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I am a 28 year old, single male Indian citizen. I have a well-established, healthy business in India. I have a decent travel history to the UK, Vietnam and Thailand.

I want to attend the wedding of a friend in France. My Schengen visa applications got rejected 3 times in 3 months, twice from France and once from Spain, with the same reason for refusal — "information submitted is not reliable".

My applications contained legit documentation of all relevant information, including my travel history, business information, the invitation and a detailed itinerary, showing that I'll return to India. But still I have received the same sub-standard response.

Should I consider trying one more time as it is important for me to reach France to attend a important function? Also, if applying, should I state that I have been already refused 3 times?

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    The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Keep that in mind before you rush to get your 4th refusal.
    – nikhil
    Commented Jul 13 at 17:34
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    Besides, the more refusals, the more intense the checks on your application.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Jul 13 at 17:42
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    @SaranshSharma that’s pretty lousy advice. Op has already 3 rejections in the VIS. All Schengen countries will se me that, and it will look a lot like visa shopping. OP should apply if they have a good reason, not make up one just for the sake of getting a visa.
    – jcaron
    Commented Jul 13 at 22:34
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    @SaranshSharma The rejection rate might well be lower in certain Schengen countries but that doesn’t mean they’re not capable of spotting an obvious case of visa shopping.
    – Traveller
    Commented Jul 14 at 1:20
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    Hello everyone Thankyou for your comments. To answer all your questions a good profile means a well established business in my home country with healthy financial profile. I did prepare my documents with all the information needed . Cover letter with detailed itinerary. But I have been getting same sub standard response. It’s my friend wedding and I did provide all the evidences to show that I’ll return back to my country. It’s not window shopping the appointment dates are very hard to get and taking months due to peak season. Just wanted to attend his wedding otherwise I’ll not be bothered.
    – Falcon
    Commented Jul 14 at 6:08

3 Answers 3

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Every time you make a repeat application after a rejection (unless you make significant changes to the application) it increases the belief in the officers that you have some motive for getting into Schengen other than the one you state. Applying to different countries for the same event will also increase that belief. It is also true that unless your circumstances have significantly changed since you were rejected your next application will also be rejected. Officers will do this virtually automatically unless they see a significant change in your circumstances.

You should stop making Schengen applications. It is unlikely that you will make it to this function, and if you keep making these applications it will reduce your chances of one day being able to visit Schengen. Instead look carefully at possible reasons for your rejection. Increase your ties to your home country. Improve your financial circumstances. Visit some other countries.

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    @SaranshSharma like it or not, at this time, entering a foreign country is not a right, it remains a privilege that each country can grant or not grant to whichever person they want. If you want to enter that country, you have to convince them it’s good for them. You will either come to spend money as a legitimate tourist, or will come to create business opportunities, or you come to work for jobs the country needs. They don’t want people who come to take advantage of the better situation to the detriment of locals. So you have to prove you are a good fit. You don’t get to make the rules…
    – jcaron
    Commented Jul 13 at 22:31
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    I do have a travel history of UK and couple of other countries Dubai Vietnam and Thailand.
    – Falcon
    Commented Jul 14 at 6:16
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    @Falcon Please edit that info into the question. And what about finances and family ties?
    – DJClayworth
    Commented Jul 14 at 13:58
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    Not sure whether I'm reading to much into a single word, but OP wrote the rejection reason was 'information not reliable' which to me suggests that the issue is not that OP's situation is not good enough to grant a visa but rather that they don't believe it is as good as OP claims. So maybe OP should focus on better proof of their situation rather than improving the situation.
    – quarague
    Commented Jul 15 at 8:10
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    I suspect another issue is that at this point, an officer may be sceptical how desperately OP wants to go to this wedding. 4+ visa applications is a lot of hassle for a wedding of somebody who doesn't even seem to be close family. This may further increase the believe that OP has other motives for travelling to France.
    – xLeitix
    Commented Jul 15 at 9:17
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  • When you apply, the very first thing that will happen is that they will pull up your data from the Schengen Visa Information System (VIS) and will see that you have already applied three times to two different countries and have been rejected each time.

  • So they will start reviewing your application with a very sceptical point of view.

  • You say you have an important function in France, but have applied twice to France and once to Spain. Was that always for the same event? Obviously the application to Spain for an event in France is not good. And if you came up with a different event then it looks like you are just desperate and visa shopping.

  • Given the time scales it’s probably unlikely your reason was the same event each time. Again, if you absolutely need to attend event A but then absolutely need to attend event B and then absolutely need to attend event C (and now event D), that makes you look desperate and untrustworthy.

  • Did you actually address any of their concerns? What was the information you provided? Do you have a stable, well paid job? (Well paid by French or Spanish standards, not your local ones). Do you have a good reason to go back home? What was the reason for your visit? If it was business, did it actually match your job? If it was for tourism, did you have an itinerary and was the cost of it proportionate to your revenue? Do you have friends or family in the Schengen Area? Did you provide pay slips and bank statements?

