cherrypie wrote:Hi guys,
I am in the UK on a Tier 1 visa. My employer would like me to be able to travel to Europe at short notice if needs be so he has asked that I apply for a business Schengen visa. With the nature of my job I cannot plan very much in advance because things happen very last minute so he wants me to have the visa for when I may require it.
He will provide me with a letter to say that I need to travel for business purposes and that the company will cover my expenses as well as my travel insurance.
However, my problem is that I do not actually have a tripped booked at the moment so I don't have a return flight or a hotel booked. Further to that I do not have an invitation letter from a European company. Is it possible to get a Schengen visa without these?
Any advice will be much appreciated.
Regards,
N
I as was in a similar situation to you last year, & based on my enquiries at both the Spanish & German consulates (as those were the countries I had to travel to) & details published on their websites you will need to have a invitation letter and proof of booked travel for them to grant you a visa. There are other requirements all listed under the consulate website, but the two I mentioned above need to be among them for a business Schengen visa. As I too didn't get much advance notice I was unable to travel for business late last year. This year however, I had sufficient time to get the required documents in place & apply, in time for one of my trips which was planned in advance, so have overcome the problem for the next 3 months as I was granted a multiple entry visa for 3 months.
Based to the information I was given, I'd say you will need to plan your first business trip with sufficient time to get all required documents - requesting a multiple entry visa, which should be backed up by your employer and possibly inviting organisation with justification. I requested a multiple entry visa valid for 12 months & was granted one valid for 3, which at least covers me for the next couple of months, after which I'll have to apply again.
