Filling out an application for a Schengen visa to Finland

Correctly filling out the Finnish visa application form is one of the most important steps in obtaining a Schengen visa to Finland. In this post, we will analyze how to fill out a visa application form and avoid serious mistakes.

We will fill out the questionnaire online, because it is this option that the tourist is offered to use, both when submitting documents through the consulate, and through the VFS Global visa center.

The option of filling out by hand, of course, is possible, but it is not recommended to use it at the Consulate of Finland.

1. Online registration for filling out a visa application form for Finland.

So let's get started!

To start, let's go to Finnish Visa Application Center website. It is at this address that we will begin to fill out our application. There click on the button "TO FILL OUT THE VISA FORM, CLICK HERE".

Go to the login page. If you are doing everything for the first time, then you need to register a new user. To do this, click on "New user".

Enter information about the new user in Latin letters. The password for your account should be quite complex - contain letters of different registers, 1 number and one special character, such as "-+=". After you have entered all the information, press "Save".

We enter the login and password that were indicated during user registration, and proceed to the direct process of filling out the application form for a Finnish visa.

This is an online application form. In the top menu, you can start filling out a new questionnaire, upload an old one (you will need its identification number for this), or send the completed questionnaire to yourself by e-mail.

Also, in the process of filling out the questionnaire, you will be able to return to the previously completed sections if you need to edit them.

After you have filled in the section with your data and you need to move to a new one, to do this, click "Save and Continue". Just save the questionnaire in the process of work, too, should be as often as possible.

We proceed to the direct filling of the questionnaire. I will not describe all the points, but only those that may raise questions. All items must be filled in Latin letters.

1. Section "Personal data"

Past Surname- if you have not changed your last name, then you need to enter your current last name.

Country of birth- you need to indicate the country in which you were born. If you were born in the USSR, then you need to choose the option Soviet Union.

Family status- here you need to choose one of the options: Single- single, Divorced- divorced Married- married separated- lives separately with his wife, Widow- widower.

Minor (under 18)- If "Yes", then you need to fill in information about his guardians in the special fields that appear.

Subsection "Travel Document Data"

Travel document type- if you are an ordinary person, then choose the option Ordinary Passport. If you are a diplomat, then choose "Diplomatic Passport".

All other data is simply copied from the passport.

2. Section "Contact details"

After going to this section, your questionnaire will be assigned an identification number, which you will need to download the old questionnaire. Therefore, write it down, or take a screenshot of the screen with the number.

Applicant's address- here it is necessary to indicate the address of actual residence, even if it differs from the address of registration. The official address will need to be indicated in the field for additional information at the end of the questionnaire.

Phone number- specify the number with the country code without additional characters, for example, like this: 79823456780 . So indicate the rest of the phone numbers in the questionnaire.

Occupation- choose the option that suits you best. unemployed chooses "NO OCCUPATION", IP chooses "SELF-EMPLOYED", pensioner chooses PENSIONER, student/postgraduate/trainee chooses "STUDENT, TRAINEE".

Subsection "Employer Information" fill in carefully. It's easier to get all the information about your employer from the company's website.

3. Section "Previous visas to the Schengen countries"

This section brings together information about your current trip as well as your previous trips to the Schengen area.

Purpose of the trip- here we indicate why you are going to the Schengen zone. We have a website about tourism, so we indicate TOURISM.

Destination country- since we are going to get a Finnish visa, then we indicate here FINLAND.

State of first entry in the Schengen area- here we indicate the country in which we will be the first to cross the border with Schengen. If you fly to Finland with a change in Oslo, then the country of first entry will be Norway. If you go by bus to Estonia, and then by ferry to Finland, then - Estonia. And so on. Contrary to popular belief, the country of first entry may be different from the country of destination, there is nothing wrong with that.

Requested number of entries— choose "MULTI", even if you plan to visit Finland and Schengen only once.

Length of intended stay- since Finland easily issues long visas, then indicate 90 days if you want to ask for a visa for half a year, and 180 - if for a year, and so on. (90 days is the maximum number of days in a half year that you can stay in the Schengen area).

Schengen visas issued within 3 years- indicate "Yes" if you have applied for Schengen visas in the next 3 years. You will also have to indicate the date of issue and validity of your last Schengen visa.

Fingerprints taken earlier- if you applied for a Schengen visa in the next 3 years, then your fingerprints were taken. If you select “Yes”, you will be prompted to write the date of fingerprinting, but it is not necessary to enter it.

Intended date of entry (departure) to the Schengen area– it is advisable to indicate the date of entry / exit for the desired duration of the Finnish visa. If you want to get a visa to Finland for a year, then indicate the date of departure is the same as the date of entry, only a year more (for example, 09/11/2018-09/11/2019). However, no one can guarantee you that a visa will be issued with exactly such a validity period.

4. Section "Data on trip expenses"

Type of invitation- if you eat without an invitation and will live in a hotel, indicate "HOTEL OR TEMPRORARY ACOMMADATION". If you are eating on an invitation, then you will have to provide details about your inviting party, so ask this party to provide you with the necessary data in advance. The “NO INVITATION” option should not be selected so that the consul does not have unnecessary questions.