Schengen tourist visa refused due to date mismatch. Can I appeal for reconsideration?

Question

My Schengen tourist visa was rejected by the German Consulate, Chennai stating that my date of flying from Chennai to Berlin (02-Nov-13) is not the same as the starting date of leave approval from my office (06-Nov-13).

But my company has sanctioned me leave considering the fact that 02-Nov-13 to 5-Nov-13 are office holidays.
I wouldn't blame the consulate because they wouldn't know that and they consider mismatching dates to be a discrepancy.

Now, what could I do?
Shall I appeal for a reconsideration without paying the visa fee again? If yes, how do I do that? And also, what is the probability that they would reconsider again?

Or, shall I reapply fresh again with a correction in my leave letter from the office? I have sent a mail to the consulate but they haven't replied.

Answer 1

Ah, German nitpicking... Willkommen in Deutschland!

But have no fear, since this is Germany there's a well-defined process for appealing. The German Embassy in Manila, Philippines has a useful fact sheet about how to apply for a "remonstration against" (their term!) the visa rejection, and I'm sure more or less the same process applies for the Chennai consulate. Quoting the relevant bits:

You can remonstrate only in writing, and your remonstration must contain the following details:

• Your name, first name, date of birth, place of birth, and the number of your passport
• The date your application was rejected
• A serviceable address that contains the street name, house- or apartment number, City/ Town/ Village, postal code, if applicable: please state your e-mail address
• The remonstration must be signed by your own hand (a remonstration by a third party e.g. your sponsor, can only be accepted and processed if you have given your sponsor a power of attorney, which is submitted with the remonstration).

And

If you applied for a visa of the category „C“ (Schengenvisa), the deadline for filing the remonstration is one (1) month after your received the letter of rejection.

You can submit by mail, fax or e-mail, but if e-mail, you have to send in a scan of a printed letter with your signature.

And obviously the better you can explain the discrepancy (a revised letter and/or note from your office should do nicely), the higher the chances of success.

Incidentally, if your remonstration also fails you can apparently try once more with the High Court in Berlin, but that's probably a bit overkill for a tourist visa...

Answer 2

The Chennai German consulate was my worst Schengen visa experience. After being issued several tourist Schengens over the years from Austria, Norway, Switzerland, and Germany as well, mine was returned in April this year without any clear reason. After a weird telephone conversation with a guy named Schneider (he sounded skeptical that anyone would want to visit Germany for pleasure!), I was told to resubmit (and pay the visa fee again) along with some irrelevant information.

As the consulate very helpfully retained all my docs, I had to reprint them (luckily I am self-employed, so did not have to get letters again from my employer etc.). It was granted immediately, don't know whether they are just desperate for the extra visa fees! KEEP A COPY OF EVERYTHING BEFORE SUBMITTING!

If you are planning a vacation, I'd recommend visiting Austria or Norway instead (or additionally), a nicer destination, and Munich is a stone's throw from Salzburg/Oslo anyway.