I am a non-EU national living in the UK and applying for a Schengen visa. I would like to visit Switzerland and applied through TLS Contact - which is the standard way to apply in the UK. Among their list of documents required is
Copy of transport documentation with applicant’s name as passenger - by plane confirmed booking with airline booking reference number
The TLS center representative confirmed that without a confirmed booking, the file would be considered incomplete. This is also mentioned on the Swiss embassy website
I have applied for Schengen visas before (at Asian embassies) and they only required an itinerary, not confirmed tickets. Any advice on what to do in this case? Book the flights and take the risk or is there a better option?