4

I have had a Schengen visa stamped on my passport twice, once from France and once from Germany but, on both occasions, it was just for 2 weeks, which was my duration of stay.

I plan to visit Iceland this time and will be applying for Schengen again. However, as I plan to continue travelling in Europe, I want a longer duration visa, for a year or more.

Is it possible that I would be granted a longer duration tourist visa, so that I don't have to apply again and again? What can I do to make this happen?

7
  • 3
    Generally that happens when you build up a long history of successful visits (no incidents, no overstays) and your finances at the time of application looks good. First you get extra validity, so you can adjust the time of your visit but not extend it, then you get more entries.
    – o.m.
    Jul 22, 2017 at 16:28
  • 1
    @o.m. why not make that an answer, potentially expanding a little?
    – mts
    Jul 22, 2017 at 19:39
  • 1
    @mts, I'm pretty sure there is an answer like that, so the answer would be a duplicate. Hence a comment.
    – o.m.
    Jul 23, 2017 at 9:09
  • 1
    Officially, long multiple-entry visas are only to be issued when "the applicant proves the need or justifies the intention to travel frequently and/or regularly, in particular due to his occupational or family status, such as business persons, civil servants engaged in regular official contacts with Member States and EU institutions, representatives of civil society organisations travelling for the purpose of educational training, seminars and conferences, family members of citizens of the Union, family members of third-country nationals legally residing in Member States and seafarers". Jul 23, 2017 at 19:29
  • 1
    (Visa Code, article 24.2). It will be difficult to satisfy that for plain tourism, I think. Jul 23, 2017 at 19:30

1 Answer 1

3
+50

Different countries are handling the duration of your visa differently. Currently Spain is (still) very easily handing out multiple entry visas with a duration of upto 6 months. Other countries are way stricter.

It also depends where you are from. If you are from a country where people often overstayed or even tried to stay permanently, it will be way more difficult to get a longer duration visa.

General tips: it would help if you are working with a company which has offices in some european countries and if you could provide documents stating that you would like to socialize (i.e. "meet") with colleagues on a private basis. Also providing a more or less detailed plan of your trip when applying at the consulate does also help.

Good luck!

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .