The visa form is the part of a document package taken least seriously and the part that causes the most trouble. A person gathers all the certificates over weeks, then fills the form in half an hour and sends it off. Yet the consul reads the form first, and a contradiction seen there lowers the value of the whole package. Below I have written the most repeated mistakes.
The name and passport details on the visa form
The given name and surname must be letter for letter the same as the Latin spelling in the passport. Azerbaijani letters are not used here, that is, it is copied exactly as written in the passport. Even a difference of one letter causes the document to be sent back.
In the place of birth box the name of the city is written in the passport’s form. When writing the passport number, do not forget the series letter. Show the issue and expiry dates in the format the form requires, that is, in the order of day, month, year.
Date and route mistakes on the visa form
The most common mistake is this: the entry date on the form does not match the date on the ticket. The second is that the length of stay is more or less than the number of nights on the hotel booking. The third is the country of first entry being shown wrongly.
Before filling in those three boxes, put the ticket, the booking and the insurance documents in front of you and fill them all in with the same dates. Five minutes of this work prevents weeks of delay later.
Past visas and refusals
The form asks whether you have had a visa before and whether you have had a refusal. Hiding a refusal is the gravest mistake, because in the Schengen system all applications are kept in a common database and the check takes a few seconds.
Writing the fact of a refusal honestly does not automatically weaken the application. Hiding it and being caught, though, is assessed as false information, and that produces a heavier consequence. If fingerprints have been given, show the date as well.
Read more: A visa for Poland: how to book the e-Konsulat appointment and how to avoid the category mistake
After filling in the form
Before submitting, look away from the screen and read the form once more, ideally the next day. Most mistakes appear precisely on the second reading. Print it and sign it; in some countries a signature is required on every page.
Keep a copy yourself, because the questions at the interview come from it. If you find it difficult to fill the form in yourself, use a professional visa document service. The official form templates are set out on the European Commission site.
In one sentence
The visa form is filled in quickly but checked most carefully, and a contradiction shows up there. Copy the name from the passport, compare the dates with the ticket, do not hide a past refusal. To check the form together, fill in the application form.
Note: the form and the requirements vary by country, so read the official instructions before filling it in.
