Today wasn't quite as fruitful, a bit of a disaster in fact :( We had the application with the 'clerk' and there were a number of things wrong. Firstly, I thought that a Schengen visa was valid for 90 days. It seems it can be any length? The flights that I reserved were for just 2 weeks. I simply as...

Thankyou very much Obie! Right then, I had to go back to The Netherlands Embassy, and see the same lady who will be saying yes or no because we won't get the visa to Bulgaria until we reach Europe. She told me that she would then need flight reservations for us both to and from the Schengen area. I ...

A quick update: The Polish embassy accepts applications in errr Bangkok! Also the Bulgarian embassy cannot issue a visa here only inIndonesia or Vietnam. The Netherlands embassy had a lovely lady and I think she will really help with the application. She is however very strict on one thing, and that...

WOW! My mouse was literally moving towards 'shut down' when messenger popped up with a new email message! Yeh its a little bit late here errrm 3 in the morning! It has been a pretty chilled out day today, went to an internet cafe and got everything printed, twice! Ann's handwriting is better than mi...

And not your wife?!!

Those were my earlier prayers

Thanks a lot for your thoughts glace81.

I think god already answered my prayers by sending me Obie

It is almost 2am here now so I will head off to bed now. I think that I have everything covered now! I will give you a break from me now and wish you a great weekend! I will update you on the situation early next week, depending on if I get an internet connection at the hotel, or, not until I get ba...

Well Obie, I honestly don't know how I will ever be able to repay your kindness!! As you know, I want all the facts sorted out before I even enter the embassy so that I know my rights. Even though I won't be applying for the Schengen this visit, unless we get lucky and we keep the passport at the Bu...

Yes Wanderer, I don't for one minute think its going to be easy, and that is why I am trying to get as much info as possible, but I know I am becoming a real pain in the backside for Obie :( Obie, please don't worry about me right now, spend time with your nephew and enjoy him! Thankyou for your rea...

Hi Wanderer, I lived in Bulgaria after it was an A2 state, from May 2007 - Oct 2008. I had been there about 7 times previously on holiday, and always had to register with the police within 48 hrs. This time when I went to register I was told that I didn't need to anymore. I guess I am paranoid about...

On this document: http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/passports/index.php?i=261 right at the bottom it says: *Please note that EU nationals who have always lived in the country of their nationality are not exercising EU treaty rights and are therefore not considered Union citizens. Their family me...

Yes that is one less hurdle out of the way :) I do have another question for you, so sorry. I realise that we don't need all of these documents listed here for the Netherlands Schengen visa application but I am having real trouble finding something online to print off when we go to the Netherlands e...

Yes, quite right, but its a shame that for all the proceedures there isn't a document telling you what to do. For instance we were told that she needed 2 forms of photographic ID. Another trip back to her province to get a postal ID, and then it turned out that the ID was only needed to show the gua...

Hi Glace81, Yes, my wife has her passport in my name now, it was quite a recent piece of legislation because a Filipina was murdered by her US husband IIRC. So recent in fact that the person we paid to organise the passport change submitted it without the certificate, which cost us another 2 weeks f...

hehe thanks for confirming that! I didn't realise that the entry clearance or schengen were synonymous terms. Thanks for clearing that up! The typhoon does seem to be clearing, and with my mind set its unlikely (i hope) to be something to stop us from travelling. I will say that the infrastructure h...

I was going to say previously that you seem to be getting a good grasp of the Filipino language. You might master it if you were to be there for the next year or two.

that doesn't fill me full of hope

Hi, sorry for late reply, the typhoon took the internet last night and then the power for most of today. Its a lot calmer now and everything is working. Hope I am not tempting fate! Sorry Obie I wasn't clear, originally I was going to apply just for entry clearance to Germany and Netherlands and the...

Ann said 'Salamat po! Thankyou in Filipino :) I have another of my stupid questions coming up... I think you are right that it would probably be better to get the Schengen visa, rather than lots of visas but... Will the different consulates want to keep her passport? This could really slow things do...

Oh I see! Sorry about that!

I hope that you don't feel as though you are bashing your head against a brick wall!

Hi Benifa, You are correct, and no matter how many times I thank Obie, it never feels like its enough! It amazes me the time Obie is taking to help. Thankyou so much! I can assure you that I won't be leaving the consulate until they have accepted the application, and I am sure that I can make them u...

Obie, please tell me how you unearth such gems? Whenever I am searching for documents on Bulgaria, i always end up with the UK's rules for Bulgarians! We will be going to the consulate on monday, and will ask them about it, any idea how long a "Long Term Category D Visa" takes to process? ...

Hi again, I asked my friend in Bulgaria to check with regard to the issuing of a residency card for my wife. She replied that it is very easy for me but for my wife: no restrictions for you, but for her it is difficult. She needs a special invitation from the police office in Bulgaria and certified ...

Obie, you have been such a star!!! Please don't apologise for anything! If it wasn't for you I would probably now be contemplating flying home, unlikely to see my wife until my child is born. I do prefer to have things well organised as opposed to slightly, and so anyway it suits me better to get th...

I guess it was when you guys told me to get a visa before getting on the flight that I was a little bit concerned and so I figured for a little bit more hassle, we can get the visa for each country so that we know we are safe and not going to be denied boarding. I will check about the Schengen from ...

Hi Obie, we're doing pretty good thankyou :) We delayed our trip to the capital until sunday, because decided to get an entry visa for Germany as well. We might not have had enough time to get around to 3 embassies and it would be a bit of a waste to have to spend the weekend in a hotel if we missed...