Sample of schengen visa rejection letter

If you have applied and been rejected for any Schengen visas, don’t worry— you have the right to an appeal. If your appeal is successful, you will receive a Schengen visa and be free to embark on your trip! The following blog will teach you how to write an appeal letter, and also contains a visa denial appeal letter sample for instructional purposes.

How to write an schengen visa rejection letter

• Ultimately, your appeal letter will be sent to the same country you originally applied for a Schengen visa from. For example, if you are an Egyptian citizen who applied for a Schengen visa to France via the French Embassy in Cairo, you will send your appeal letter there. 
• Regardless of where they submitted their application, everyone who applies for Schengen visas and is rejected will also be sent a formal rejection letter. This letter should provide instructions on how to submit an appeal, where to send it, etc. 
• Please remember that different countries have different appeal processes. Your specific process will be outlined in the visa rejection letter you received. 
• In addition to providing basic information about where to send your appeal, your rejection letter should also explain why your visa application was refused. The stated reason for your rejection is what you must contest in your appeal letter. 
• Your schengen visa rejection letter should therefore address why your visa was rejected and make a strong argument about why that specific reason is incorrect. 
• Please not that your argument should not be based on new information (i.e. information that you failed to provide on your original application). For example, if your visa rejection letter stated that you were denied because the consulate doesn’t believe you can financially support yourself in the Schengen area, you should not write about how you just received a salary increase that makes you more likely to afford your trip (even if this is true). Instead, you should go into detail about how you budgeted for your trip, and show concretely, how, using the facts and figures you originally provided, you are able to afford your all your travel, living, and supplemental expenses. 
• Schengen visa appeal letters should usually be written in the official language(s) of the country you are applying to (the majority of most consulates/embassies also accept English and occasionally other widely spoken European languages), but you should check with them on their preferred languages before writing your appeal. If you cannot write in English or any of the other official languages, you can write in your native language, so long as you provide a certified translation of your appeal letter. 
• Letters should be written using formal and polite language, and grounded in logical rather than emotional argument. 

Schengen visa appeal processing

• While different countries have different timelines for accepting appeals, in general, most countries will no longer accept an appeal letter for visa rejection after 30 days. This means that you have 30 days after receiving your visa rejection to submit your appeal. (Your specific timeline for submission should be outlined in your original visa rejection letter—some countries require a response within 15 days). 
• Depending on which country you are applying to, you may have to pay an appeal fee. Appeal payment fee information should be found on your visa rejection letter. 
• The Schengen visa appeal processing time can vary depending on the nature of your application and the country you are applying through.  
• In general, after receiving your appeal letter for visa rejection, a consulate will take under 60 days to come back with a response. 
• If your appeal was rejected, you should have the option of launching a second appeal, this time through the court system of the country you are applying through. Information on appealing a second time can usually be found in your appeal rejection letter, or via the website of the specific consulate you are applying through. 

Schengen visa denial appeal letter sample

[insert letter date]

[insert address of recipient] 

To Whom It May Concern, 

I am writing to appeal my Schengen visa rejection, which I received on [insert date]. I applied for a [insert type of Schengen visa you applied to] from [insert country where you applied for a visa to] on [insert date you submitted your application]. 

The visa rejection letter I received gave the following reason for refusing my application [insert  stated explanation for your rejection]. I believe that the consulate/embassy of [insert consulate/embassy you applied through] was wrong to reject my Schengen visa application, for the following reasons [insert why you feel your visa shouldn’t have been rejected].

Mindful of my legal and ethical responsibility to provide entirely truthful information on my Schengen visa application, I attest that this letter does not contain any falsehoods or exaggerations about my ability to [insert reason you were denied, such as: afford my trip, leave the Schengen area within the required period, etc].    

Please contact me if you have any further questions. 

Thank you so much, 

Sincerely, 

[Insert full name]

[insert email address] 

[insert cellphone number]