The Tourist Schengen Visa is an EU travel visa that allows you to travel to the 29 countries of the Schengen Area for touristic purposes and stay for up to 90 days within a 180-day period. Schengen Tourist visas are short term visas and are in the C category.
You only need to apply for a Schengen visa as a tourist if you are a citizen of countries that don’t have a visa liberalization agreement with the EU. The Schengen states have agreed on common rules for issuing short-stay Schengen visas, which are valid within the entire Schengen area.
Here are the documents that you are required to submit when applying for a Schengen Tourist Visa for Europe:
The required documents for a Schengen Tourist visa also depend on your destination country. During the processing of your application, the consulate may, in individual cases, ask you to submit extra information or documents or you may be contacted for another interview. Make sure to submit them too, since the submission of the initial required documents does not guarantee you will be granted a Tourist visa for Europe.
The application for a Tourist Schengen visa will go through these simple steps:
Complete the Schengen Tourist visa application form online carefully and correctly, print it twice and sign it at the end. Make sure to check the box that says “tourism” at the question regarding the purpose of your journey. The Schengen visa application form contains questions for basic information such as your name, date of birth, country of birth, passport number and nationality.
You will also have to answer questions regarding your trip, such as how long are you planning to stay in each country, where you’re staying, etc. Make sure that the information you have given in the application form corresponds with that in the other documents.
Make sure to complete the file of documents that the Schengen authorities demand from tourists.
You have to make an appointment at least 15 days before the intended journey, and the earliest six months before. Appoint an interview through the website of the consulate or embassy of the country you are planning to visit, in your country of residence.
Show up at the appointment center on time (embassy or consulate). Remember that if you are late even for a few minutes, then they will probably cancel your appointment. The submission process takes around 10 minutes to complete. Please make sure that: The official person at the application center will check and verify all of your documents.
You will also have to get your fingerprints scanned at the consulate’s office if you have never before applied for a Schengen Visa before. They will be stored in a new Visa Information System (VIS). Once finger scans are stored in VIS, they can be re‐used for further visa applications over a 5‐year period, therefore frequent travelers to the Schengen Area do not have to give new finger scans every time they apply for a new visa.
The fee is €90 for adult tourists and must be paid when you submit the visa application. Whereas the visa fee for children from the age of six years and below the age of 12 years is €45.
After you pay the visa fee, you will be issued a receipt which you have to keep in order to collect your processed application. In the case of visa application rejection, the fee will not get reimbursed. If you apply again for a visa, you will have to pay the visa fee again.
If you are planning to visit only one country, then you will have to simply apply to the embassy of that country in your home country.
But, if you are planning to visit two or more countries during the same trip, then you have to apply at the embassy of the country where you plan to spend more time. If you are planning to spend equal time in two or more countries, i.e. five days in France and five days in Switzerland, then you have to apply at the embassy of the country where you are planning to land first.
For more information on Tourist Schengen visas, visit the respective articles:
You will likely be notified whether you have been issued a Tourist visa for Europe within 15 days. However, in some exceptional cases, this process might take up to 30 days, or even up to 60 if more additional documents are required to be submitted by the applicant. You are recommended to apply for a Schengen Tourist Visa around six weeks prior to your planned travel.
A multiple entry Tourist visa gives the right to its holder to stay within the Schengen territory for 90 days at most, within a period of 180 days, to enter and leave whenever she or he wants to. You should calculate your stay in the Schengen territory according to the 90/180 rule to avoid overstaying. See here the consequences you may face in case of overstaying in the Schengen area.
In the meantime, single entry and double entry visa holders will have to wait for the embassy or consulate they have applied to decide on its validity after processing all documentation. Sometimes they issue you a Tourist Schengen visa for the amount of time you have sought for, and sometimes for a longer or shorter period.
The embassy not only appoints the number of days you can stay in the Schengen territory, but also the earliest date you can enter and the last date when you can leave. This is all indicated on the visa sticker affixed in your passport.