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I hold an Indian passport and am working/living in Kuwait (on a residence permit). I have an active multiple-entry Schengen visa (short stay/tourist) that will expire on Sep 1. This was a 1-year visa granted by NL Embassy. Also, this was my second Schengen visa (previously had a 45 day single entry visa from Italy in 2015)

I utilized this visa to make three trips to EU in the last 9 months (port of entries being - Amsterdam, Spain and Germany). In addition, I also covered France, Belgium and Italy - although there is no proof as there aren't any border controls!).

I have an upcoming trip to Greece in Sep and was wondering if I will get another multiple entry Schengen visa for 1 year or longer this time? I was told that they look at your previous travel history (in addition to proof of funds and return ticket) to grant you long duration visa.

This being my 3rd Schengen visa application, how bright are my chances of getting another 1-year (or longer) multiple-entry visa this time? Is there a way I can present my intent of future travel to the Greek Embassy (VFS actually) to strengthen my application?

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Probably not too bad, even though it's all very speculative and there are no guarantees. Unfortunately, if you look at the statistics, the Greek consulate in Kuwait seem a little more stingy than other consulates in the same country.

The Netherlands, Germany, France, and even Austria seem much more generous. One strategy could therefore be to postpone your Greece holiday and visit Austria (assuming you are not interested in going to France or Germany again). However, do not cook up some fake itinerary just to get the visa if your real intent is to go to Greece. That's a dangerous strategy and could backfire badly, annihilating the great history of compliant travel you have been building in the last few years.

But you should not put too much weight on such statistics. In theory, visa decisions depend more on your circumstances than anything else and differences between consulates could also result from the type and quality of application they receive. Importantly, short of a compelling professional reason to visit the Schengen area regularly, there isn't much you can do to strengthen your case (beside having a reasonably strong application, which seems to be the case given your past successes in securing visas).

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  • Thank you for the link to the excel file - its really useful to understand the trends. If I understand correct (referencing to the Schengen visa handbook and past experience), if you present an itinerary for a single country, you 'typically' get a single entry/short term visa. However, if you have multiple countries planned, there is a possibility for a longer duration and multiple entry visa being given.
    – TheYoungMunk
    Jul 17, 2017 at 11:10
  • Though I intend to visit only Greece in this trip, I have plans for Denmark (Jan) and Switzerland (June). That's the primary reason I want a long term/multiple entry visa.
    – TheYoungMunk
    Jul 17, 2017 at 11:18
  • @TheYoungMunk Actually, repeated visits to the same country is the main purpose of multiple-entry visas. But they can also be issued to trusted travellers (not having to evaluate each application saves money to the consulate). For multiple trips to different country, it's a bit of a grey area, they can also issue such a visa but they don't have to.
    – Relaxed
    Jul 17, 2017 at 11:29
  • I got my passport back from the German Embassy yesterday. To my utter dismay, they have given me a 30-day multiple entry visa only. What could be the reasons for NOT giving me a longer duration visa? I have been racking my brain and could only think 2 things: is it because of my travel insurance (which was for one-month) or is it because German embassy is strict? I could provide a 6-month valid travel insurance, which is linked to my credit card, but the German embassy rules expressly dis-allows any credit card linked insurance to be submitted.
    – TheYoungMunk
    Aug 3, 2017 at 7:01
  • @TheYoungMunk Travel insurance for subsequent trips is explicitly not required when applying for a multiple-entry visa, the only requirement is travel insurance for the first trip. So that should not be the reason, in principle. But generally speaking, there is no compelling reason to issue a multiple-entry visa (MEV). Many embassies do it, which is why I thought your chances were not too bad but as I mentioned before, MEV are mostly intended to cover repeated visits to a single country.
    – Relaxed
    Aug 3, 2017 at 7:31

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