Schengen Visa for Filipinos Going to Finland

My experience in applying for a Schengen visa was a breeze and I would like to share it with you. I applied for a tourist visa, going mainly to Finland, and as such I went through the embassy of Finland in the Philippines. My hosts are 3 of my good friends so the classification falls under: Visiting relatives/friends.

First of all, the Finnish Embassy in Manila may be contacted through the same office of the Norwegian Embassy in Manila (NEM) which is at the 21st Floor, Petron Mega Plaza Building, 358 Senator Gil Puyat Avenue 1209 Makati City, Metro Manila. The street is formerly known as Buendia. As such, the website for the requirements also goes through the NEM website.

At first, the website (http://www.norway.ph) was quite intimidating; simply because I was scared I might land into a different embassy. The NEM also handles the visa applications for all Nordic countries (Iceland, Sweden, Estonia, Finland, Denmark). But nothing to worry! All you need to do is click on this link http://www.norway.ph/embassy/visainfo/ and choose which country you are planning to apply a Schengen Visa for. Since my main purpose for the travel is to visit friends in Finland and not to go on a tour, I am sure that my main destination is Finland. If you are backpacking or going to a cruise or a tour, this is not the visa application for you. Such type falls under Tourism (Organized tours, or private tours) and the Schengen visa will have to applied from the embassy of the country where you will have the most number of days of stay. For this matter, I am only going to speak of my experience in applying for a Schengen Visa with Finland as the main destination, and “Visiting Friends” as the category.

The following are the categories which will have different checklists. All of the categories listed below may be found at the right column of this web page: http://www.norway.ph/embassy/visainfo/Visa-and-Res-permits/Schengen-Visa-Finland-Type-C/

    To visit daughter/son

    To visit mother/father

    To visit sister/brother

    To visit spouse

    To visit fiance/boyfriend/girlfriend

    To visit other relatives/friends

    Business trip

    Tourism

    Seafarer who will be joining a vessel/transit

    Seafarer who will attend meetings/trainings

Upon downloading the checklist, you will find all the documents you need to prepare for the interview, filed in that list’s order, with 2 copies: The original and the photocopy. The requirements are pretty much the same, but the questions at the second page differ. Basically, it asks about your purpose for travelling to Finland, who is going to shoulder your travel and accommodation, the name of your sponsor(s) and how you met them, etc. This checklist has to be signed by you.

Even if you have two copies of the required documents, you only need to submit one picture. Just go to any Kodak store or a studio that does visa photos and they will know what to do when you tell them you need a photo for Schengen visa. I only paid Kodak PhP75.00 for four copies of my Schengen Visa photo.  As for all other documents, the embassy took all originals except for my travel insurance certificate and my payslips for the recent 3 months. I gave them photocopies of both travel insurance certificate and payslips.

TRAVEL INSURANCE & FLIGHT BOOKING

I had this arranged for me by this travel agency:

St. Raphael Travel & Tours (SRTT)

Unit 105 State Condominuim Bldg.

Ortigas Avenue Greenhills

San Juan City 1500

Tel: 724 8098 Telefax: 724 1629

Office hours: 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-12pm Sat

Website: www.santraphael.com

SRTT is very courteous and prompt in responding by email. You may also contact them over the phone and they are very happy to assist you. I have purchased my tickets to and from John F. Kennedy Airport from them and I did not hesitate to try asking for their assistance for the Travel Insurance and my flight booking reservation for Finland.

SRTT bought my travel insurance from Blue Cross (http://www.bluecross.com.ph/).  You have the option to contact Blue Cross personally. However, SRTT responds faster.  In my email to SRTT, I need to give them the following information:

Name

Date of birth

Age

Home address

Telephone number

Benefiiciary and relation w/ beneficiary

I also indicated that I need coverage for a specific number of days, and the specific dates of my travel. The requirement for insurance coverage when travelling to any Schengen area is 30,000 Euros. I added 2 days for the travel insurance to cover me (1) the moment I leave the country before I even reach the Schengen Area and (2) just in case my flight gets delayed. All in all, I paid PhP2,453.40 via BPI bank deposit (This amount may depend on the number of days you wish to be covered with insurance worth 30,000 Euros). I emailed them a picture of the bank deposit slip and in 2 days, my Travel Insurance Certificate is at the address I told them to send it to. Just in case your visa is disapproved, you can return the certificate to SRTT and they will return the amount you paid, less PhP350 for assisting you with the insurance.