  • What is “a good profile”? What is your job and your revenue and the evidence for it? What is a “decent travel history”? Have you ever traveled to the UK, US, Canada, Australia or Japan for instance?

Remember that you should put yourself in the shoes of a consular officer who reviews dozens of applications each day, with many of them (possibly a majority in some posts) just utter BS. You need to convince them your are a real, genuine visitor, and not someone just trying to emigrate, going under the radar as soon as you set foot in Europe to overstay and work illegally (or worse).

With the rejections you have as many red flags on your file. Unless there’s something very, very different (and real, of course) in your new application, it’s just a waste of time and money, and it will result in yet another red flag. The more you have the more difficult it is for you to overcome them.

If your situation is really that good, it should be easy to prove. If the reasons for your stay are legit, it should be easy as well.

I would not recommend you apply again for at least 5 years. If you really want/need to (for legitimate reasons), don’t do it unless someone experienced with this has reviewed your application. That means a good immigration lawyer (most likely in the destination country, not yours). That definitely does not mean any kind of “agency” who are only likely to make things even worse.

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    Excellent answer except for “If your situation is really that good, it should be easy to prove. If the reasons for your stay are legit, it should be easy as well.” which is a classic piece of just-world fallacy. Many visa régimes err strongly on the side of skepticism and strictness. The reasons are understandable, as you say, but nonetheless they are often very harsh, and visa applications become a guilty-until-proven-innocent process, so many applicants in good situations with legitimate motivations get denied anyway.
    – PLL
    Commented Jul 14 at 15:32
  • “(Well paid by French or Spanish standards, not your local ones)” — Is that really a realistic requirement? Several Schengen countries have some of the highest average salaries in the world, and vetting applicants based on whether their salary is well-paid according to the host country’s standards would result in rejection of all but the most affluent of travellers from many countries. Even a secure, well-paying, prestigious job in India, such as a general doctor, would be below the minimum living wage in Norway or Switzerland.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jul 16 at 9:01
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    @JanusBahsJacquet, if you earn more in your job at home than you can expect to make as an illegal immigrant that will be enough. But this does depend on your line of work.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Jul 16 at 9:59
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    @JanusBahsJacquet it seems to be very difficult to find any realistic figures for how much a GP is paid in India, numbers easily vary by a factor of 10 or more! But that proves the point: a doctor fresh out of school may be well-paid in their country, but is not necessarily a decent candidate for a visa in most European country. At 61000 INR (670 EUR)/month, the cost of a vacation in Europe is quickly disproportionate to their earnings. Of course circumstances vary (duration of stay, whether they're coming to visit family and thus have lower costs...), but it's definitely not a shoe-in.
    – jcaron
    Commented Jul 16 at 10:34
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    @jcaron ‘Cost of travel/stay in relation to earnings’ seems like a much more reasonably flexible measurement than just the host country’s wage levels.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jul 16 at 11:16
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Since the authorities' second most important worry is illegal immigration (the first being terrorism), the likely major problems which led to your rejection are

  1. No immediate family (wife, children).
  2. No steady employment.

Without a family and a job, the authorities perceive a greater risk that you might have too little incentive to return. You didn't say whether you own real estate in India (privately or for your business); that would be another strong tie. You also didn't mention whether you have sufficient funds (by European standards) to sustain yourself during your visit. This is sometimes a problem when visiting friends and being accommodated by them because the stay may become very cheap (no hotels, no restaurants, no transportation). That is good for you but suspicious to the authorities who think you'll need to work illegally to sustain yourself.

You could improve your situation by

  • Marrying
  • Getting a steady job (e.g. from an uncle)
  • Buying real estate in India (from the same uncle? But you'll need official proof)
  • Have a lot of money on the account tied to your credit card (borrow it from your uncle if needed)

Not sure about the time frame and hence feasibility of any of these points, but I'm fairly sure that these are the red flags.

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    Do NOT borrow money to show you have more in the bank than you actually own. We call this funds parking and visa officials are not taking this positively.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Jul 16 at 9:56
  • I'd upvote this answer if the "borrow the money" statement were deleted.
    – DavidRecallsMonica
    Commented Jul 16 at 15:52
  • Hi Peter thankyou for your kind advice . I do have a steady business. I do have real estate in my name . I do have LOTS of money in my bank account (not borrowed) sufficient enough to survive 2 weeks in Europe. Only not married.
    – Falcon
    Commented Jul 17 at 20:31
  • @Falcon I suppose that being an employee (the more white-collar and the more responsibility, the better) may in the eyes of an immigration officer be a stronger "anchor" than owning a business (which, for example, can be sold and may be easier to fake) even if the opposite is true in reality.
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Jul 18 at 5:29

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