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My girlfriend applied for a Schengen visa from France two days ago. Now she got an update asking her to provide a hotel confirmation. However we did provide this (through booking.com). It includes all required details like price, tax etc. The only thing is that we did not prepay the reservation. Does someone have experience with this? Or don't they accept confirmations through booking.com anymore? Their request is not really detailed.

the only details they gave us

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  • Some Shengen states do require the hotel be fully prepaid but they are mostly from the Eastern block, Poland, Czechia, etc. Never heard of that from France. Can you contact them and ask to clarify?
    – bipll
    Mar 20, 2018 at 22:57
  • Normally a Booking.com reservation should be enough. Perhaps you can contact the hotel directly and ask for a letter confirming your booking.
    – user58558
    Mar 22, 2018 at 6:12

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This is covered in Article 14 of Schengen Visa Code. The required item stated as:

(b) documents in relation to accommodation, or proof of sufficient means to cover his accommodation

The actual documents "in relation to accommodation" are explained in Annex II:

  1. for journeys undertaken for the purposes of tourism or for private reasons:

(a) documents relating to accommodation:

— an invitation from the host if staying with one,

— a document from the establishment providing accommodation or any other appropriate document indicating the accommodation envisaged;

So technically a booking.com reservation - while often accepted - is not an obvious case. Because booking.com doesn't provide accommodation, it is is up to the Consulate to decide whether it is "other appropriate document" or not.

However a reservation booked directly on the hotel website would certainly qualify as "document from the establishment providing accommodation", so this is an option for you.

Finally, your other option is to provide "proof of sufficient, "means to cover his accommodation", such as banking statement.

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    Thank you George! We figured something like this might be the case, we tried to get the confirmation directly from the hotel now. And submitted it yesterday, if this turns out to be sufficiënt we Should receive the visa in a few days. I guess it can also just depends on who is working at our case over at the consulate. Thank you for cleaning this up!
    – user74732
    Mar 22, 2018 at 7:17

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