Do I need a Visa to visit Paris for a week?

What all documents do I need to apply for Schengen visa?

• I am planning to visit my friends in France and Germany in different trips during May (i.e. first week of May I am travelling to Paris from London and last week of to Germany from London). Which embassy do I want to apply and what all documents do I want to submit and how? I have the tickets for both the trip and travel insurance for the whole year. 1. Do I need any letter from my friends stating that I am staying with them? If so can I use E-mails for this purpose? 2. Do I need any letter from my employer for this (I read abt it somewhere)? If so what does it need to say? 3. How long it will take to get the visa and can I apply for Multi entry visa? Please advice

• Answer:

  In general multiple entry visa are only issued to frequent business visitors or to frequent visitors who have family members residing in several Schengen countries and who have shown their integrity and liability be having hold single entry visa before. As you plan to travel to France at first you could try to apply for a double entry visa from the French authorities and provide the required details for both travels. State in a cover letter that you also plan to visit a friend in Germany. However I doubt that the French Consular Officers will issue a visa which covers your second trip as well, especially if you submit a "Verpflichtungserkärung" written in German. As you have stated in your additional details you are already aware of the fact that you will need original invitation letters signed by your hosts. E-mails are not accepted since they are too easily to be forged. For France you must provide an invitation letter explaining the reason of your trip to France. For accommodation, you must provide either a hotel booking or the lodging certificate (Attestation d'Accueil) obtained by the person you are visiting in France from their local Townhall ("Mairie") or Police Station ("Gendarmerie" or "Commissariat de Police"). The hotel reservation must be confirmed directly by the hotel clearly stating the visa national’s full names, the dates of check-in and out, the hotel address and contact details. Bookings made via a reservation centre or travel agencies will no longer be accepted. As proof of employment you need a less than 3 months old official up-to-date letter from your employer stating the position held within the company as well as the starting date and the last 3 months payslips. For Germany you need either an original invitation letter [if you show sufficient funds to cover your stay] or a formal obligation [if your host provides financial support]. A signed invitation and a passport copy or the copy of your host's Polish ID card or a formal obligation (Verpflichtungserklärung) from your host in Germany. The formal obligation can be obtained by your host at his local town authorities in Germany (Ausländerbehörde or Bürgerbüro). As proof of employment a letter of your employer stating position, salary, since when the employment contract is in effect and for how long leave has been granted. You can apply for the visa up to three months prior to the proposed travel date; so start the application process as soon as you gave gotten the required documents from your hosts. Processing time depends on your [unknown] nationality. For citizen of certain countries the other Schengen member states must be consulted before a common visa can be issued, this can totally take up to three weeks. Edit: India is not among the countries which require consultation of the other Schengen countries. Your French visa will take 24 hours processing time if applied through TLS Contact; the German visa, if required seperately, about a week. Further edit [based on your other question asked 5 days ago]: As holder of a "residence permit of a family member of an EEA citizen" you do not need a visa for France or Germany provided you travel accompanied by your Polish spouse. The application only applies if you travel alone. You should add your marriage certificate and a copy of your spouse's EU passport to your visa application and state so in your cover letter to the French Consulate. It will make the decision to issue a double entry visa for both travels easier. ◘○◘•◘○◘ Added [based on your additional details]: If you merge the trip and you travel without your Polish spouse you will need to apply for the visa at the authorities of the country in which you plan to stay for the longest time [main destination]. If a main destination cannot be determined it will be the country of first entry. Source(s): http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/Visa-admissibility .. https://www.tlscontact.com/gb2fr/docs.php .. http://www.london.diplo.de/Vertretung/london/en/07/Visa/Documents__for__Schengen__seite.html ..