How to Apply for Schengen Visa from Qatar

Schengen Area is a group of European countries that agreed to abolish border controls for their citizens. Twenty-nine of the fifty European countries participate in this agreement. To visit any of them, you have to receive a special Schengen visa. It will let you enter Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Don’t confuse Schengen and the European Union. These are two different things. Not all EU states are included in the Schengen Area. And not all Schengen participants belong to the EU.

Based on the aim of your travel and the planned duration of stay, you may apply for several types of tourist visas. Overall, there are three of them:

• Uniform Schengen Visa or USV. It allows visiting any Schengen country. Such documents come in two types:

  • Type A. For transit passengers who use air transport to travel. This visa lets you stay in the Schengen Area without access to any territories aside from the airport.
  • Type C. For Qatari citizens and residents who plan to spend up to 90 days within half a year in the Schengen Area. Such permission can be issued for single, double, or multiple entries. 

• Limited Territorial Visa or LTV. Grants entry to one or several countries of Schengen yet doesn’t allow traveling around the entire Schengen. 

• Type D visa, also called National, allows visiting only one particular Schengen country and is intended for long-term stays. They are never issued for tourism purposes unless you are visiting the country for medical purposes and the duration of your treatment exceeds 90 days.

To be able to get approval for visiting Schengen Area, you need to provide documents that meet visa requirements:

• Passport, which should be valid for a minimum of three to six months after your visa expiration term. There should also be a minimum of two blank pages left. 

• Visa application form. You can fill out the form for a visa online or at visa centers, such as the VFS Global website or on the website of the embassy you are going to apply to. Follow a sample form filled to avoid mistakes.

• Two passport-size photos are also required. They should be taken no earlier than half a year ago and contain 70-80% of your face on the white background. If you use the services of a travel agency or of a visa center such as VFS Global, digital photos can be required.

• Bank statement. There is not a unified minimum bank balance for all countries and this might change depending on your stay duration.

• Travel insurance for a minimum of 30,000 euros.

• Flight reservation including your return ticket.

• Photocopies of personal information passport pages; previous Schengen visas; residence permit for non-citizens.

• Accommodation proof like a hotel reservation or other.

• Visa payments. Fees might be subject to change based on the service and processing time you choose.

• Additional documents that prove why you are applying for a certain type of visa. These papers should be translated into languages accepted by a particular embassy.

For travelers younger than 18, you should also collect:

• Copies of passports of both parents or their legal representatives.

• Letters of consent from parents or legal representatives.

• Birth certificate copy.

• Proof of adoption if a child is adopted.

• Proof of parents’ divorce if they are divorced.

• Proof of death if one or both the parents are deceased.

If for some reason, you can’t make a journey within your visa validity term, visa extension is not possible. You’ll have to go through the procedure again.

You can apply for permission to travel to Schengen if you are:

• Qatari passport holder.

• A non-Qatari citizen living in the country under temporary or permanent residence permit.

To travel from Qatar, you can use the visa service of VFS Global — a visa application center, which handles permission applications for all Schengen countries in Doha. Another option is to buy tour packages that cover such services. Finally, you can get the visa at the embassy of the country you are traveling to.

If you are going to spend equal periods in several European countries, apply for permission to the embassy of the state of your first entry to Schengen. Not all Schengen countries have embassies in Qatar. The consular affairs of countries not represented in Qatar may be undertaken by the existing embassies. They are:

• Hungarian Embassy (fulfills consular affairs of Denmark and Latvia);

• Swiss Embassy;

• Swedish Embassy;

• Spanish Embassy;

• Portuguese Embassy;

• Polish Embassy;

• Netherlands Embassy (fulfills consular affairs of Slovakia and Sweden);

• Italian Embassy (fulfills consular affairs of Malta and Estonia);

• Greek Embassy;

• German Embassy;

• French Embassy;

• Belgian Embassy.

1. Select the type of visa.

2. Complete the application form online on the embassy’s website or via VFS Global service and print it.

3. Collect other papers required for a Schengen permit.

4. Book your appointment at an application center or embassy.

5. Pay the fees.

6. Attend your scheduled appointment.

7. Monitor the progress of your application;

8. Receive your passport at the application center or embassy, delivery services for certain visas are also  available.