Best country for Shengen visa?

[Mauricio & Iuliia 0]

Me and my Fiancée are trying to figure out which country Is the best to apply for shengen visa? We have our k1 visa interview in Poland next year February. Anyone have any good info on countries with good acceptance rate, low time to issue visa?

 

Thanks!

[Dashinka 24,418]

I would go look at the Russian/Ukraine/Belarus regional forum as there is a lot of current information dealing with this issue.  You can also report this thread using the three dots in the upper right to request a moderator to move this thread there.

 

Good Luck!

 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/98-russia-ukraine-and-belarus/

[powerpuff 6,613]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

You can also report this thread using the three dots in the upper right to request a moderator to move this thread there

I have moved this thread to Russia, Ukraine, Belarus regional forum 

 

1 hour ago, Mauricio & Iuliia said:

Anyone have any good info on countries with good acceptance rate, low time to issue visa?

I’ve read here some success stories with Greece, not sure how long it takes though.

[Dashinka 24,418]

1 minute ago, powerpuff said:

I have moved this thread to Russia, Ukraine, Belarus regional forum 

 

I’ve read here some success stories with Greece, not sure how long it takes though.

I also remember hearing Greece as a potential.

[BenNomad 88]

5 hours ago, Dashinka said:

I also remember hearing Greece as a potential.

Greece has potential only if your application is going to the consulates in St. Petersburg or Moscow. The consulate in Novorossiysk belongs to the People's Republic of Greece (I'm being sarcastic) and they will not let you travel to Poland. Found that out the hard way.... 

 

That one can know their interview date so far in advance is news to me. If we were given more time to get the Schengen visa, we would have applied for Italy. France is the most desired one but very difficult to get an appointment at the visa center. France and Italy will probably take about a month to process the visa and they are more likely to give you a bigger window for travel. Greece makes decisions quickly but they are tight with their travel windows.

 

Forum Vinskogo is the place to study the Schengen question in detail (in Russian) and you can get lost in that forum.....

[rikko 82]

Spain accepted us but only single-entry. We were also considering Greece and Italy but decided on Spain because of processing times.

[Pirozhok 13]

4 hours ago, rikko said:

Spain accepted us but only single-entry. We were also considering Greece and Italy but decided on Spain because of processing times.

 

I recognize you from the Jerusalem threads. Did you opt to transfer because Spain only granted a single-entry visa?

[rikko 82]

3 hours ago, Pirozhok said:

 

I recognize you from the Jerusalem threads. Did you opt to transfer because Spain only granted a single-entry visa?

Yes, it would've been illegal for us to go to Poland during the single entry stay and it was only viable had we been issued a multi entry visa. Since that was denied we had a pretty good argument to convince the Jerusalem embassy to accept a transfer, and I will always be grateful to Israel for accepting us. We had been trying to transfer before even attempting Schengen but no embassy was willing to let us transfer at that point, so we attempting the Schengen-to-Warsaw route others were taking.

[Mauricio & Iuliia 0]

I thought with single entry you could still travel to Poland, just not back to your original country of entry? So thats not the case?

[Pirozhok 13]

1 hour ago, Mauricio & Iuliia said:

I thought with single entry you could still travel to Poland, just not back to your original country of entry? So thats not the case?

 

And I thought single entry meant you could go to any of them, provided you didn't leave the Schengen territory.

[Pirozhok 13]

Open question to anyone trying the Schengen route to Poland: I haven't seen Hungary mentioned in these threads at all. Is there a reason that I've missed that's ruling them out as a potential entry point?

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,087]

20 hours ago, Pirozhok said:

 

And I thought single entry meant you could go to any of them, provided you didn't leave the Schengen territory.

I thought it was a single entry into the Schengen zone too (and am pretty sure it is, in fact).

[millefleur 5,046]

6 hours ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

I thought it was a single entry into the Schengen zone too (and am pretty sure it is, in fact).

Single entry means you can enter any country but if you enter from a different country than the issuer (i.e. Greece gave you the visa but you enter via Italy first) then the consulate that issued the visa frowns upon that and if they don't see any of their country's stamps in your passport, they may not issue you a second visa. The reason is because you'll only get 2 stamps: one entry and one exit, and consulates don't know if you truly visited their country or not unless you get the stamp. 

 

You can enter any Schengen country no matter which country issued the visa. You can also exit from any country inside of the Schengen zone.

 

[Mauricio & Iuliia 0]

I see, so can I enter Spain and then travel to Poland with a single entry visa? (Legally)

[millefleur 5,046]

29 minutes ago, Mauricio & Iuliia said:

I see, so can I enter Spain and then travel to Poland with a single entry visa? (Legally)

Yes exactly, that is what the Schengen zone is: border-free travel once you are inside. Single entry vs multiple entry should not change that, I'm not sure why @rikko thought otherwise. Unless Poland is forcing Russians to go through customs again?