American citizens who hold a powerful blue passport can travel to Schengen countries without a Schengen visa for a period of 90 days. The only requirement being that your passport must be valid for at least 3 months after your return to the United States.
Update : It is now mandatory to get COVID Insurance when you travel Abroad. Click the below link to get your COVID Insurance at cost price.
But if you are a permanent resident in the US (green card holder), then you do not enjoy the same privilege since the country of which you are the citizen of will determine if you need a Schengen visa or not.
Citizens of countries that need a Schengen visa:
To see the complete list of countries visit the below link.
Countries that need a Schengen visa
You must be no stranger to the paperwork since you are familiar with the Green card process. But Schengen visa is miles easier, if you follow our steps below you will have your visa at most in 2 weeks (3 days if you are from India, China, Russia, etc).
Where to apply a Schengen visa for US permanent residents?
The consulate you need to approach depends on your answer for the below question :
Based on the above information, you can determine in which consulate you should apply for your Schengen visa.
Click to Book Schengen Visa Appointment for $10
What to do once you know which consulate to apply for your Schengen visa?
Make sure that you can get an appointment on time. You can apply for a Schengen visa up to 3 months before your trip. Ideally, you need to have your visa at least 1 month before you depart. If you have not yet made your plans, that is ok.
You can use temporary flight & hotel bookings to get your visa. Once your visa is approved you can make your own plans.
You need to call the visa consulate and make sure that you can get an appointment from them for your dates.
Most of the time the embassy will be occupied especially during summer seasons so plan your visa in advance.
Note: The Spanish consulate is closed on Fridays.
Spain consulate no longer provides appointments on call. you need to walk-in and visas are processed based on a first come first serve basis.
What to do when there is no appointment available at the visa consulate?
Most of our customers run into this problem and it is not as uncommon as it seems. In fact, this is one of the 5 reasons we suggest not to make your flight & hotel bookings in advance.
This is what the official french consulate says.
https://houston.consulfrance.org/
As you can see, even the embassy suggests that you book your flight AFTER your visa has been approved. The same goes for a hotel where you can get confirmed bookings. We can provide you with both flight & hotel bookings along with travel insurance for your visa
Want temporary flight, hotel or insurance for your Spain Schengen visa appointment ?
How to get an appointment for your Schengen visa in America
The process to get an appointment for your Schengen visa depends on the consulate at which you are applying. Spanish consulate allows you to walk-in with your documents and applies for your visa whereas France visa consulate wants you to make an online visa appointment before you approach them at all. You need to Write down your visa appointment number since you would not even get an email with your appointment number.
We have made a detailed analysis based on how to get your appointment based on the consulate you are visiting below.
Apply for France visa for U.S. Permanent residents:
Documents needed for Schengen visa for Permanent Residents of America:
Here is a summary of the documents you need to submit for a Schengen visa for United States residents.
- Passport
- Photographs
- Permanent Residence Permit card
- Completed Schengen visa form
- Flight itinerary
- Hotel bookings
- Schengen visa insurance
- Proof of sustenance
- Cover letter
- Letter of employment(if employed)
- Company registration(if self-employed)
- Letter from college (for students)
You need to submit a photocopy as well as an original of all the documents to the visa consulate.
[media-downloader media_id=”1578″ image_url=”https://travelvisabookings.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/download_ebook.jpg”]
Duly filled Schengen visa application form – Need help with filling the application form? You can download our guide for step by step video instructions to fill your Schengen visa.
Download Schengen visa application form here
Passport with at least two blank pages and valid for at least three months after you return to the United States of America.
Two photographs as per the spec mentioned by photo specification for visa application.
A valid U.S. permanent residence card (“green card”) or a valid US visa with valid I-94 / valid I-20 (+ ONE COPY), or an Advance Parole document. The applicant must bring the original green card or US VISA together with photocopies of those documents too.
Students with an F1 visa must present the original and a copy of their I-20 properly endorsed for travel (a certification signature is only valid for one year). The validity of the travel endorsement must cover the intended trip in Schengen + 3 months.
