Schengen visa

VFS Global.  You can can apply for most schengen countries through them.  Check out their website.  For most schengen countries, that is the only way to apply - cannot be done at the Embassy directly.

See as an example:

http://www.vfsglobal.com/Germany/SaudiArabia/

Hello im planning to go to germany for my coming vacation.i just downloaded the checklist. And one of my problem is that i need to have health insurance and i do not have one since im working in government. Any help?

You need to have travel insurance which you can purchase for the duration of your trip. It's not as expensive.

Any travel insurance you can recommend within the kingdom?

Get any which is compliant for schengen visa purpose. If all goes well, you won't be using it in any case - just to fulfill a formality.

hello everyone,

please advise about the bank statement, how much amount will be enough. employment letter must be stamped from C-O-C or by company is enough.

any suggestion for consultation.

Thanks

It's been a while since I have applied for a schengen visa (I don't need one as I have visa free travel to schengen on my other passport) and the last time I applied, I did it from Dubai almost 7-8 years ago with a company letter.  For Saudi, the company letter along with bank statement is generally enough to prove employment - COC certifications are usually requested by Saudi government related entities only.  But you can call VFS Global and ask.

The amount varies and a few thousand dollars for a couple of weeks trip should be ok.  What is more important is the consistency in the bank statement i.e. the money should have been there for a while and not appeared overnight

Xtang Thanks for detailed reply. i want to visit italy for only 5 to 7 days. i am receiving my salary in my account, usually i withdraw almost all of the amount. Now i want to keep this for few months. Please advise it will be good enough.

regarding the closing amount 4 to 5 thousand USD will be fine?

Should be ok.

is it true that you need at least 10k SR money on your bank account to get schengen visa? what  about salary? do they need specific bracket?

I think it's beyond just numbers. You can have 50k and still get rejected. For any visa, you have to satisfy the officer that you :

1) Have genuine reason for wanting to go there
2) Will return at the end of your trip as you have sufficient economic, family or other ties
3) Can support yourself financially during the trip

As you see, affordability is literally the easiest criteria. You have to justify the other ones.

If you are interested you can contact warfa visa consultancy for Russian visa . This office is in sadabc olaya 4th floor .

seeking advise regarding the importance of travel history for Schengen /italy visa. i am in KSA since 2008 in the same company and only travel to my home country for annual leaves. one of my friend is advising to visit UAE, Turkey etc before applying for Italy. But one travel agent is advising as i am working here for more then 10 years so i have chances to get visa without good travel history.

Seeking advise from experienced members as i don't want to get rejected.

Thanks all

Look, it is all relative and varies person to person. 

Travel history is something that helps to establish credibility when you are applying for a tourist visa, for example it shows that you are someone, for whom, it is normal to travel on vacation.  However, it must be logical.  As an example, most people take a maximum of 1-2 vacations a year so a trip to UAE followed by one to Turkey and then a visa application to schengen is going to look suspicious....especially for someone who has NO past history of international travel.

However, as I said before, it is only one part of the overall equation.  If you have a genuine reason for wanting to go to schengen and can demonstrate it; you shouldn't bother ticking the box on activities which may not help and in fact, can be counted against you.  You should be ready to explain as to why, now, after 10 years, you want to take your first international trip to Italy when you have never traveled anywhere except for your home country.  If there is no interview, then you should be able to attach and explain it in a cover letter.

There is a first time for everyone and rejection is not the end of the world.  The only rejection I have ever had in my all my years of travelling all over the world, was 20 years ago, from Greece Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan and only because I didn't bother to explain clearly my reason for travel (no interview).  After that, the next schengen visa I got was from Austria which was restricted to the exact duration of my trip (but not rejected). Thereafter, it became smooth and the last few times I applied for a schengen visa, I used to get 1-2 year multiple entry visas and ended up travelling all over the schengen area.   Funnily enough, I somehow never went to Greece until recently (and not on my Pakistan passport) - got visa on arrival stamped in my passport within 10 seconds and ironically, finally managed to see Greece 20 years after the only visa rejection I have ever experienced

If you have strong economic / social ties to KSA, can demonstrate genuine purpose for travel and proof of financial means, then go ahead and apply.  Be extra thorough in preparing your application as the things that count against you are your nationality (perceived security and illegal stay risks), lack of travel history and the fact that you are applying to a schegen country which has big problems with illegal immigration (so they are extra cautious - Italy/Greece for example, have huge numbers of Pakistanis who have crossed borders illegally through Turkey into Greece and then onward to Italy).

Thanks for details

XTang wrote:

Look, it is all relative and varies person to person. 

Travel history is something that helps to establish credibility when you are applying for a tourist visa, for example it shows that you are someone, for whom, it is normal to travel on vacation.  However, it must be logical.  As an example, most people take a maximum of 1-2 vacations a year so a trip to UAE followed by one to Turkey and then a visa application to schengen is going to look suspicious....especially for someone who has NO past history of international travel.

However, as I said before, it is only one part of the overall equation.  If you have a genuine reason for wanting to go to schengen and can demonstrate it; you shouldn't bother ticking the box on activities which may not help and in fact, can be counted against you.  You should be ready to explain as to why, now, after 10 years, you want to take your first international trip to Italy when you have never traveled anywhere except for your home country.  If there is no interview, then you should be able to attach and explain it in a cover letter.

There is a first time for everyone and rejection is not the end of the world.  The only rejection I have ever had in my all my years of travelling all over the world, was 20 years ago, from Greece Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan and only because I didn't bother to explain clearly my reason for travel (no interview).  After that, the next schengen visa I got was from Austria which was restricted to the exact duration of my trip (but not rejected). Thereafter, it became smooth and the last few times I applied for a schengen visa, I used to get 1-2 year multiple entry visas and ended up travelling all over the schengen area.   Funnily enough, I somehow never went to Greece until recently (and not on my Pakistan passport) - got visa on arrival stamped in my passport within 10 seconds and ironically, finally managed to see Greece 20 years after the only visa rejection I have ever experienced

If you have strong economic / social ties to KSA, can demonstrate genuine purpose for travel and proof of financial means, then go ahead and apply.  Be extra thorough in preparing your application as the things that count against you are your nationality (perceived security and illegal stay risks), lack of travel history and the fact that you are applying to a schegen country which has big problems with illegal immigration (so they are extra cautious - Italy/Greece for example, have huge numbers of Pakistanis who have crossed borders illegally through Turkey into Greece and then onward to Italy).

I read your reply with interest and i would say this is one of the best explanations I have seen in this blog. Thank you for the time you spent to write it for us.

My concern is my real profession (engineer) is different than the one shown on my iqama (safety officer). Ive heard from some agency that they will disregard the letter from my company stating that iam an engineer and instead judge the profession on the iqama, which is  rarely granted a visa. Iam  not sure how true is this and whther i should gamble and proceed.

Same with me, my profession on iqama is "Industrial Mechanic" different from my real profession. does it effect the visa application.

thank you all for nice information ...