How to Appeal Schengen Visa Rejection

How to Appeal Schengen Visa Rejection

Applying for Schengen visa takes a lot of preparation and documents. However, a Schengen visa application is not a guarantee of approval.  

When your Schengen visa is denied, the consular officer will provide you a standard rejection form that will include the reasons indicating why the visa was refused, as well as the procedure and deadline for submitting an appeal. If you believe your initial application was correct, you can appeal their decision. If not, you can reapply.

Applying Again

If Schengen visa was denied for failure to submit all the necessary documents or failure to meet the standards to travel to the Schengen area, the applicant may possibly be able to apply again at the embassy/consulate of their desired destination in a neighboring country.  When applying again you would pay a new fee, complete new applications, and, of course, you would need to make the necessary corrections, depending upon why your application was rejected in the first place.

If you applied for Schengen visa for Iceland, but you had to originally apply with the Denmark Consulate because they are handling the visa processing on behalf of Iceland in your country, you will have to apply again with the Denmark Consulate, and they will make the decision.  In other words, you need to appeal to the same representing consulate where you originally applied at.

Appeal a Denial

If you believe that your Schengen visa application was rejected incorrectly, you can file an appeal. You should appeal to the same consulate or their outsourced visa processing center where you were rejected initially.

You should write an appeal letter and along with it, the appropriate documents, which would depend upon why your Schengen visa was denied initially.  You should state strong reasons why you believe your visa rejection was incorrect and why they need to reconsider their decision. If possible, you should state the basis of the fact or law, and as appropriate, you should provide additional evidence.

The appeal letter should neither be too long nor too short.

Appeal Letter Outline

To the extent possible, you should try to follow the structure as outlined below:

  • Personal Details
  • Make sure to write your complete name (as specified in the passport), passport number, birth date and place, current address, phone number, and email address.
  • Rejection Details
  • Mention when your visa was rejected and what reason was given to you for the same.
  • Reason for Appeal
  • Clearly state why you think your Schengen visa was rejected initially and why it should be reconsidered. If more than one reasons seem appropriate, list all of them.
  • Signature
  • You must sign the appeal letter

Sample Schengen visa appeal letter

Supporting Documents

Depending upon your reason for the rejection, you will have to submit the documents that rectify the situation.

Look through the Schengen visa requirements to study again what documents you needed to submit initially and what you may have missed. Improve upon those documents and/or get additional documents to support your appeal.

Appeal Processing

Even though you will submit the appeal letter along with supporting documents at the Schengen embassy/consulate or their visa processing center where your visa was rejected originally, your appeal will be processed by the administrative authorities in a given country, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or equivalent.

A senior officer will look at your appeal and make a decision accordingly.  The processing timings vary all the time and from country to country.  It is possible that if your appeal was rejected, you won’t hear back from them.

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