REASONS YOUR VISA WAS DENIED

VISA APPLICATION DENIED: Now this is the bad news.

Financial Instability: This is a very common reason most consulate officers give if no concrete reason was found in your visa application that suggests that you’re a genuine traveler. This particular reason is used to deny most applicants in most parts of Africa, India, Pakistan, etc. Typically in continents that face economic hardships. Other reasons that might cause your application denial can be:

Presenting an expired passport. Your passport should have at least 3 to 6 months to expire. Presenting a passport with very little or no space for a visa sticker could also lead to your visa denial. Interestingly, your visa application can be denied because you submitted a terribly bad-looking passport. A passport is a travel document and should be taken good care of. A torn, bad-looking passport shows you do not take things seriously. Consulate offices do not give visas to just anybody.

Applied to the wrong state: In the Schengen visa applications, you could be denied because you applied to the wrong country. Say you stated in your application that you’re visiting France, but you applied to the Spanish embassy because you thought they all belong to the Schengen state, your visa application will be denied. Do not despair if this is true in your case. This is quite easy to deal with. Just re-apply to the right embassy and state why you were refused a visa in the previous attempt. You should do a lot of reading and research about the country you want to visit. Try and part away with a few dollars to a travel agent for advisory services. Be in charge of your own application but seek advice from a professional travel agent if you get stuck halfway. They know what the embassies require.

Incomplete documentation: If you leave certain important details out of your application on which a decision can be made, your visa may be denied. It is very rare for the embassy to call you to submit a document you didn’t add to your application after submission. So do not leave things to chance. Unless you’re applying for a permanent residency of some sort, the embassy would not waste time calling you for missing documents. If you leave some documents like hotel accommodation and flight itinerary, or travel insurance (if applicable) out, your visa may be denied though these documents may look insignificant.

Conclusion

Well, I was about to say its almost impossible for your visa to be denied if all your documents check out, but then I remembered the African neurosurgeon who had traveled to Spain on several occasions and had even bought a ticket and was scheduled to be a speaker at a major health conference in Europe, who unfortunately had his visa denied. All things being equal, if all your documents check out, you should be good to go, however, if you believe in a Supernatural being, pray your application goes to a consulate officer who is in a good mood while working on your application. There is another theory that the embassies just want more visa fees hence more visa denials. Well, our office cannot verify that theory or assertion. So pray to “your” God as you apply.

Writer

Andy Pratt