Every year more than 20 million tourists travel to Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, Ghent, a country famous all over the world for its monuments and buildings of various architectural styles, history and culture. You can find what you don't know about the Schengen visa in this article.
Belgium Visa Types
As Belgium belongs to the list of Schengen countries, you can obtain this visa by applying for a Belgium Schengen visa to realize your temporary trip. The reasons for applying for this type of visa can be tourism, visiting family or friends, business trip, medical examination or treatment, short-term study, exchange programs and many other non-permanent nuances. If you wish to receive a long-term study (such as a bachelor's, master's, doctorate, etc.) in Belgium with a duration of more than 90 days or to work permanently in an institution located here, apply for a Belgian national visa if you have official invitations or acceptance letters from those educational and work institutions. you can Now we will give you general information about the Belgian Schengen visa.
Belgium Schengen Visa
The Belgian Schengen visa can be single-entry or multiple-entry. You can also apply for long-term visas, i.e. three-month, six-month, one-year, two-year or five-year visas. Obtaining a Belgium Schengen visa will enable you to visit all Schengen countries during your trip. However, in any case, we definitely recommend that you make your first entry into the Schengen area from the country where you received your visa, i.e. Belgium. Otherwise, if you try to re-enter the Schengen area with a Belgian visa, if you do not mention it during your visa application, the border service of that country may turn you back and deny you entry, although in rare cases. This experience has been experienced in some cases and therefore we advise you to avoid this risk.
If you are applying for a Belgian Schengen visa, you must indicate the maximum number of days you will be staying in Belgium during your trip. In addition to Belgium, France, Spain, Holland and other European countries are also on the list of countries that many people add to their travel plans. The addition of such countries to your travel plan is a nuance that will not cause any problems in your visa application. It will be enough for you to apply for a Belgian Schengen visa if you simply indicate the country where you will stay the most during your general trip as Belgium.
Collection of Documents for Belgium Schengen Visa Application
When applying for a Belgian Schengen visa, you must submit the following documents:
Original and copy of the first page of your foreign passport
Copies of your previous visas and entry-exit stamps, if applicable
A copy of your identity card
Reference from the place of work* and, if applicable, an extract from the salary card (for persons studying, a reference from the educational institution) Reference and statement from the bank account in your name (Detailed information about the amount is mentioned below)
Copies of extracts* of properties in your name and a copy of your car's passport, if applicable
Proof of your civil status* (copy of your marriage certificate if you are married, birth certificates if you have children under 18 or divorce certificate if your marriage has broken down)
2 pieces of 3.5x4.5 size, biometric and your photo on a white background
Airline reservations you make for your trip
Hotel reservations you made for your trip
Schengen-compliant travel insurance that will fully cover your trip
Application form filled in English
A printed version of the document issued from the system on confirmation of appointment
If the visa is applied for a business visit rather than a tourist one, in this case, an official invitation letter related to that work, event or meeting
Documents marked with "*" must be submitted to the embassy in English. If you have obtained the original document in Azerbaijani rather than in English, in this case, each of these documents must be translated into English and certified by a notary and submitted to the embassy.
It should be noted that in our experience, it has been seen that the French embassy, which applied for a Belgian visa, in most cases requested an extract from the government portal e.gov.az in addition to the certificate from the workplace. After your documents have been accepted, in any case, during your visa procedure, you may receive a call from the embassy and you may be asked to submit new documents. Although in rare cases, during the visa procedure, the French embassy requires the applicants to purchase the hotels they have booked and submit the documents confirming this to the embassy.
The amount in your bank account is based on the travel dates you have indicated, i.e. the length of your stay in Schengen, the price of the flight tickets and hotels you have booked, etc. varies depending. In general, it is recommended that you have at least AZN 3,000-5,000 in your bank account for a one-week trip (equivalent to Euros or US dollars). This amount should fully cover your travel plan. When calculating the amount, you can sum up the average daily cost of 70-80 euros for each day you indicate that you will stay in the Schengen area with the price of your ticket and hotel reservations, and expect a little higher than the figure you received.