Now for the flight booking, SRTT can give you 2-3 weeks of reservation. It is impossible to do this online as those budget deals will ask you to purchase the ticket on the spot. Even the embassy tells you not to buy the tickets but simply to book them. So there was really no other choice but to get an agency to do that for you. SRTT does not charge you for anything in making this reservation, but be courteous enough to cancel or confirm – using it or not.

It is important that you follow all the requirements of the checklist. It took me a month to have everything completed leisurely. Actually it was 26 days in total, and I even got an NBI Clearance just in case, but it is not needed. I repeat: The Finnish embassy does not require you to submit NBI Clearance so you can take away that hassle. I will post a separate blog about my experience in getting my NBI clearance and you can get that from this link (http://bengmercado.blogspot.com/2013/03/faster-way-to-apply-for-nbi-clearance.html).

There was one boo boo for me. I did the online visa application through the Application Portal Norway link (link may be found in this page http://www.norway.ph/embassy/visainfo/Visa-and-Res-permits/Schengen-Visa-Finland-Type-C/) and accidentally submitted it to the Norwegian Embassy in Helsinki instead of Manila. Luckily, an officer from the Helsinki embassy forwarded my application to the NEM and also took the time to email me that he did it but I need to call the NEM at once. I did call, and the NEM officers were very nice. They made a manual booking for me, only because I can no longer edit my application to my desired interview schedule. The mistake made it impossible for me to schedule my interview, as I submitted it to a faraway embassy, what a boo boo!

You are allowed to schedule your appointment at most 3 months prior to your travel date. I applied exactly 3 months because I do not want to purchase expensive flight tickets which usually happens just because your travel dates are fast approaching.

THE ACTUAL INTERVIEW

My appointment was for 10:15. I arrived at Petron Mega Plaza at 9:45am. You will not go inside the building. First, you must go through the side, a security guard can tell you were the NEM office is for Schengen Visa applicants. Here is where they screen your documents and do the actual interview. I was 30 minutes advanced but that is okay because they will ask you to take out all your documents from your folder or envelope and file them in the checklist’s order. The security asked me to turn off my cellphone, and made me leave both my precious bag and cellphone in a pigeon hole near the entrance. A card with a number was given to me that I may use to retrieve my stuff after the interview.

At exactly 10:30 AM, my name was called and I was asked to go to one of the tables occupied by an interview officer. The front desk lady, a very respectable one, gave me the first name of the interviewer. The names of the interviewers are by the way posted on their desks.

The interviewers/consuls were all Filipinos. Mine was a very nice, no-nonsense Filipina. It was not an intimidating experience at all. She was the same person who was kind enough to make a manual booking appointment for me, because she recognized me when I mentioned it. The atmosphere was very encouraging and not at all judgmental. There was never a sign of prejudice on anything whether it be your clothing, manner of speaking, relationship with the hosts. They were not nosy at all and pretty much stuck with only what is necessary for me to share. I would say it only took a maximum of 15 minutes for me. She also encoded my 2 other hosts’ names and details because the application portal only allows you to plug in one name for your host. There was no need to show photos as proof of my relationship and time together with any of my hosts, however, I brought print outs just in case. I have read in some blogs that other embassies accept photos as proof. That was not the case for my application to Finland.

