Applying for Schengen Visa at the French Embassy Manila

In preparation for our planned trip to Europe in mid-May, hubby and I applied for a short-stay Schengen Visa through the French embassy.  We would have wanted to lodge our applications at the Italian embassy since it doesn’t require appearance and besides, our number of days in Rome equaled that of our stay in Paris, but it made more sense to go to the French embassy since Paris is our entry and exit point.  We didn’t course our application through a travel agency so we had to do some research on the requirements.

Per the embassy’s website, all applicants must set an appointment before going there within 90 days before the scheduled trip.  Exactly three months before our schedule, I called the embassy’s hotline but was unlucky enough to get through so I just emailed them; at that time, appointments may still be arranged through email.  I didn’t expect to get a reply immediately so it took me around three hours to check my email.  We were a bit disappointed because the schedule given to us was just 3 weeks before our flight! It made me nervous to think that processing takes a minimum of 10 working days.  I didn’t have the guts to appeal for an earlier slot so we had to accept the schedule.  But that 3-hour delay in checking my email apparently meant losing slots for the date originally offered by the embassy so appointment was booked for the next day at 8.30am to which we confirmed immediately.

During the 2-month wait, we prepared all the necessary documents for a short stay visa as posted on the website.  It will be useful to check informative forums like www.femalenetwork.com and blogs such as www.ivanhenares.com and www.cheaptravelforwomen.com for tips. 

On the day of our interview, we arrived at the Pacific Star building two hours before our schedule; applicants don’t have to do this, it’s just that we are from Quezon City and unsure of the traffic situation so we just had to leave early.  But applicants should definitely be at the area 30 minutes before the scheduled time.  We went to the basement (there’s parking for visitors there) to list our names at the guard’s booth and fill out visitors’ slips. There are seats available but given the temperature of a basement parking area, we hanged around Starbucks on the ground floor for the meantime. We returned at 7:30 and at 7:45, we were all instructed to go up to the 16th floor, of course after surrendering the visitors’ slips together with an ID to the guard to get visitor’s ID. The embassy opens at 8 so we still had to wait for several minutes while standing up since there are no lounges along the corridor fronting the embassy gate. The guard called the applicants in the exact order listed by the embassy.  Bags are inspected and cellphones deposited at the entrance.  We were given our number (my lucky # 7) and led to the room which could probably accommodate not more than 30 applicants.

We were called by a pleasant male French officer at Window 4 for the payment and initial screening.  He asked for our passports, itinerary, plane and hotel reservations and asked us the places we’ve been.  Then we paid him PhP 6860 (EUR60 = PhP3430) (TIP: no coins; bring smaller bills cause they won’t give change and flatten out your bills and arrange them so they all face the same direction). He returned to us the documents, except for the passports, and asked us to wait until our number is called.

We only had to wait for less than 10 minutes before we were called for biometrics and interview by another officer at Window 1 who was a female Filipina. We gave her the set of requirements in the exact order stated in their checklist. As she inspected our documents, our biometrics were taken.  The only question asked of us were where we are working, when we were married and if we have children.  Our reply to the last question sort of lightened her otherwise snobbish face.  She gave us two slips of paper with our names and birthdates on it for checking if correct.  Then she instructed us to just have an authorized representative bringing an authorization letter and those two slips to claim our passports after five working days (The date and time is written at the back of the slips). This confused me because from what we read from other blogs, passports are not left with the embassy and instead returned to the applicants, and then presented again when the applicants return.  Also, the time stated was 12noon; again, from what we read, applicants who are denied are usually called first and those confirmed are called much later.  To think that the cut off time of the visa section is 12noon, hubby right then and there knew that we got it!  Well, being the pessimistic person that I am, the 5 day-processing period was an agonizing time for me and I even had negative dreams about it for 3 consecutive nights.  But dreams are exactly the opposite…

This afternoon, we got our passports through our authorized representative and we were granted our Schengen visas, with multiple entry for 3 months! In 11 days, I will be seeing Paris, Barcelona and Rome…that is if Air Asia X sorts out their mess regarding issuance of e-tickets.


Also see Applying for Schengen Visa at the Czech Embassy in Manila