Schengen Visa Requirements for Students
If you hold a student visa for the UK and want to travel to Europe we would advise you to consider a trip to France as your first journey. The reason is that you can eventually get a multiple entry Schengen visa with the French consulate. .You need to make sure that your Schengen visa application is in order. The French Consulate is slightly less demanding in this respect but it still means that you will have to present all necessary documents in the required state.
Two things must be mentioned in this respect: you must be living in the UK fot at least one month before you can apply for French Schengen Visa and you can only make a visa application while you are still studying. If you want to travel around Europe after your course finished you must submit your visa application in your home country.
The documents required for the French Schengen visa include:
- Your passport with UK residence permit stamp.
- The visa application form.
- Two most recent passport size photos.
- College or university letter on a letter headed paper, original, not a scanned copy. It must not be older than one month. It serves as confirmation that you are a full time student, and must be presented on a letter headed paper.
- Original bank statement that covers last full month and shows sufficient funds.
- Your itinerary: return ticket and hotel booking.
- Travel Insurance.
Please note that a multiple entry visa can be issued only if the consulate makes a decision to grant it to you. If this is your first Schengen visa application, most probably you will be issued with a short visa valid for one trip only. You should use this visa for France and make sure your visa is stamped when you enter and exit France. If for example you have a French Schengen visa and you intend to use it for France, you can expect multiple entry visa up to 3 months next time you apply.
As for the processing times, the standard processing time is 3-5 business days for most nationalities. You can check with the French embassy in London if your application will be processed on a normal basis or longer. That is why it is highly recommended that you collect all necessary information and prepare the documents well in advance to avoid the stress of rebooking or cancelling your trip due to insufficient time.
Two things must be mentioned in this respect: you must be living in the UK fot at least one month before you can apply for French Schengen Visa and you can only make a visa application while you are still studying. If you want to travel around Europe after your course finished you must submit your visa application in your home country.
The documents required for the French Schengen visa include:
- Your passport with UK residence permit stamp.
- The visa application form.
- Two most recent passport size photos.
- College or university letter on a letter headed paper, original, not a scanned copy. It must not be older than one month. It serves as confirmation that you are a full time student, and must be presented on a letter headed paper.
- Original bank statement that covers last full month and shows sufficient funds.
- Your itinerary: return ticket and hotel booking.
- Travel Insurance.
Please note that a multiple entry visa can be issued only if the consulate makes a decision to grant it to you. If this is your first Schengen visa application, most probably you will be issued with a short visa valid for one trip only. You should use this visa for France and make sure your visa is stamped when you enter and exit France. If for example you have a French Schengen visa and you intend to use it for France, you can expect multiple entry visa up to 3 months next time you apply.
As for the processing times, the standard processing time is 3-5 business days for most nationalities. You can check with the French embassy in London if your application will be processed on a normal basis or longer. That is why it is highly recommended that you collect all necessary information and prepare the documents well in advance to avoid the stress of rebooking or cancelling your trip due to insufficient time.