A confirmed Flight itinerary or reservation for Schengen visa Flight itinerary is a safer way of submitting a visa application without buying an actual flight ticket which can prove to be expensive if your visa is refused.
What is a flight itinerary? Is it accepted by the Schengen consulate?
Of course, in fact all the embassies mention the same. We have added links to the official visa pages which you can verify.
Your travel itinerary : you MUST BOOK your airline ticket but do not purchase until the visa has been approved.
We recommend that you do not purchase travel tickets until your visa has been approved. On the other hand, you may provide us with a reservation, a planned itinerary or an online printout of a roundtrip ticket.
Travel reservation to and from schengen area, not a ticket. Note: Make travel reservation which you can cancel
Flight (roundtrip)/travel reservations and full itinerary (if several Schengen States will be visited or if the trip covers several Schengen States and non-Schengen countries) with the name of passenger and one copy
Round trip ticket/reservation, originating in this jurisdiction to Europe (and ultimately to Italy) and back, including internal entry and exit points of travel i.e. EURORAIL tickets, car rental, internal flights. The names on reservations have to reflect the names on passports.
We can provide you with flight itineraries which is accepted by not only for Schengen visa but for all visas. We have customers using the same flight itinerary for Malaysia visa, Singapore visa, India visa, UK visa etc.
In fact, the European Union visa requirements for visa states the same.
As per the official document,
Round trip reservation or itinerary with dates and flight numbers specifying entry and exit from Schengen state.Schengen authorities accept the itinerary when applying for the visa but request the original air ticket when visa is collected.
That is why we have a 100% visa acceptance rate although some of our customer have been requested to provide “additional documents”, none of their visas has been rejected for providing fake documents. With 80% of our customers being return customers or companies that process visas for their employees/clients, our approach is the best approach if you want to ensure the safety of your visa.
This is our orders screen for this month. Most of the orders have been placed by repeat customers.
The best part about our service is along with getting a flight reservation without payment, you can also get confirmed hotel bookings, personal cover letter, leave/no objection letter for your visa consulates.
Proof of accommodation such as hotel bookings We would not suggest you to make your hotel reservations before your visa is approved. We have seen many customers who make all the bookings thinking they can cancel them once they get their visa only for the visa process to be delayed resulting in huge cancellation fees.
Proof of sustenance (either as bank statements travel cards, credit cards) to show that you can sustain yourself financially when you are in Europe
Proof of socio-professional status (if you are working) :
-
- letter of employment in the U.S confirming your salary, hire date, position, and dates of vacation (business registration if self-employed)
- and your last 2 payslips
- or letter from your school or university confirming your enrolment status, attendance and expected graduation date
A medical insurance with a minimum cover of € 43,000. See our article to get travel insurance for Schengen visa
Personal Covering letter or travel itinerary explaining in detail the purpose of the visit. This needs to explain in detail your entire travel plan and all the documents that you have submitted addressing the Embassy in your area.
If the applicant is under 18 years old
If the applicant is under 18 years old :
→ copy of his/her birth certificate + certified translation if the document is not in French or English
If the applicant is under 18 years old and travelling without his parents :
→ notarized copy of his/her birth certificate + certified translation if the document is not in French or English
→ notarized parental authorization from both parents or from the parent exercising full custody of the child according to the divorce decree (a certified copy of the divorce decree must be provided) + copies of both parents passports
If the applicant is under 18 years old and travelling with only one parent :
→ notarized copy of his/her birth certificate + certified translation if the document is not in French or English
→ notarised parental authorisation from the non-travelling the parent + copy of his passport
That is it. Once you have accumulated all the documents, you can apply at the Schengen consulate of your main destination.
How long does it take for your Schengen visa to be processed?
Well to be honest, it depends on the country you are the citizen of. IF your citizenship is from one of the “good” countries, then your visa will be granted within a week. IF you are from a “naughty” country then your visa application can take 2 to 3 weeks. If you are holding a green card in America and applying for Schengen visa from one of the below countries, expect some delay :
If you are from India, China Russia, etc then you will get your visa sooner. So account for delay when you are planning your visa.
FAQ about Schengen visa by US permanent residents
Which is the best country to apply for a Schengen visa?
