3 friends and I are planning to go to Spain to celebrate one bum's bachelorette 😋 And given the fact that none of us in the group has really given another girl a bachelorette, this is like a combined one for all of us (even though the other 3 of us are married :D)
I needed to get my visa and everyone I spoke to told me that it is super easy to get a Schengen visa; you just need to go to the VFS centre on MG Road and drop your documents over there. So I Googled and found the website which told me what all I need to do in order to apply for a visa. What all documents I need, insurance I should have, the fact that I need to have flight tickets and hotel stay for my duration of stay etc. I got all my docs in order as per the website and then was trying to figure out how to book an appointment - even though EVERYONE told me it is not necessary - I can just walk into the place.
Being the particular person that I am (I mean, I need an appointment. I won't just walk into a place uninvited or unannounced). During my searching around for Spanish Schengen visa application (verbatim search on Google), I came across this page (Error 404 image). It used to say a month back "VFS Global no longer accepts applications for Spanish Schengen visa from Dec 2016. Please contact the embassy in your country".
Being the particular person that I am (I mean, I need an appointment. I won't just walk into a place uninvited or unannounced). During my searching around for Spanish Schengen visa application (verbatim search on Google), I came across this page (Error 404 image). It used to say a month back "VFS Global no longer accepts applications for Spanish Schengen visa from Dec 2016. Please contact the embassy in your country".I was a little perplexed at first and assumed I had hit the wrong page. So, I continued the process of making a check-list of all documents that I need and began printing them in office. I made this list from the Schengen visa page. However, at the back of my mind, the error message kept bothering me. So I did a little more Googling and when nothing worked, I finally decided to call the Spanish consulate in Bangalore.
The lady who answered politely told me that VFS no longer is the agency that processes the Schengen (ONLY for Spain), and that the consulate in Bangalore also doesn't accept the application. They had shifted the agency to BLS Global, and I would need to go to Mumbai to apply for the visa. This phone call was towards the end of Feb, and the lady on the phone told me that most likely a centre is opening in Chennai next month. Ok, I calmed myself down and told myself that I don't need to worry, Chennai is an overnight train away. Next moth opening is all cool and good stuff... I called the Chennai office and the guy who answered told me that they have no clue, they don't process visa applications for Bangalore residents, they don't care and that I should call Bombay.
That's it, gone, I am not going to Spain !!!! I completely gave up on trying to apply - what, an additional 8k to fly to Bombay and apply didn't seem worth it to me. At max I was slated to lose ~10k in cancelling the flight tickets.
All sad, I completely lost enthu in planning for the trip... On March 1st, I was out in Bangalore streets on work (I need to go to the market to understand the pulse and what products would sell for my category and all that jazz). While doing this I decided that I should stop worrying about a flight to Bombay and just book the damn thing. Fine it is an additional 8k - so what ? It's for a trip with college bestie :) I decided to check when was the earliest available slot. What do you know ! Chennai was there in the drop down :D I immediately called more the Chennai consulate - they were also surprised at first that Chennai centre has gone live (they were still awaiting official emails and all that jazz - LOL). This time the gentleman who answered was super helpful (Mr. Anthony). He gave me the contact number of a Karthik Balasubramanian who would be able to guide me further. After talking to him and confirming that the Chennai centre IS indeed open and is accepting applications, I did was book train tickets to and from Chennai for the 17th of March. I decided that when slots open up, they open up. I will book it then. Woohoo baby, Spain looked like it was back on :P
I booked an appointment for 17th (once the dates opened up on the website - this happened around a week before the date) for an 845AM slot. I figured it would give me enough time to freshen up after the train reached the station in the morning.
I booked an appointment for 17th (once the dates opened up on the website - this happened around a week before the date) for an 845AM slot. I figured it would give me enough time to freshen up after the train reached the station in the morning.
I went through the BLS site in detail and found out that there was a checklist that I needed to comply to, some letters that I needed to get printed and many more "money" related docs. The list of docs is below (a quick summary of over 3 days of research).