What I find very odd is that the other applicants seem to not have any idea about the checklist. The front desk lady even hands it to them and it seems like that was the only time they saw the checklist. As a result, some had to leave the embassy to take photocopies of the pages of their passports with stamps, and pages that indicate they have visas to other countries. I was just surprised because the checklist also requires that you submit the proof that your host and you were together at some point (like stamps in the passport indicating an entry to the Philippines when your host visited you, or stamps in other countries that you had a vacation together, or if you visited your host some time in the past). How are you gonna get a copy of the used pages in your host's passport on the same day you are being interviewed? However, I have heard from a friend whose parent also applied for a visa to Finland that the embassy usually will tell you to come back with the missing documents and will email you if your visa has been approved. But who wants that hassle? Of course you want to do it right the first time! Try to be as complete in your documents as possible, sticking to the requirements stated in the checklist. If you do so, it is as easy as a few minutes and you are done with the interview.

The consul stamped a page on my passport (a box frame using a rubber stamp with a date on it, which later I understood serves to indicate the page where they are sticking the Schengen visa on) and wrote something on my application paper. She told me to proceed to the 21^st floor, handing me a card which will serve as my proof that I have been to the interview. I went up, and the embassy at the 21^st floor had two people: One security guard, and another man in blue barong whom I later found out to be a local policeman – a requirement for the NEM’s protection. I was told by the security to proceed and take my seat because I will be the next to approach the window. After 7 minutes, I approached the window, I submitted all documents by sliding it through the hole below the window. The Filipino guy in the window asked me my full name, which country I am headed, and if I am visiting friends (to the last question, I only answered a short "Yes"). Then he told me to face the camera, took a click and informed me that an email will be sent to the address I indicated in the application form. This email will tell me how to proceed. I clearly asked the following:

1. Q: Am I picking up my passport or are they shipping it to my address?
    A: The email you will receive will tell you how to proceed.

2. Q: Does this mean my visa has been approved?
    A: This means we are processing your visa.

So I left and told myself, waiting is the only thing I can do now. Total time passed was an hour and 15 minutes including my early arrival to the interview area.

Fastest processing time ever – Credits to the Norwegian Embassy in Manila! I applied on a Friday morning, and at 10:56 AM Monday morning, almost the same time as I went up the 21^st floor last Friday, I got the email to pick up my visa. That was fast! I quickly went to the embassy and showed the security guard a print out of the letter. The only bad experience about this was that the policeman was very rude. At first he will intimidate you by asking if you have ever received a call from the embassy which was really odd because calls are so retro. Why would the embassy bother to call me when it was mentioned to me personally that I will receive an email. So next the policeman asked what time I was asked to retrieve my passport. I said there wasn’t any specific time, just that it was today. I recognized that the security guard is the right person to talk to because he was expecting the letter print out, like he knows what document to ask for, which I gladly handed over. The security guard joked and told me “Ma’am, there is a time, it is 9am-3pm,” and he smiled, obviously just kidding me. The policeman however took this seriously and told me “Huwag mong sasabihing walang oras kung meron!” (Do not say there is no specified time when there is). To which I replied that the time stated was their normal office hours. And then he muttered to me “Suplada!” which means sarcastic/curt / trying to be smart. I was bewildered that a policeman for the embassy had the audacity to say that to me. He was not there to say those words. He was not there to intimidate people. He was not there to raise issues about me, an applicant who was just approved of a visa and has every right to retrieve my own passport. He is simply there to ensure the safety and security of the embassy, nothing more and nothing less. I raised this issue to the consul at the window, she was the same person who interviewed me. She told me to submit my concern to the chancery office. I was like never mind. I mentioned this to the ground floor where I retrieved my ID and the security guard there took my story and told me that he will relay the complaint to his supervisor. All in all, who cares? This is just a warning for future applicants, if the policeman there stays the same – both in person or in attitude.

The visa indicated the exact date of departure in my flight, so it pretty strict. If you want extra days, in the beginning you should have applied for a travel insurance coverage for so and so days and flight booking for that period, and the approved vacation leaves by your employer. These are the 3 major considerations for me. They did add a 16 day grace period but I can only use this if I am unable to take my return flight due to sickness or any flight delays. For sickness, I am sure they will require me to hand over a medical certificate.

It was an easy and efficient process, but the details should all match and your documents must be complete. I am really impressed by the embassy’s efficiency. Best ever! Now all I have to do is plan my itinerary because this girl is going to Finland! :)