If you are an entrepreneur, you can submit the documents that will replace the certificate from the workplace (a copy of the TIN, a certificate issued by the Ministry of Taxes about your turnover, an extract from the register of your company) to the embassy. If you are not working, studying or in any case sponsoring another person to cover the costs of your trip, in this case a copy of that person's identity card, proof of employment (if self-employed, the documents listed above), proof of bank account and statement (this bank account it can be both in your name and in the name of the sponsor), if you have a family bond, a document confirming this (for example, if it is a parent, your own birth certificate, if it is a brother or sister, both of your birth certificates, etc.) and a paper about sponsorship to the embassy must be presented. If the applicant is under 18 years of age, in this case, if he is traveling alone, a copy of the permission document to leave the country from both parents or, if he is traveling with one of the parents, must also be submitted during the visa application.
It should be noted that even if you submit documents such as TIN, turnover certificate from the Ministry of Taxes, extract from the register of your company or sponsorship paper, permission paper, you must have each of these documents translated and certified into English by a notary.
Visa Procedure
The application for the Belgian Schengen visa is made at the Capago visa application center of the French Embassy. Due to the fact that the consulate of Belgium is not active in our country, the decision on the visa is made by the consul in the consular department of the French embassy.
A visa appointment to submit documents is available online. An appointment is required to submit the documents. The visa application can be made no earlier than 6 months before the date of the trip. All applicants are required to be personally present when submitting documents, except for applicants who are exempt from fingerprinting.
Persons exempt from fingerprinting are divided into the following groups:
Persons who received a Schengen visa in the last 3 years and have a fingerprint in the system (except Czech visa)
Children under 12 years old
Persons who are physically unable to provide fingerprints;
Holders of a diplomatic or special passport and accredited to a diplomatic or consular post in Belgium
Diplomatic or consular personnel and their family members (spouse and dependent children) who will be assigned to an international organization with headquarters or representation in Belgium
The Schengen visa procedure may take 3-10 working days from the date of application.
Note that our experience shows that the French Embassy plans the duration of the visa procedure according to the start date of the trip. Applicants with closer travel dates also get their visa results sooner. However, the duration of the visa procedure does not depend only on this factor, the complexity of the case can also play a role here.
The visa fee is 35 euros. This amount can be paid in national currency, i.e. in manat in cash or by card in any currency. When submitting documents, in addition to the visa fee, 26 euros are paid as a service fee of the visa center. This payment can be made in cash only in manat or by card in any currency. The manat equivalent of the visa fee is adjusted by the embassy according to the exchange rate of the day.
Belgium Schengen Visa Probability
As with the visa application of any country, your chances of getting a visa in Belgium depend on the status of your profile. Your workplace and position are normal, your monthly income is in the standard salary range or higher (in experience, visas have been obtained for people with a monthly income in the range of 400-500 AZN, there have been many cases), you have enough money in your bank account to cover your entire trip, the nuances that bind you to the country Availability (property in your name, family and children) and a good travel history are factors that increase your chances of getting a Belgium Schengen visa. In our experience, despite the fact that there are enough people who have obtained their first Schengen visa from the French embassy, we note that the French embassy is a bit risky during the first visa application for a person, except in cases where the profile is at a high level (if the nuances listed above are good enough). Having one or more Schengen visas in the past can significantly increase your chances of getting a Belgian visa from the French embassy. Still, compared to other Western European and highly developed European countries (Germany, Italy, Scandinavian countries, etc.), the French embassy may be a relatively better choice for the first visa application if there are some nuances.
Visa Support to Belgium
We, as Vizam.az company, can help you during your Belgian Schengen visa application. If you use our visa support service, our service includes making an appointment on your behalf at the visa center, filling out your application form, preparing your documents in a professional manner, booking your flight tickets to cover your trip, booking hotels or buying them according to your wishes, making travel insurance to cover your trip , consultation, follow-up of your visa procedure will be included. Note that the travel insurance fee will be calculated in addition to our service fee. The insurance fee is usually in the range of 16-18 AZN for 1 week. You can get this insurance yourself. We can also assist you with notarizing and notarizing your documents into English. Additional fee for each document will be 16 AZN. In general, the Belgian Schengen visa support service fee in our company is 69 AZN per person.
You can click here to place your order. For additional information, you can contact 050/55-3000135.
Happy travels!
