Filling out the Schengen visa application form

Somewhere in Switzerland...

Filling out the Schengen Visa application form was a little tricky, but I had help from Kristine Camin's How to Apply for the Schengen Visa post and our own experience when we were applying. If your handwriting isn't that flash, I suggest using Adobe Acrobat Pro, or a PDF program that enables you to fill out the form legibly.

Hopefully this guide can help you :)

We filled out our application form in capital letters (except for our email address) and put an X in the boxes where applicable.

1. Surname (Family name): Your surname

2. Surname at birth

• If married, write your maiden name. 
• Since I'm single, I left it blank, but the processing agent at Via asked me to write my father's surname, I'm not sure why.

3. First name: Your real name -- not your nickname. If you have two (or seven) first names, write all of it.

4. Date of birth: Day MONTH year e.g. 08 SEPTEMBER 1957

5. Place of birth: City (MANILA) or town, province e.g. KIBLAWAN, DAVAO DEL SUR

6. Country of birth: PHILIPPINES

7. Current Nationality: FILIPINO

• Nationality at birth, if different: I left this blank since our nationality did not change

8. Sex: (No, this is not the frequency.) X for whichever box applies.

9. Marital status: X for whichever box applies.

10. I wrote N/A since I'm of legal age.

11. N/A since I don't have a National Identity number. I'm also not sure what that is

12. Type of travel document: X for whichever box applies. I put an X on Ordinary passport

13. Number of travel document: Passport number (found in the biographical page of your passport)

14. Date of issue: (found in the biographical page of your passport)

15. Valid until: (found in the biographical page of your passport)

16. Issued by: (found in the biographical page of your passport)

17. Applicant's home and e-mail address: my email address in small letters, my address in full caps, up to my city

• Telephone number(s): Landline (if applicable) and cellphone

18. X for whichever box applies. I put an X on No

19. Current occupation: I put on mine BUSINESS WOMAN since I have a startup, but on my sister's: EMPLOYED - [her position/job title]

20. Employer's name and details: Again, written in caps
NAME - ADDRESS UP TO CITY - PHONE NUMBER

21. Main purpose: X for whichever box applies. I put an X on Tourism

22. Member State(s) of your destination: I put ITALY, AUSTRIA, GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, FRANCE (or whichever Schengen country applies to you)

• Please note that you cannot use your Schengen Visa for the UK. If your trip involves going to the UK, you will need to get a  UK Visa as well.

23. Member State of first entry: ITALY (or whichever Schengen country applies)

24. Number of entries requested: X for whichever box applies. I put an X on Single entry

• Since we were not going out of the Schengen area, we only needed a Single entry. Based on my mapped out train itinerary, all our trains will pass only through Schengen Member States.
• A single entry gets you into all Schengen Member State(s)
• If you're flying from one Member State(s) to another, and your plane will go out of the Schengen Area (i.e. you'll be coming from Spain, but it will stop through the UK before landing at your final destination [e.g. Amsterdam]), you will need to put an X on Two entries or Multiple entries (if you'll keep coming in and out of Schengen within 90 days -- the minimum number of days for an ordinary Schengen tourist visa)

25. Duration of the intended stay or transit: Whatever # of days apply to you

26. X for whichever box applies. Mine was No.

27. X for whichever box applies. Mine was No.

28. I left this blank, but the agent at VIA said to write N/A (if that's applicable to you, fill it out. If you're not sure, ask them when you file)

29. Intended date of arrival: This is the date you're in the Schengen area, not the date of your departure from the Philippines. If you're departing on the 4th, and you'll arrive on the 5th, write 05 [MONTH] [YEAR]

Unless, of course, you're arriving on the same day -- is that possible?

Check your flight reservation/booking for the dates.

30. Intended date of departure: When you'll be leaving the Schengen area, not your arrival back in the Philippines.

31. The agent instructed me to write the name of the first hotel we'll be sleeping at in Italy. I'm not sure how this goes if all your accommodations are thru Airbnb, but she asked me to write the hotel, even though we weren't staying there until our 5th day in Italy.

However, I also prepared an attached table with the following details: Surname, First name/Hotel name, Address, Email address, Telephone and telefax.

We were very transparent in our application

32. N/A (or fill out as applicable)

33. Cost of travel: X where applicable

• Since we were all paying for ourselves, I put an X on 'by the applicant himself/herself'

Means of support: X where applicable

• I didn't put an X on Credit card because I didn't have one.
• My sister and mother didn't put an X on Credit card because they only had supplementary/extension credit cards from my dad, and all billing statements only had my dad's name on it.
• But we put an X on Prepaid accommodation and Prepaid transport since our accommodations, air fare, and several train fares were pre-purchased while in the Philippines.

34. N/A (or fill out as applicable)

35. N/A (or fill out as applicable)

36. Place and date: You put the city where you filled out the form, and then the date you filled out the application form

37. Your signature

Page 3:
Place and date: You put the city where you filled out the form, and then the date you filled out the application form

Your signature

One of the castles we saw while we were on the train. The little girl in me was so excited!

Good luck!

All notes are based on our experience. These are just guides and tips. If you are unsure about any of the questions in the form, I suggest you leave it blank and ask the agent at the Via counter for help when your name is called. If your visa is denied, please don't blame me. I don't decide the approval of your visa :-)