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My sister’s visa application to Austria was recently rejected, and I’m seeking advice on how to proceed with an appeal. Here are the details:

Application Details: I submitted an EVE (Elektronische Verpflichtungserklärung) and stated that I would sponsor all her expenses. My bank statement, which I provided to the authorities, shows sufficient funds, and I have a stable income. Reason for Rejection: The rejection letter cited insufficient financial means on the applicant’s part. Additional Context: A day before the rejection, we called the embassy twice for an update, and the staff member seemed very upset. The next day, the visa was rejected. Could the calls have influenced the decision? What should I focus on when submitting an appeal to ensure a better outcome this time? here is the rejection letter enter image description here

enter image description here

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    Have you provided any evidence of ties to her home country? You seem to be the one paying for her trip, from what you described she has no job to return to, no family, no obligations back at home, and no finances of her own. Basically, she's coming to live with you. What exactly did you expect to happen?
    – littleadv
    Commented Aug 12 at 6:18
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    Family ties meaning her kids? Or her aunt and 50 cousins? Sorry, but if she has no reason to go back other than some teaching job and she has a filthy rich brother willing to sponsor her in Austria - I wouldn't approve such a visa request either.
    – littleadv
    Commented Aug 12 at 6:27
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    I doubt any of the staff members at the embassy are petty enough that your calls influenced the outcome. Just assume they didn't. Appeals are for cases with obvious errors, I don't see any indication of that, and thus no reason for an appeal. If she really wants to go to Austria, (make her) address the issues behind the rejection and apply again. And just to make it clear: No matter who she has as a sponsor, she still has to fulfil the requirements herself. Commented Aug 12 at 9:24
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    Do you also reside in Pakistan or in Austria?
    – Relaxed
    Commented Aug 12 at 9:29
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    @Relaxed Agreed, given this type of question is posted fairly frequently I wonder if a community wiki perhaps based on your answer and this would be a good idea :-)
    – Traveller
    Commented Aug 12 at 10:13

1 Answer 1

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The problems seem much deeper than insufficient financial means. Remember that any of the reasons provided is enough to refuse the visa, the fact that the consular officer checked several boxes means that you have several issues to address and it will be all the more difficult to reverse this decision in the short-term. In particular, they deemed that

  1. The information provided regarding the justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not reliable.

In other words, they do not believe your sister's intentions regarding her trip to the Schengen area and why she wants to go there. They might even suspect some of the documents you submitted are not genuine. You can read some info about that in Schengen Visa Refusal: Justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not reliable but in general it's a pretty broad reason and one that's difficult to overcome for a private trip.

  1. There are reasonable doubts as to the reliability of the statements made as regards on your economic ties to home country as well as on the origins of the financial means.

This goes into the financial means aspect. You already submitted your bank statements and evidence of your income so there is nothing obvious you could do to support her application. Instead, the refusal seems to be about your sister's financial means and her ties to the country, basically whether she is wealthy or not. You can pay for her trip if you want but it doesn't really matter, that's not what the consulate cares about.

You said you would “sponsor” her and that's a term we read a lot but that's not really the way it's supposed to work in the Schengen area. Sponsorship is only for visits to people who reside in the Schengen area and exempts you from booking a hotel. It doesn't replace showing that your sister could afford the trip on her own and has strong reasons to come back to Pakistan.

From your comments, it seems you already submitted evidence of her job and income so apparently this job wasn't enough to convince the consulate. In fact, all this could even have worked against her as, unlike spouses, adult siblings aren't necessarily expected to pay for each other's expenses. If she needs to rely on your money or maybe has family in Europe, it makes her look like someone who risks trying to stay in the Schengen area (illegally) after their visa has ended.

  1. There are reasonable doubts as to your intention to leave the territory of the Member States before the expiry of the visa.

That may be the most difficult reason to overcome. The consular officer explicitly draws the conclusion I mentioned earlier. Practical ways to overcome this is to show a history of travel to other countries, preferably richer countries or maybe having a husband and kids but if that's not the case for your sister, there is very little she can do to get a visa.

It's also a bit of a catch-22, as if you appeal and apply repeatedly, you will appear desperate to go to Austria, which agains calls your intent into question. As unfair as it is, there are many people who simply cannot get a Schengen visa because of their personal situation (age, wealth, etc.)

Could the calls have influenced the decision?

Maybe, depending on what you said, but it's hard to believe that it would have been decisive. Conversely, it's very unlikely a call could help in any way. The refusal rate in Islamabad is high and this sounds like an open-and-shut case from the perspective of the consular officer, not something that was decided on some small incidental information.

What should I focus on when submitting an appeal to ensure a better outcome this time?

I am not familiar enough with Austrian law to know if an appeal is the right procedure but it might already be doomed on purely procedural grounds. Even if you can submit new evidence, the refusal seems to be based on your sister's personal situation and this will always be difficult to overcome in the short-term.

There is a lot of information you didn't provide and in general I think appeals are best left to lawyers but my main advice at this point is to take time to consider everything that's been mentioned in this Q&A and avoid getting too much hopes that your sister will be able to visit Austria in the short-term.

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  • Thankyou for the explanation , just to be clear the austrian sponsorship information is a bit different , just for your reference: oesterreich.gv.at/themen/menschen_aus_anderen_staaten/… and i live in austria Commented Aug 12 at 11:21
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    @Novice_Developer No, it's exactly what I had in mind. If you live in Austria then it makes sense, I wasn't sure from your question. The official sponsorship helps establish the purpose and accommodation but still doesn't exempts an examination of your sister's own financial situation.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Aug 12 at 11:50

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