Switzerland has tightened its Schengen visa documentation coverage, introducing stricter guidelines that now restrict submissions strictly to objects listed on the official guidelines.
The brand new directive, enforced by VFS International, the official visa processing associate of the Swiss Embassy, has raised issues amongst candidates with non-traditional monetary backgrounds.
Based on a report by TravelBiz, candidates can not submit further or explanatory paperwork corresponding to property papers, tax returns, funding information, or monetary letters, supplies generally relied upon by freelancers, retirees, digital nomads, and self-employed people to strengthen their circumstances.
The replace additionally impacts financial institution statements. VFS International will now settle for solely the primary three and final three pages from the previous three months’ statements. Any pages in between, no matter content material, will likely be excluded from consideration.
Visa consultants have warned that the brand new coverage may result in increased rejection charges, significantly for candidates whose monetary conditions don’t match the usual salaried-employee profile.
By eradicating flexibility for contextual rationalization, the coverage makes it tougher for candidates with out constant payslips to show monetary credibility.
For these with formal employment, steady earnings, and clear journey itineraries, the affect is anticipated to be minimal.
The Swiss Embassy confirms that the next paperwork stay obligatory for a short-stay Schengen visa software:
Past Switzerland’s new coverage, Nigeria’s Schengen visa rejection charge has surged to 45.9% in 2024, now the third highest globally, in response to a latest Nairametrics report.
Candidates with complicated or unconventional profiles might have to think about making use of by means of different Schengen nations that also settle for broader supporting paperwork, as reported by Nairametrics.
Whereas Switzerland has all the time had a rigorous visa course of, this replace considerably reduces candidates’ means to supply context or readability past the guidelines.
