[VISA] Germany (Multiple Entry)

This is my second time to apply for a Schengen visa so I was more confident that I had a higher chance of approval despite less documents submitted this time around. I had the backing of a university the last time. This time around I just wrote a cover letter explaining that I will be visiting friends in Hamburg for the New Year. The German embassy has had good feedback recently so I had high hopes. In the end, I got my visa after 8 working days, the same time it took for the Austrian embassy to release my visa the last time.

For the German embassy, you have to fill out the application form and submit it online. Bring a hard copy of it with you during your appointment, which is also booked online. The German embassy is located at the RCBC building, so it’s not really inaccessible if you happen to live in Makati. I don’t remember having a hard time securing an appointment, but I think I did so a month or so before. The processing fee is standard for all Schengen embassies: EUR60 (~PHP3300).

I submitted a cover letter detailing my itinerary and budget breakdown, a bank certificate, bank statements for the last 6 months, a copy of my certificate of enrollment, a mock booking of my flights, my Airbnb confirmation, and a copy of my exam notice. Of course, the visa photo was a given. I indicated that I had an upcoming exam which I had the option to take in Wales, but that I wasn’t sure if I had enough time to get a UK visa. In the end, they gave me multiple entry, but limited to just 20 days.

The day of the appointment was not stressful at all. The Filipina visa assistant at the counter just asked the usual questions, perhaps in the hope of having me admit that I would be doing something illegal whatsoever, except that the New Year reunion I was talking about happened to be my real intention. I paid a few hundred extra for the courier fee. My passport was delivered 8 working days later, 7 if you don’t count the Monday national holiday. And there you go, 2nd Schengen visa!