In this post I’ll walk through how I got a Schengen visa. Three of us friends were planning an interrail trip between July 1–12, starting from Italy and looping through Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
One thing to keep in mind: get your Schengen from the country you’ll enter first. I haven’t personally tried getting one from a country other than the entry point, but the consensus online is the same. The reason I picked Italy is simply that it was our first stop.
To get an Italian visa, you don’t actually apply at the Italian Consulate — you apply at the iData office and hand your documents in there. iData then forwards everything to the consulate on your behalf.
When I handed in my documents I was in the 4th year of Computer Engineering, and at the same time working as a long-term intern at Microsoft. That’s why I both used a student certificate and listed my dad as a sponsor, plus added my own payslips and employment records.
Documents I Handed In for Italy
- Application form
- Black-and-white copy of ID
- Copy of the first page of the passport, plus copies of any previous USA, UK and Schengen visas and entry/exit-stamped pages
- Detailed civil registry extract
- Residence documents for me and my dad (his because he was the sponsor)
- Student certificate
- Sponsor letter written and signed by the sponsor
- Proof of the sponsor’s signature — driving licence, notarised signature circular, or a copy of an official document carrying their signature (I used a notarised document my dad had given my mum)
- Copy of the interrail ticket invoice (ours arrived from Ireland too late for the application — if you have it, take the copy)
- Copies of the round-trip flight invoices (reservations can be enough, but bought tickets look healthier)
- A document detailing the planned route
- My dad’s retirement document (from e-Devlet)
- His last 3 months of salary statements + signature circulars
- Copies of property deeds in his name
- My last 3 months of bank account statements
- My last 3 months of salary statements
- My last 3 months of credit card statements
- Proof of funds (a certain amount has to sit in your account)
- €60 visa fee + €30 iData fee = €90 total
- If you want iData to courier the passport home, add ~27 TL
- Two biometric photos, 35 × 40 mm
- Travel health insurance covering the whole trip with €30,000 coverage (we paid around 50 TL for 15 days)
- All hotel reservations
Extra Documents I Added as an Employee
- Work and leave letter: on company letterhead, showing role, start date, salary and requested leave dates, stamped and signed by an authorised signatory.
- Signature circular: copy of the company’s signature circular (signature declaration for sole proprietorships).
- Activity certificate: trade chamber or relevant chamber registration document.
- Trade Registry Gazette: copy showing the company’s current structure.
- Copy of the company tax board.
- Employment records: work entry notification and barcoded employment history printout.
Things to Watch Out For
- You can pull your student certificate from e-Devlet.
- Make copies of passport, ID etc. in black and white, not colour.
- Make sure your name is printed on hotel, flight and interrail tickets.
- Apply at least 4-5 weeks before your travel date.
- Don’t go cheap on travel health insurance, and make sure the document explicitly says “travel health insurance”.
- Pull bank statements and proof-of-funds within 10 days of the appointment. Statements older than that can cause issues.
- You can pay the visa and other fees in Turkish Lira at the iData office.
What Happened at the iData Office
My appointment was at 8:20 a.m. on Monday, but I was there by 8:00 and got in line. People queue at the door. I applied at the Harbiye branch on the European side of Istanbul. When my slot came up I went inside. The clerk asked for each document in order; I named each one as I handed it over. He highlighted the important parts of each document and nothing was missing. After handing everything in, they took the biometric photo and fingerprints.
How Long the Application Took
I applied on Monday. Wednesday morning the SMS landed saying my passport had been handed to the courier — so 1 day, basically. I’d seen forum posts saying “a week minimum, hard to be quick”, but mine came out very fast. They gave me a one-month visa (single entry).
One month might feel short, but after recent events they’ve largely stopped issuing long-term Schengens and now hand out short-term visas to almost everyone.
