the usefulness of interviews (they are often too short, people are not well trained, a file says more, there is too much 'gut feeling'), most of the interlocutors indicated that interviews can be a good substantive supplement on a complex dossier and that the lack of interviews in the current setting is a loss. In addition to the applicant, interviews can provide additional information about certain trends and developments that may also be important for other visa applications.
'I had doubts about his employer statement. He wanted to buy lift trucks in the Netherlands, but had not bought lift trucks before and did not have too much money in his account. I used to do an extra interview, now I have refused the application.' Decision officer' ”
Source: “Citizen central? Consular services in motion 2011-2018” https://www.tweedekamer.nl/kamerstukken/moties/detail?id=2019Z12613&did=2019D26038