Most of our customers unanimously agree that the German consulate is the easiest to apply for a Schengen visa among all countries.
Compare that with Belgian or France where you will need to provide Biometric scans, other additional documents and the need to attend an interview. Germany is the recommended consul to apply for a Schengen visa.
Will all Schengen visas be granted for 90 days?
No, a Schengen visa is not granted for 90 days, sometimes you will get a visa only for the number of days that you present in your travel itinerary and your flight & hotel bookings. See the sample attached below. The visa is granted for 15 days mentioned in the dates. If you want you can add some flexibility by adding 10 days to your itinerary. You can do this by using our flight +hotel plan
[media-downloader media_id=”1578″ image_url=”https://travelvisabookings.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/download_ebook.jpg”]
What questions might be asked during my interview?
Who will pay for your visit?
Are you married? If yes, what does your spouse do? For how long have you been married?
Do you have any children? If yes, how old are they, what do they do and where are they?
Do you have any close family or friends in the Schengen area.? If yes, when did you meet the last time?
Where do you stay?
What is your educational qualification?
How will you travel from one place to another?
How do you guarantee me that you will come back?
Which company do you work for?
What does your company do?
What is your profession?
What is your role in the company?
How many years of total experience you have?
For how long are you employed with your current employer?
For how long were you employed with your previous employer?
Could you please show me your company profile and tax returns?
How many employees are there in your company?
Explain your current project to me.
That is it. Once your interview is over, your visa will be sent to you either through mail along with your passport. That is it. You are now ready to embark on your visa journey.
Why should I take the flight &hotel from you?
Because we are the best in this business. We have been in operation from the past 5 years and in those years we have processed over 100,000 orders such as yours. Here is a screenshot of our sales this month alone
But the interesting part is over 50% of our customers are referred by previous customers
Do I have to purchase the same ticket from you once my visa is approved or can I make my own bookings?
No & Yes,
Once you get your visa you can make your own bookings and no need to worry about the bookings you make with us. You are free to make your own plans. we will handle all the cancellation charges and you will not need to pay anything extra.
Can I see a sample flight itinerary and hotel bookings:
Our documents can change based on the availability of the agent
This is our flight booking sample
Our hotel booking sample
[pdf-embedder url=”https://travelvisabookings.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Hotel-Riu-Costa-Lago-All-Inclusive-Torremolinos-Mar-17-Itinerary-7160682756408.pdf” title=”Hotel reservation for visa application”]Our Insurance Sample
[pdf-embedder url=”https://travelvisabookings.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/insurance-templates.pdf” title=”Insurance Sample for Schengen tourist visa”]Can I make changes once I place the order?
Yes, 100%. Each purchase on travelvisabookings will be given a minimum of 3 changes. If you have made a mistake in your order or want to change your travel plan, then drop us an email and we will make the changes for you
Can I add more traveller names in my itinerary?
Yes, 100%. For a small fee, you can add your co-traveller’s names in your plan. Also, as a policy, we will add children below 15 years in your order for free !!
How can travelvisabookings.com book a flight ticket without paying for them?
We use corporate services to create itineraries and hold flight bookings for you.
Is travelvisabookings a scam?
Well, our competitors would like you to believe so. There has been a lot of propaganda on social media trying to book us as a scam. But we are providing the exact service as them for over 5 years. We would advise them to work with the same enthusiasm on their website to improve it and challenge us with customer support.
Is paying through travelvisabookings secure?
Yes, 100%. We do not save any of your cards or Paypal information. All your payments happen on the payment gateway and we get only the payment confirmation. We do not save any of your information on our website except your check out form
What if my plans get cancelled?
Then you will get a 70% refund from our end.
Can you apply for a Schengen visa from the USA while you are on a B1/B2 visa?
Unfortunately, no you cannot apply for a Schengen visa with a B1/B2 visa from the US. You will need to go back to your country of origin and apply it from there.
how to apply schengen visa from usa
italy visa requirements for us green card holders
switzerland visa requirements for us permanent residents
schengen visa from usa for indian
indian citizen applying for schengen visa from usa
schengen visa for indian passport holders in usa
schengen visa for h1b holders