Schengen visa with green card extension letter

[Katherine93 30]

Hi everyone,

 

My 2-year greencard expires 12/8/2018, and I have the extension letter that extends the validity for one more year. I am recently applying for a Schengen visa to go to Iceland in October, which requires the US  resident permit to be valid until at least 3 months beyond my return date. I think with the extension letter it should suffice, but I'm also kinda nervous about the consulate not recognizing the letter if they've never seen it before. The iceland visa is handled by the NY Denmark embassy which outsources their visa application to vfsglobal, so I will be handing in my application at the Houston VFS visa center. Has anyone had experience applying to a schengen visa with their green card extension letter? Did you have any trouble with it? 

 

Thank you!

[usmsbow 798]

My wife applied for a Schengen visa back in March. Her green card had expired in October, and her extension letter extended it a year (so there were about 7 months until expiration when she applied for the visa). No questions or problems related to the extension letter. She had some difficulties getting the visa, but that was because the consulate employee insisted she have a reservation for every day of our 2-week trip before he'd issue the visa.

 

The biggest challenge related to the letter was checking in both going to/from Europe. Both times the person checking us in had to consulate someone more senior to confirm the letter was legit. Wasn't that big of a deal, just prolonged the check-in process a little. 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2018 by usmsbow

[Katherine93 30]

2 minutes ago, usmsbow said:

My wife applied for a Schengen visa back in March. Her green card had expired in October, and her extension letter extended it a year (so there were about 7 months until expiration when she applied for the visa). No questions or problems related to the extension letter. She had some difficulties getting the visa, but that was because the consulate employee insisted she have a reservation for every day of our 2-week trip before he'd issue the visa.

 

The biggest challenge related to the letter was checking in both going to/from Europe. Both times the person checking us in had to consulate someone more senior to confirm the letter was legit. Wasn't that big of a deal, just prolonged the check-in process a little. 

 

 

 

 

That's great to know! Thank you!

[NYCruiser 423]

16 minutes ago, Katherine93 said:

Hi everyone,

 

My 2-year greencard expires 12/8/2018, and I have the extension letter that extends the validity for one more year. I am recently applying for a Schengen visa to go to Iceland in October, which requires the US  resident permit to be valid until at least 3 months beyond my return date. I think with the extension letter it should suffice, but I'm also kinda nervous about the consulate not recognizing the letter if they've never seen it before. The iceland visa is handled by the NY Denmark embassy which outsources their visa application to vfsglobal, so I will be handing in my application at the Houston VFS visa center. Has anyone had experience applying to a schengen visa with their green card extension letter? Did you have any trouble with it? 

 

Thank you!

I had an issue of refusal from the Netherlands people for a two day stay on my way to Kenya. I ad a full two year valid Conditional GC. So it is really weird with these visas things. However, submit info like IRS tax returns, any joint property (We dedacted the income amounts) in the resubmission and they approved

[Katherine93 30]

2 hours ago, NYCruiser said:

I had an issue of refusal from the Netherlands people for a two day stay on my way to Kenya. I ad a full two year valid Conditional GC. So it is really weird with these visas things. However, submit info like IRS tax returns, any joint property (We dedacted the income amounts) in the resubmission and they approved

Ah  That's weird! Did they specifically ask you to submit tax returns and joint property? I wonder what their reason is behind it

[NYCruiser 423]

45 minutes ago, Katherine93 said:

Ah  That's weird! Did they specifically ask you to submit tax returns and joint property? I wonder what their reason is behind it

No they didn't. The first refusal was probably because I am a Citizen from Kenya. Most African countries have a high number of fraudulent applications or overstays. The documents we submitted met the initial screening interview (even the screener said everything is fine here), the Approver in Washington DC did not approve believing that I would be an overstay.

 

After that experience, I always remember to make sure to think like a CO...what would they want to approve (also cover their bases)...it would be documents that would compel me to return to the US

[Katherine93 30]

19 minutes ago, NYCruiser said:

No they didn't. The first refusal was probably because I am a Citizen from Kenya. Most African countries have a high number of fraudulent applications or overstays. The documents we submitted met the initial screening interview (even the screener said everything is fine here), the Approver in Washington DC did not approve believing that I would be an overstay.

 

After that experience, I always remember to make sure to think like a CO...what would they want to approve (also cover their bases)...it would be documents that would compel me to return to the US

Gotcha! I think I should be fine in that sense because I have had a few approved Schengen visa before and I also have employer letter showing that I would be returning to the US for my job. I'm more worried about if they will give me trouble for the extension letter since my green card will expire shortly after I return from the trip. Thank you for sharing your experience  

[afrocraft 313]

On 7/23/2018 at 3:36 PM, Katherine93 said:

Gotcha! I think I should be fine in that sense because I have had a few approved Schengen visa before and I also have employer letter showing that I would be returning to the US for my job. I'm more worried about if they will give me trouble for the extension letter since my green card will expire shortly after I return from the trip. Thank you for sharing your experience  

Hello,

 

Any update on your Schengen visa application? I'm in the same boat -- I have an interview scheduled with the German Embassy.

 

Thanks!

[Katherine93 30]

10 hours ago, afrocraft said:

Hello,

 

Any update on your Schengen visa application? I'm in the same boat -- I have an interview scheduled with the German Embassy.

 

Thanks!

Hi! My application was approved with no problem. Just make sure you bring the original copy of the extension letter with your green card because they did take it (and returned to you after they process your application)

[afrocraft 313]

13 hours ago, Katherine93 said:

Hi! My application was approved with no problem. Just make sure you bring the original copy of the extension letter with your green card because they did take it (and returned to you after they process your application)

Good to know. Thank you!