If you want to apply for a Schengen visa, you will have to fill out an application form, which is the same for all countries included in the zone. Handwritten responses are allowed, but some states require online completion. Electronically, you will be asked to submit a questionnaire to visit countries such as Norway or Switzerland. The choice - online or by hand - you will be given the opportunity to fill out a questionnaire, for example, Lithuania or Germany.

You can find a sample Schengen visa on the website of the desired consulate or in the public domain on many sites on the Internet. In total, it contains 37 points, placed on four A4 sheets. As an attachment to the questionnaire, there is a declaration that reliable information was provided, as well as consent to enter information into the international VIS system.

Schengen visa: necessary information

To correctly fill out each paragraph of the document, you should familiarize yourself with the types of questions.

In paragraphs one through twenty, you will be asked to answer personal questions. These include: first and last name, date of birth, as well as its place, current citizenship and the one you had at birth, place of work or study, as well as information about a foreign passport.

Points 21 to 30 contain questions about the trip you want to make to the territory of the Schengen country. These include: the purpose of the trip, the country in which you will stay most of the time, the country through which you will enter the zone, how many times you will enter, how many days you will stay in the territory of the main country. You will also be asked to provide information about previous visas, if any. These items will include your biometrics.

Items 31 to 33 are questions about the host. They should be answered based on the purpose of the trip.

If you are not going to visit relatives or friends, then the host will be the hotel, the location and telephone number of which must be indicated.

If the inviting party is a person, you need to indicate his coordinates and full information about him. If the organization - its details, location and email.

Items No. 34 and No. 35 are filled in by you if the citizen of the European Union to which you are going to go is your relative.

Item number 36 is an indication of the date of filling and the place where it took place.

Item No. 37 is the signature of the person who submits the documents for issuing a visa.

Filling rules and nuances

Even if you decide to fill out the Schengen visa application form by hand, you need to do it in pen and block letters. The information is filled in international English or the national language of the country you wish to obtain permission to visit.

However, if a Schengen visa for a tourist is issued at the consulates of Estonia, Poland or Germany, the questionnaire can be filled out even in Russian.

But it will need to be filled out by hand. Another nuance is that even in this case, the information in paragraphs one through five must be filled in in Latin. A sample of filling in what needs to be entered in the form is presented by a foreign passport. Also, points No. 31 and No. 32 should be drawn up in Latin, where it is necessary to indicate the details of the receiving party. If the Schengen visa will be issued at the Finnish consulate, you will also be allowed to write in Russian, but in Latin.

There are some items on the form that you don't need to complete. But a dash in this case must be put necessarily.

Detailed filling out the questionnaire

Points one to five: rewriting the data indicated in the foreign passport.

Item No. 5 and No. 6: filling in the date of birth and country. If you were born in the era of the USSR, namely before 1991, you should write citizenship at birth as USSR. If after - RUSSIA.

However, there are some exceptions to the general rules. So, to visit France, you can specify RUSSIA, despite being born in the USSR.

To visit the Czech Republic, those born before 1991 must select RUS as the country of birth and SUN as the state of citizenship at birth.

In Sweden, they look at the information about the country indicated in the foreign passport.

In paragraph number 17, you must indicate the place of your actual residence. If necessary, you need to provide a rental certificate if you are renting a house.

In paragraph No. 19, you need to indicate the profession that will appear in the certificate of employment. If the applicant is unemployed, UNEMPLOYED is written. If retired - RETIRED. If the student is STUDENT.

In paragraph No. 20, you must specify full information about the employer and his details. Students enter information about the educational institution.

When filling out the application form for a visa for a child, a dash is put, as for pensioners.

In paragraph No. 22, you need to indicate the country in which you will be staying during your main trip. It is better if it corresponds to the country of the consulate in which the Schengen visa will be issued. When traveling through several states, the main one is the one in which you will stay the longest.

If their number is the same in each country of residence, the main state is the one through which you will enter the Schengen zone.

In paragraph No. 23, you provide information about the state through which you will make your first entry.

If you are going to travel to Portugal, it is important to know that it is forbidden to enter Germany as the state of entry. You need to specify Portugal, even if you fly through Germany.

In paragraph No. 24, you need to enter the multiplicity of the document.

In paragraph No. 25, you must enter information about the length of stay in the Schengen zone. If you are applying for a multivisa, you must enter the entire amount for the entire period. For annual visas - you need to specify 90 days.

In paragraph No. 26, you indicate information about the terms of visas that have been issued over the past three years. If it is impossible to indicate all the information in one column, you can specify only the last one. Information about one visa will also be required when filling out an online application form.

In paragraphs No. 29 and No. 30, you must write the dates of entry into and exit from the Schengen area.

When filling out item No. 31, you must specify the details of the hotel, if it is your host. If there are several of them, you need to indicate one address, but all other details and reservations must still be provided in the general package of documents.

Item No. 32 needs to be filled out only for those whose purpose of visit is official.

In paragraph No. 33, the applicant indicates the person who will sponsor the trip. For children, please include the names of the parents. If we are talking about the unemployed or pensioners - the name of the sponsor. If the trip will be sponsored by the inviting person, you need to specify his data.

Item No. 36 is the place where the questionnaire was filled out, but not the actual location, but the place where the applicant lives.

The last paragraph number 37 is a signature. If it is necessary to obtain a Schengen visa for a child, the signature is put by the parent.

This item also has its own nuances. So, for example, if a child is older than 15, but under 18, the Czech Republic will ask the parent and him personally to sign the questionnaire.

For a Schengen visa to Austria for a child under 14 years of age, the signatures of both parents will be required. For a child from 14 to 18 years old, the signature of the child himself is added to the parental signatures.

Filling out the questionnaire online: the nuances

If you decide to fill out a Schengen visa application in this mode, you will first be asked to register. Then you will need to select the language, but not the filling, but the comments that will be shown as hints.

An interesting nuance of the online questionnaire is the automatic check of incomplete or incorrectly filled data. The system will ask you to check the inaccuracies it has found.

When you click the “send” button, your application will go to the consulate, and a completed form with a barcode will be generated for you. Such a form will need to be printed out in order to subsequently attach to other documents.

If an error is found in the submitted questionnaire, it will have to be filled out and printed out again.

Interestingly, some consulates may schedule an online appointment for you. The reception time is indicated after you have sent the questionnaire. This option is offered by Finland or Switzerland.

When filling out a Schengen visa application form, it is important to remember that errors in it are the most common reasons for refusals to obtain a Schengen visa. Therefore, each item must be checked very carefully. And, of course, all the information provided must be reliable and in English. If you enter a non-existent place of work, the consular staff will calculate it. An example of filling out a Schengen visa application form is presented in detail below in the video.