1. Cover letter stating purpose of visit along with details of documents enclosed
2. Company letter stating that you are an employee and that you have approved leave (2 letters)
3. Copies of every single page of your passports (please note the plural) - even if they are blank
4. Flight tickets (to and fro)
5. Confirmed hotel stay for the duration of the trip
6. Travel insurance for the Schengen region of minimum 30,000 euros - and it should extend for at least 15 days after your return (this is where I messed up. The first one I got ended when I was to return, and thus is not valid)
7. Income tax returns for the last 3 years
8. Company pay slips for the last 6 months - here I again messed up. When I started the process I got last 6 months slips and that was only until Jan. Hence when I went to the place, I was missing February and needed to get this emailed to me by someone who was in office. Luckily I had left behind my laptop at office :-|
9. Bank statements for the last 1 year - stamped and signed by a bank official
13. 2 passport photos as per Schengen specifications. These photos have to be GLOSSY in finish. Mine were matte (the ones that GK Vale got done for me when I asked for Schengen visa photos)
14. Passports - duh :)
*16. Marriage certificate
*17. Name change certificate - the reason I took this along is because my passport has a different name from the name that is in my office records. I was super scared that there will be issues due to there being different names on the docs, and hence carried this along with me.
(Note to the reader : make sure you go through the site and ensure I have not missed anything)
I am a very, very careful person and thus I kept 2 copies of every single doc. I kept them in 2two separate envelopes and even marked one as "back up". Packed everything I needed and was on my way to Chennai on 16th evening. I was going to stay at my childhood friend's home - Vidya 😁😁 Her mom and my mom were friends while growing up, as were their moms ! The train was around an hour late and my brilliant-old-slow phone didn't get signal in the morning (3 AM onwards). Thus, I didn't know where the train had reached and I almost, just almost, missed getting down at the right station (Perambur). How did I know I needed to get down ? Well, the train was not moving and I asked one uncle who was passing by the station name. When he said it was Perambur, I literally jumped off the top berth, grabbed my bag and ran out of the train 😂
Uncle and Aunty were waiting at the station for me, and took me to their place. Uncle very kindly took me to the BLS centre and I carried the main envelope with the docs. I walked into the place for submission and started handing over the documents one by one - only to realise that I was carrying the back up envelope.
THE BACK UP ONE !!!
Oh. My. God. I started panicking - because the backup folder only had 6 months of bank statements... I clearly remember keeping the bank statements in the main folder within my bag (without checking the name of the envelope as I knew where I had kept which envelope 😐).
THE BACK UP ONE !!!
Oh. My. God. I started panicking - because the backup folder only had 6 months of bank statements... I clearly remember keeping the bank statements in the main folder within my bag (without checking the name of the envelope as I knew where I had kept which envelope 😐).
I don't know man, somehow I got lucky I guess... The backup folder had 1 year bank statements; and thankfully had the original letters from Amazon. It did not have the covering letter, did not have the authorisation letter and was also missing the sworn declaration. Thankfully the guy was nice enough to print out these forms for me and I was able to fill it up then and there. But here is the real kicker, the photos I was to submit were not glossy in nature, and hence I needed to go out and get fresh ones taken. I had to leave the centre and go to some random shop near the Hilton hotel for this. I also had to get my payslip; and here's the icing on the cake. A print out at the centre costs 23 rupees (including tax) and I was, at that point of time, thinking "beggars cannot be choosers".
Finally after running around a bit and shelling out some unnecessary cash, I submitted my docs, got the slip, paid 5,788 rupees (visa fees of 4300, BLS handling fees of 1107 and cash for the courier of my passport back to me).
The entire episode ended at around 10:30AM (took me 1.75 hours, but ONLY because I was missing some docs and needed to step outside in the hot sun to get passport photos done). The BLS centre was not crowded, and I would have finished everything in 15-20 minutes had I had all my documents in order). 😕
The entire episode ended at around 10:30AM (took me 1.75 hours, but ONLY because I was missing some docs and needed to step outside in the hot sun to get passport photos done). The BLS centre was not crowded, and I would have finished everything in 15-20 minutes had I had all my documents in order). 😕
Phew!!!
Came back to uncle and aunty's place (by this time I was feeling extremely bad that I had made uncle wait for so long with me and he walked about in the sun as well while I went to get a photo done again).
I crashed as soon as we got back (because I was up from 3AM that day as the station was to come at that time). Woke up to some amazing yummy pulao and raita :) Post this, crashed again after which we all went to Marina beach.
Got back to Bangalore, and hopefully in 15 days time I get back my passport with the approved visa :)
2 comments:
Loved it...as always
Thanks so much V :)
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