I am an Indian citizen and I will be traveling to Sweden to give an interview. The interviewing organisation has provided me with an invitation letter stating my purpose of travel and that they will bear all cost of my travel and stay, but the checklist on VFS website for Business visa mentions that I need a document from my current organisation for travel to Sweden (point 7 here https://www.vfsglobal.se/india/pdf/BUSINESS-AND-CONFERENCE-VISA-CHECKLIST.pdf). Though my current organisation was able to provide this letter but since I couldn't tell them that I am going for an interview they have written the purpose of travel on that document as "leisure travel". Will this cause any problem in the visa process? If it could cause a problem, can I leave out this document altogether, as I have all other documents in place?
1 Answer
Don't take the checklist all too seriously. It's there to make sure nothing will be forgotten (by you or by the consular worker examining your application) by accident -- it's not a rigid list of inflexible requirements. Once the checklist has made you (and the consular worker) think explicitly about the possibility of providing such-and-such document and make a reasoned decision on whether that makes sense in your circumstances, the checklist has done its job.
What the consular officers really care about is whether the totality of your application tells a coherent story. In your case it sounds eminently reasonable that you would submit documentation from the prospective employer you're interviewing with, as well as documentation from your current employer who thinks you're going on vacation.
The purpose of the document from your current employer is not to be proof of the purpose of your journey, merely to document that you have a reasonable expectation of still having a job at home when you return. This is evidence that you'd want to return rather than stay in Europe as an illegal immigrant, nothing more.
And reasonable consular workers know that you'll have excellent reasons not to tell your current employer that you're looking elsewhere.
If you feel particularly uncomfortable about the apparent discrepancy between the document, it should be easily enough to add a short explanation in the list of enclosures you provide in the application, something like:
- Letter from my current employer XYZ confirming leave.
Note: They do not know I'm interviewing with PQR, so they think I'm going on a tourist trip.
This should ward off any risk that the documents confuse the consular officer. And there's no reason whatsoever why you might be accused of lying to the consulate, which is what matters.
