Russian applicant with a Warsaw interview and no Schengen (yet). What to do?

[ah-no 27]

47 minutes ago, BenNomad said:

Do not, whatever you do, apply at the Greek consulate in Novorossiysk. 

We are going to try to transfer to Israel if we can. 

[ah-no 27]

2 hours ago, BenNomad said:

Do not, whatever you do, apply at the Greek consulate in Novorossiysk. 

Just a thought -- is there a way you could get the visa rejected? I've read at least one report on here that says someone was able to get a transfer to another embassy (I think Serbia) by showing they'd be rejected for a Schengen visa.

Also, can you just keep your hotel reservations but not stay there? if they call the hotel, they'll be checking you're there right? but will they need to talk to you? 

Edited September 7, 2023 by ah-no

[rikko 93]

13 hours ago, ah-no said:

Just a thought -- is there a way you could get the visa rejected? I've read at least one report on here that says someone was able to get a transfer to another embassy (I think Serbia) by showing they'd be rejected for a Schengen visa.

Our multi-entry Schengen visa to Spain was denied and we were given single-entry instead. This made it basically impossible for us to legally enter Poland later for our interview, and on top of that we had to spend money going to Spain anyways because getting a Schengen and not using it looks bad on your travel history.

You can get your visa rejected by applying to a country you expect to deny you :P

Previously we had been denied by Jerusalem for a transfer, but after our multi-entry Schengen was denied, they accepted our case transfer. They want to see an attempt by you to do your interview in Warsaw, and if not possible, are willing to take you on, it seems. I will always be grateful to Israel and the Jerusalem embassy for this.

Serbia isn't accepting case transfers anymore if I recall correctly. Don't try Armenia either, they're too small/busy for transfers, prioritizing citizens, and the wait times would be over a year just for an interview. 

[BenNomad 89]

We had the choice of either going ahead with the visa application or being black-listed, so far as I understand. Still waiting for the result. I'm half hoping for a rejection now!

 

They will call just the hotels. And if the hotel says that we paid for the night but didn't show up, I think that would look very suspicious. We don't want to be hunted down by national security agents. 

[ah-no 27]

3 hours ago, BenNomad said:

We had the choice of either going ahead with the visa application or being black-listed, so far as I understand. Still waiting for the result. I'm half hoping for a rejection now!

 

They will call just the hotels. And if the hotel says that we paid for the night but didn't show up, I think that would look very suspicious. We don't want to be hunted down by national security agents. 

Can one of you stay at the hotel to keep the presence and then your wife could go solo? I understand it’s a lot of pressure but, just another thought. 

[BenNomad 89]

21 minutes ago, ah-no said:

Can one of you stay at the hotel to keep the presence and then your wife could go solo? I understand it’s a lot of pressure but, just another thought. 

I did consider that actually. My wife and I discussed every possible option and we ruled out her going alone to Warsaw. Way too complicated and stressful for her. Besides that, I had to put her name as the guest on all the hotel reservations in order to apply for the Schengen, and the bookings are in hotels all over Greece. I've already cancelled the medical exam in Warsaw, and the hotel reservations there. I had also booked a nice mini-vacation to take us out of Warsaw for the four days between the med exam and the interview, and that turned out to be non-refundable unfortunately. ouch

 

If we had just not had the bad luck of applying to that one particular consulate, the whole thing would have worked out beautifully I think. It is possible to get a Schengen and get to Warsaw in time, but you really just get one chance and then time is up. 

 

 

[BenNomad 89]

As a follow-up to this thread, my wife did in the end get the Schengen visa for Greece, single-entry with a 17-day validity. It took two weeks to get it. And the visa will get voided as soon as the Greek consulate in Novorossiyk learns that we've cancelled all the hotel reservations and airline tickets (for reasons stated earlier). I'm going to meet my wife and kids in Turkey instead, and so we will finally be together again 🙂 after almsot three months apart!

[Pirozhok 13]

On 7/28/2023 at 2:41 AM, BenNomad said:

What happens if your Schengen visa expires and you're still waiting for Warsaw to give the passport back?

 

I'm curious if anyone has a good answer to this specific question? It seems like with visa windows shortening and the US visa process being so open-ended with timeframes, it's had to come up before, right?

[ah-no 27]

On 12/29/2023 at 3:04 PM, Pirozhok said:

 

I'm curious if anyone has a good answer to this specific question? It seems like with visa windows shortening and the US visa process being so open-ended with timeframes, it's had to come up before, right?

You either demand they return the passport or overstay your visa. The consequences for overstaying a visa can be found online. 

[PG0305 1]

Just posted about this in another thread but can anyone offer advice on getting a Schengen visa appointment? Our visa interview in Poland is scheduled for mid July, we have plane tickets and hotels booked but upon looking for Schengen appointments at the Spanish visa center in St. Petersburg this weekend, I saw that there were absolutely none available.

Are there certain times of the week/month that we should look? On their site, it says that they take walk ins but I'm not sure about that.

Can anyone offer any guidance on other countries to apply to? Worst case scenario, we can try to get the case transferred to another country (hopefully it won't have to be Israel with the fighting going on there).

[TBoneTX 45,591]

Third post on this topic has been removed.  Everyone sympathizes with you, and help will come, but please post only once on the same topic.   

[rikko 93]

13 hours ago, PG0305 said:

Can anyone offer any guidance on other countries to apply to? Worst case scenario, we can try to get the case transferred to another country (hopefully it won't have to be Israel with the fighting going on there).

Israel accepts Russian cases regularly, and are back to normal processing as of January 2024. 

Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan sometimes accepts transfers, but they are less likely to.

Serbia/Armenia not very likely iirc

[PG0305 1]

20 minutes ago, rikko said:

Israel accepts Russian cases regularly, and are back to normal processing as of January 2024. 

Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan sometimes accepts transfers, but they are less likely to.

Serbia/Armenia not very likely iirc

Thank you for your response! What should be included in the request email? I was thinking I would include:
Applicant name, passport number, case number and then a quick sentence explaining that I would like to transfer my case.

s there anything else?

[rikko 93]

1 hour ago, PG0305 said:

Thank you for your response! What should be included in the request email? I was thinking I would include:
Applicant name, passport number, case number and then a quick sentence explaining that I would like to transfer my case.

s there anything else?

You really have to sell that you have to transfer. If you just ask it's almost guaranteed they will say no. Jerusalem did not accept my case transfer until our situation became kind of dire and on the 3rd attempt to transfer.

Provide a short statement about the impossibility of getting to Warsaw legally for you, or without committing fraud. Provide proof you need the transfer.

[BenNomad 89]

8 hours ago, PG0305 said:

Thank you for your response! What should be included in the request email? I was thinking I would include:
Applicant name, passport number, case number and then a quick sentence explaining that I would like to transfer my case.

s there anything else?

Besides a genuine life/death situation, proving your need for a transfer is not easy. Having a Schengen visa denial is good proof that you can't get to Warsaw. It might also help to describe your case briefly, like what documental proof you have of relationship, lack of prior marriages, etc. I think the simpler your case is, the more likely an embassy will be willing to accept your transfer request. I don't know for sure, but I think it may have helped in my situation. 

 

But before putting too much hope in getting a transfer, try your best to get to Poland. Research the Forum Vinskogo site for tips on getting a Schengen visa. It's a huge site and you could literally spend days reading it, but it's organized by country and the threads related to getting visas are at the top of each country's section.