Are you planning to apply for a Schengen Visa? That is great! So, you’ve got your application form all filled out and also one each for your family members. You’ve arranged for the Letter of Intent detailing why you wish to visit the Schengen region. You’ve probably even got the Invitation Letter from your sponsor. Things are looking bright and exciting and you are counting down days to when you will finally have the much-awaited visa in hand.

But wait a bit. Don’t let the excitement make you commit silly, careless mistakes causing you to miss out on your visa altogether! A Schengen application can get rejected too you know, and all because you didn’t review your applications or documents thoroughly enough.

Here’s a checklist of what you need to pay special attention to in order to avoid rejection of your visa application.

1. Do not give incorrect or insufficient information of any kind in the application form. This will be considered as withholding of information leading to application rejection.
2. If you have had even a single incident of criminal activity, your application will be nullified. This could be something as small as non-payment of fines to something as serious as fraud and robbery.
3. Do not furnish false or forged travel, personal, or professional documents such as flight tickets, travel insurance, ID proofs, marriage certificates, education certificates, and so on. It is also important to submit the proper travel documents within given timelines.
4. If you are being sponsored for the trip by a resident or citizen of the destination Schengen country, then it is mandatory for you to have a Sponsorship / Invitation Letter.
5. You must have a detailed round-trip travel itinerary for the complete duration of the trip. Don’t even consider submitting partial itineraries. It is also a good idea to use an itinerary booking service of considerable national or global repute.
6. Check the expiration date of your passport. If it is due to expire in 3 years’ time then you might risk application dismissal.
7. As a Schengen traveller, you must display proof of steady income. This income should also be sufficient enough to support your expenses in the destination country.
8. It is mandatory to showcase a travel insurance of minimum $50,000 or €30,000 per person – and no lesser.
9. Furnish proof of accommodation, sponsored or otherwise, and dates of check-in and check-out. If you are planning to visit tourist spots, then a copy of those tickets should also be furnished.
10. Under no circumstances should you submit a damaged passport during the visa application. All passport pages should be intact without torn or missing pages or irregular markings. Such passports are considered to have been tampered with.
11. Do not wilfully shirk compliance policies with the visa procedural requirements. Disobeying any such requirement is considered illegal and the Schengen Visa can be denied even if all your documents are in place.
12. Your intention to return to your home country should be strong and believable. A weak reason will raise doubts in the minds of the Visa Committee and they might hesitate to accept your application. A strong reason should also be accompanied by ample documentation of ties to your home country.