Most Updated Schengen Visa Application to Visit Belgium for Indonesian

Are you thinking about applying for Schengen visa to visit any of European countries? You can refer to the following steps and tips. Oh, it's particularly for you Indonesian applying the visa to visit Belgium from Indonesia. 

1. Book an appointment

Considering the packed schedule of the appointment, you better book an appointment at VFS Global Application Center as soon as possible here. There are three centers available, in Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bali. Trust me, the slots in Jakarta and Surabaya are fully booked for the next two to three months. Even you need to pay for booking a slot there. Well, it makes sense due to the high demand. Therefore, I decided to book an appointment in Bali. It's free and I found a slot available at the earliest. In August, I received an invitation to be an interpreter at a congress on 2nd-5th of October in Belgium which means I needed a Schengen visa to go there. And, I could only apply for the visa on September 11th the earliest because I was in the UK for two months for a training there. So, more or less I had around 3 WEEKS ONLY for the whole process. Anyways, don't forget to printout the appointment letter that you've received in your mailbox. 

2. Prepare all required documents

I made a mistake here. Maybe because I was too busy, so I didn't spend some time to Google what documents required for the visa application. All that I had was the  documents that I received from the host organization there in Belgium such as 

- Invitation letter, where the organizer clearly mentioned my name to be invited for the purpose of doing an interpretation for Indonesian delegates at the congress. Here, it's also stated that all of my expenses, especially accommodation, transportation and meals are covered by the host organization. 

- Travel insurance, which states that during my visit in Belgium, I was covered by this insurance in case of any accidents or health problems. 

- Flight tickets, which indicates the flight I was going to take two ways, Indonesia <> Belgium. 

- Accommodation, that confirms where I was going to stay during the visit. Well, it's at the congress venue anyway, but still it requires a separate and direct letter of confirmation. 

3. Complete the application form

With those documents ready in hand, I started filling out the form online here. After completing the form, download it to print. It's mentioned on the page that we can apply for a Schengen visa for Belgium at the Netherlands' visa application locations in Indonesia. 

4. Attend the appointment

Get all documents printed on A4 paper, one sided and DO NOT STAPLE. Just leave them the way they are. Also, a physical PHOTO is NOT NECESSARRY, because it'll be taken there along with the our fingerprints. Oh, in Bali, the queue wasn't too long. 

After checking my documents, it turned out I missed some documents such as. 

- A copy of national identity card (KTP)

- A copy of family certificate

- Bank statements from last three months

Oh, I was asked about the employment contract, but I said that I didn't have any as I was a freelancer. If you have any, you better provide it to convince them. 

Because of the incomplete documents, I asked if I could come back later on the same day. Unfortunately, it's not possible. However, thank Goodness! The staff was really kind! He rescheduled my appointment to the next day. You know what? If he would, he could have just sent me home and let me book another appointment which I could not guarantee if any slot available was on the next day. 

I brought all required documents the next day. Interestingly in Bali, the payment for visa application (IDR 1.330.000,00 / EUR 80,00) is also with the SMS service (IDR 30.000,00) and courier (IDR 29.000,00) with the total of IDR 1.840.000,00 including 11% VAT. I asked if I could collect the passport  myself but the center highly recommends all applicants to have it delivered by their courier service instead. I was given numbers to track my application online as soon as my passport is being dispatched by the courier. Oh, you can make the payment in CASH, by QRIS, or via BANK TRANSFER, so don't worry!

We're going to leave our passport for the whole visa application process, so you better not travel abroad. 

5. Track your application online 

Before tracking the delivery of your passport here, what we can do is to track the application status online here,  and I did it almost everyday because I needed the passport as soon as possible and I wanted to make sure that there wasn't any problem in the application. Well, until the day it said it's being dispatched by courier on the page, no information at all anyway if it's approved or rejected. We're left hanging. 

6. Result

In the morning, the courier will let you know that your passport's going to be delivered on that day to make sure you're around to receive it. I couldn't wait to open it as soon as it arrived. This visa mattered a lot to me because it would take me to Europe for the first time. I found a  piece of paper saying that "You've been issued a visa ....", but I couldn't find the sticker. I panicked wondering if there's any problem. It turned out the sticker was put on a blank page at the first few pages of my passport instead of the back ones. Yeay! I got it. It's C category visa to reside in a Schengen Area for 15 days with a single entry only due to my business purpose. And guess what? When did I receive it? It's on 29th of Sept. Quickly, the organizer booked the flight for me to travel on the next day 30th of Sept. 

