ITALY Schengen Visa

[sgadipat]

Hi,

I want to apply for a ITALY Schengen Visa and one of the requirements for my spouse is

"* If unemployed/ dependent, all the above documents must be provided by the Sponsor along with proof of relationship, ie marriage certificate, birth certificate etc which must carry a stamp of legalization from the embassy/consulate of applicants home country, and should be original. "

I have an original marriage certificate in English from India. How can I get this attested by Indian Embassy? Or can I just submit the original marriage certificate and hope for the best?

[rajsin]

you'll find the below link useful

http://www.immigrationboards.com/europe ... ml#p721744

[sgadipat]

OK from the posts given, I understand that France does not care about Marriage certificate attestation while the Italians do. Is this one off case or is it general understanding.

I went to the italian website (http://www.esteri.it/visti/home_eng.asp) and in the requirements there is no marriage certificate listed. Only the VFS website has them. Is attested marriage certificate really required for Italian Schengen Visa. Can people who applied recently comment please?

[chaoclive]

If you are applying for a visa for your spouse, it is common sense that the marriage certificate must be presented as to prove your relationship. However, I'm not sure about the legalization/attestation thing.

[toofan]

italian usualy ask for translation and legalization done by their embassy in country where marriage took place like.

[sgadipat]

Thanks for your replies.

I am unable to get my marriage certificate attested by Indian High Commission as they want Ministry of External Affairs to attest the document first. For that I need to travel to India which I can't. So I called VFS helpline and they mentioned that if I cannot produce a legalised marriage certificate, then I need show my wife's name in the back page of my passport. I have asked them for this in writing.

Can any of you confirm this? Also what are the general processing times for Italy Schengen Visa. The site only gives minimum processing time as 5-10 days. I have 4 weeks to travel, will this be enough?

Regards

[chaoclive]

I've never heard of it. Is there anyway you can travel through another EEA country? I've always had an easy time with the Dutch Embassy.

[rajsin]

Thanks for your replies.

I am unable to get my marriage certificate attested by Indian High Commission as they want Ministry of External Affairs to attest the document first. For that I need to travel to India which I can't. So I called VFS helpline and they mentioned that if I cannot produce a legalised marriage certificate, then I need show my wife's name in the back page of my passport. I have asked them for this in writing.

Can any of you confirm this? Also what are the general processing times for Italy Schengen Visa. The site only gives minimum processing time as 5-10 days. I have 4 weeks to travel, will this be enough?

Regards

Yes, ministry of external affairs must attest document first after that it will be attested by the Indian high commission. And your understanding is correct you will have to go back to India to get this done. Make sure you get this done when you visit India next as it will be really helpful in the long run.

I am not sure how much the 'printing wife name on the back page' bit would help. However from the below link it looks like printing spouse name on passport would take anywhere between 4 to 6 weeks. But its worth calling them and asking if they do a 'tatkal' (premium) service for the same.

If you live in the UK , then below link is useful:
https://www.hcilondon.in/passport.html

As your spouse is Indian, getting an Italy visit visa will take anywhere between 5 to 10 days and not more than that, i got Italian visit visa stamped and delivered in 5 days.

There may be chances that VFS (for Italy) would not accept your marriage certificate due to it not being attested so be prepared. the last thing you want is a rejected stamp on your passport.

[sgadipat]

I checked with VFS helpline again and they told me that having spouse's name in passport will work only if one of us in EU Citizen. So I am back to square one.

When I asked them for suggestion, they suggested that my wife should apply for Visa on her own showing funds in her bank account. But one problem here is that she is currently unemployed but they said she can just write a cover letter showing that she is looking for employment currently.

From the below advise from VFS Visa page, it appears that she can't apply on her own as she is unemployed.
========
* If unemployed/ dependent, all the above documents must be provided by the Sponsor along with proof of relationship, ie marriage certificate, birth certificate etc which must carry a stamp of legalization from the embassy/consulate of applicants home country, and should be original. Please note this is applicable to spouses only. You should also provide a sponsorship letter signed by the sponsor, and also a copy of the sponsor’s passport biometric/main passport page with photo.
========

Can you please advise?

[rajsin]

Possible options are

1. Try your luck with VFS - Italy

or

2. Apply french visit visa instead of Italy

[ban.s]

or

3. get a SWORN affidavit from HCI and try your luck

also see more on Apostille --> http://www.mea.gov.in/legalization-of-documents.htm