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I applied for a schengen visa, to attend some interviews in Germany. I am a doctor, and a recruiting agency is arranging all the interviews. They provided me with an invitation letter, stating they would pay for my accommodation and expenses in Germany.

I submitted this letter with other documents; I had hotel confirmation from booked.com.

My visa was rejected due to three reasons.

  1. Justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not provided
  2. The information submitted regarding the justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not reliable
  3. No proof of accommodation

What does it mean - was my invitation letter not good, or was it that the company just stated they would pay for accommodation and did not actually provide the proof of accommodation?

I can get a detailed invitation letter stating where my interviews will be, and also proof of accommodation. Is there anything else required? I'm sure no company that invites a person would give me their bank statement.

Any input will help me a lot.

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    Point 2 seems to contradict point 1, but I read it as "we don't trust the recruiting company" -- can you can individual letters from the hospitals your going to? Also, did all your dates match up (i.e. schedule matches accommodation dates matches entry/exit dates).
    – SpaceDog
    Sep 18, 2014 at 6:14
  • @spacedog, Thanks for your reply, I share the same feeling as you do. I think the company was at fault. There invitation letter just stated we invite so and so for interview and pay for his accommodation and his travel expense. no dates mentioned nothing. That is why I have asked them to give detailed invitation letter, dates included also to add letters from hospital to confirm that they invite me to interview and lastly to give me proper proof of accommodation.Now do you think that should be enough.apart from that my bank statement shows there is more than 30000 euros anytime.insurance done. Sep 18, 2014 at 6:33
  • And also can Some one tell me what type of visa should I apply, business or tourist visa. Sep 18, 2014 at 8:54
  • Hey guys, I called the embassy and they said I need to apply for business visa. Now the thing can I show my financial documents or should I produce the financial document of the company. I feel it is not nice to ask a company give me ur bank statement. Please throw some light on this issue Sep 18, 2014 at 17:14
  • I agree with @SpaceDog. While reading your question before i read his comment i was almost thinking "he got scammed by the recruitment company". Even if it is not actually a scam, many of these recruitment companies are only after a good commission, they can be efficient (or not) at finding good candidates, but they are rarely expert at handling international matters. You may be better off trying to get a visa by yourself. If it is only for a short trip for interviews, and if your own finances can cover it, just provide your own documentation.
    – Hoki
    Sep 19, 2014 at 20:11

2 Answers 2

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First I am a Doctor, of Indian origin. I had some interviews in Germany, and the interviews were being organised by a recruitment company. They were taking care of my accommodation and my transportation. They had sent me an invitation letter stating "we invite so and so for interview and we provide accommodation and transport". They had not mentioned the dates nor had they mentioned exactly where they were providing me accommodation, so my visa was rejected. The reason was justification for the intended stay was not provided, the document given for justification was not reliable and lastly proof of accommodation was not provided.

What I did right the second time was: I asked the company to write a detailed invitation letter mentioning the dates of invitation, and also to mention exactly where they give me the place to stay. Also I asked them to tell about the company in the invitation letter and lastly to give the contact number of the person whom they can contact.

From my side, I wrote a detailed letter (it was 3 pages long). I had mentioned every small details. When I wrote I was constantly thinking what the visa officer will be questioning. So a detailed covering letter mentioning every detail about the trip. Along with it I gave my bank statement and provided 4 separate documents to prove that I am leaving the Schengen Area.

They gave me a visa for 90 days even though I had asked only for 32 days and they gave it me in 24 hours.

So moral of story, write a really good covering letter and think of every small detail and provide proof of justification. I hope this helps people who faced or will face my situation.

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    Thanks for coming back to share that! This could also be a good answer to your original question…
    – Relaxed
    Sep 25, 2014 at 18:22
  • Hey who ever merged my answer to the original question...thanks mate I had no idea how to do it...thank you for making it clear...regards Sep 26, 2014 at 18:40
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I am in Germany now. I come back to this website to see if I can help anyone. Because when I needed help i got a lot of info on how to do the write things.

I want to write on what the invitation letter must contain, because my visa was rejected mainly as the invitation letter was deemed not reliable.

If you can speak to the company which is providing you the invitation letter then ask them these things that need to be included if you want to apply for business visa.

  1. the letter should be on official letter head.
  2. it should clearly mention your name as the person who is being invited.
  3. the dates should be clearly mentioned. The day when they want you to be in Germany and the day when they are sending you off.
  4. if accommodation is provided clearly write where it is provided. In my case the company gave me the house they owned for me to stay. They mentioned the address of the house clearly and stated I will be staying there throughout the desired period.
  5. ask the company to state the reason why you are being invited.
  6. If possible the company can give 2-3 lines about what they basically do and why you are being invited. For me I think this helped me a lot as the consulate gave me 90 days visa even though I had asked for 30 days visa.
  7. if additional things like transportation and food is being provided ask that to be mentioned clearly.
  8. Last but not least ask the company to provide the details, including contact address, phone number and email id of the person whom they can contact or u will be in contact when you reach Germany. They call this "Ansprechpartner". This is a must if you want your visa.

I hope this is of some use to people who are seeking for business visa.

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