Applying for a visa can be daunting for some people. 

Take one step at a time. 

Make a list of what actions you need to take and what documents you need to provide. 

All the best! 

What You Need for UK Standard Visa Application

For anyone of you planning to go to the UK and need a visit visa, here is what you need to know. This information is based on my experience this year, January 2022.  

1. Prepare all required documents

Why is having all the required documents the first step? It's because when you fill out the form, there are some parts which need some information relevant to the required documents. The next question is, what are the required documents? Here are the categories. 

- Accommodation - Permanent/Temporary (I was planning to stay at a hotel, so I mentioned the hotel address. Or, maybe you can put your family/friend's address if you're staying there.)

- Financial Evidence (Actually, there's no specific information or guideline of how many previous months the bank statement must be provided. However, to be safe, I submitted the last six months of my bank statement. And again, to be more convincing, I uploaded my saving statement as well. Oh, I was working and staying in Malaysia at that time and I had saving in my Employees Provident Fund (KWSP).)

- Employment Evidence (For this one, I provided some documents. First, a letter verifying that I'm an employee and currently working at the company where I was working. Second, an acknowledgement from my company that my leave has been approved for the period of my planned visit to the UK. Luckily, my company has an online system to request for both documents. Last, the pay slips of course, of the last six months. Oh, I almost forgot. Since I hold Indonesian passport working in Malaysia and applying the visa there, I needed to show a copy of my active employment pass as a proof of my residence permit in Malaysia.)

- Consent Letters and Proof of Relationship (I was applying for this visa to visit my boyfriend and of course, we needed to prove our relationship. What  my boyfriend  did was to take some screenshots of our chats on WhatsApp chats. Well, not all of them. He took some parts from the first time we started talking in August 2020 until the moment before the visa application. I put all photos together into one PDF file to be submitted.)

- Educational Evidence (Just to make my application more convincing, I attached my master's degree certificate and IELTS result.)

- Sponsor Evidence (Luckily, my boyfriend is excellent in details, so he provided all required documents from him as my sponsor by himself such as an invitation letter, a copy of his passport, his bank statements in last six months, and his pay slips in last six months. My boyfriend created a folder in Google Drive named Siti Visa and put all those documents there for me to access. So, your sponsor better do the same thing.)

- Additional documents/ Others (My boyfriend wanted to make sure that this visa application would be successful, so he tried to provide more evidence of his support during my visit by giving a clear itinerary. Believe me, he wrote every single activity that we're going to to in every single day of my stay starting from my arrival to my departure leaving the UK. In addition to that, he ordered two together rail card and made details of the trip budget. For this, I went to a photo studio for a photograph and tried to get a dummy flight ticket. The funny thing was that I forgot to upload the dummy flight ticket, but still my visa application was approved. So, DUMMY FLIGHT TICKET does NOT GUARANTEE.)

Oh, please bear in mind that all documents must be in English. If any of your document is in any other language, you must have it translated to be submitted along with the original one. Also, you'll be advised to print out a Document Checklist for your own use to make sure that you have submitted all required documents. 

2. Fill out the form accordingly

As I said, it's easier to complete the form once you have all documents, even you can do it in one go. However, another alternative is to do both, filling out the form and preparing for the documents, at the same time. It's your choice. You can find the application here.

3. Booking an appointment

Interestingly, for this UK Standard Visitor Visa, you must have completed the application form before booking an appointment. As soon as you've completed the form, you'll be directed to the appointment page to book here. On this page, you'll offered some services such as courier, SMS, etc. You can find more details here. For me, I didn't take any service offered. It's all up to you though. If you think you need any of the service offered, you better take it. Oh during this appointment, because I uploaded all required documents in the application form, I didn't need to submit any printed documents anymore. All I had with me was my original passport. At the counter, the staff asked me the purpose of my visit and I simply answered "To have a short vacation there." That's all. After that, I waited for biometrics to be taken. Surprisingly, they took my photograph in the room, too. It turned out submitting a PHOTOGRAPH is NOT NECESSARY. 

4. Submit, sit back, and relax

After around 14 working days, you'll be notified by email if your passport is ready for collection. I didn't take any courier service, so I went to the VFS center to collect my passport myself. Oh, in the email, it's not mentioned if the application is approved or rejected. We can only find out once we've open the envelope given by the center. 

By the way, for this application, I hold Indonesian citizenship working and staying in Malaysia at that time, but I'm sure the overall requirements are more or less the same for across citizenships. 

Thank you for reading and all the best.