Timing is the part of a Schengen visa application that catches most people out. Apply too late and there are no appointments left; apply too early and you can’t submit at all. Here is how the rules work and how to plan around them.
The official rules
- Earliest: six months before the start of your trip.
- Latest: 15 calendar days before you travel.
- Decision time: usually 15 calendar days from your appointment. It can be extended to 30 days, and up to 45 days if the consulate needs more documents or checks.
These rules apply to every Schengen country, including France, Spain, Italy and Portugal.
Why six to eight weeks is the sweet spot
The 15-day minimum is a legal limit, not a recommendation. In the UK the real constraint is appointment availability. Visa centres in London, Manchester and Edinburgh get busy from April to August and again from late October to mid-December. If you start six to eight weeks before your trip, you have time to book an appointment, wait for a decision and fix any problem before you travel.
A simple countdown
- 8–10 weeks before: decide your main destination, check your passport and UK visa dates, and book your appointment.
- 6–8 weeks before: get your documents together: bank statements, employer letter, insurance, flight and hotel reservations.
- Appointment day: hand in your documents, give your fingerprints and pay the fees.
- 2–3 weeks later: collect your passport. Check the visa sticker straight away – the dates, the number of entries and the “duration of stay”.
Things that slow your application down
- Peak seasons. Summer holidays, Easter, Christmas and New Year.
- Public holidays in the UK and in the destination country, when consulates close.
- Missing documents. A request for more documents restarts the wait.
- Your passport is with the consulate. You can’t travel abroad while your visa is being processed, so plan other trips around it.
Check your UK permission to stay
Your UK residence permission should usually stay valid for at least three months after you return from the Schengen Area. If your UK visa is due for renewal, sort that out before applying for the Schengen visa.
Travelling often?
If you travel to Europe regularly and have used your previous Schengen visas correctly, you may be given a longer, multiple-entry visa. Apply with your full travel history and copies of your previous visas to make the case.
Let us handle the timing
We track appointment availability every day and can usually find you an earlier slot than the first one shown online. Pick a time from our appointment calendar on any country page, such as France, Spain, Italy or Portugal, and we’ll take it from there.
