A Schengen visa, explained properly
One visa, twenty-nine countries, and a set of rules written once in Brussels and applied by twenty-nine different consulates. That is why advice about Schengen visas is so often half right: the fee and the law are the same everywhere, and almost everything you actually deal with — which building you walk into, what you pay the counter, how long the queue is — depends on which country you picked.
This page keeps those two things apart. The rules come from the EU Visa Code and the European Commission. The Pakistan-specific parts come from the missions and their application centres here.
Which country's embassy you must apply to
This is the question people get wrong most often, and getting it wrong means a refusal on a technicality before anyone looks at your documents. You do not get to choose the easiest embassy. The rule is:
Apply to the country where you will spend the most days
- Ten days in Italy and three in France means you apply to Italy
- It is about nights spent, not about where you fly into
- The consulate will check this against your hotel bookings and your flights
If the days are equal, apply to the country you enter first
- Five days in Spain and five in Portugal, flying into Madrid, means you apply to Spain
- Only use this rule when no single country has the longest stay
- A one-hour airport transfer is not an entry for this purpose if you stay airside
Why "apply wherever the appointment is free" ends badly
Appointments in Pakistan are scarce, and it is tempting to apply to whichever consulate has a slot. Consulates know this. An application whose itinerary does not match the consulate it was lodged with can be refused as not having been submitted to the competent authority — and you lose the €90 and the service fee.
Worse, people sometimes build a fake itinerary around the available appointment: a hotel booking in a country they do not intend to visit. That is a false statement in an application, and it is the kind of thing that follows you across all twenty-nine countries for years. We will not prepare a file that does it.
What a Schengen visa really costs from Pakistan
Two charges, and they go to two different places. Every website that quotes you a single Schengen price has added them together, which is why the number at the counter never matches.
| Consular fee | Service fee | |
|---|---|---|
| Set by | The EU, in the Visa Code. Same for every country. | The application centre, agreed with each individual mission. |
| Adult | €90 | Different for every country — see below |
| Child 6 to 12 | €45 | Usually the same as an adult |
| Child under 6 | Free | Often waived |
| Paid in | Rupees, at the mission's own exchange rate | Rupees, in cash or online at booking |
| Refunded if refused? | No | No |
Because each mission converts the €90 at its own chancery rate, the rupee figure is not identical across consulates. At the time of checking, published figures sat between roughly PKR 28,900 and PKR 29,600 for the same €90.
The service fee is where the real difference is
These are the service charges published by the application centres and missions themselves. The spread is the point: the same visa, the same €90, and a service charge that can be nearly four times higher depending on which country your trip sends you to.
| Country | Service fee as published | Where you apply |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | No service fee | Embassy Islamabad or Consulate General Karachi, directly |
| Poland | No service fee | Consular office Islamabad, directly |
| Czechia | No service fee | Embassy Islamabad, directly |
| Hungary | PKR 3,652 | Gerry's Visa Services |
| Spain | PKR 5,554 | BLS / Intiana centres |
| Switzerland | PKR 5,664 (€17.70) | VFS / Gerry's |
| Denmark | €19, plus €2 courier outside Islamabad | VFS / Gerry's |
| Norway | €15 | VFS / Gerry's |
| Sweden | €24 | VFS / Gerry's, Islamabad |
| Netherlands | PKR 7,718 | VFS / Gerry's |
| Austria | €37.50 (about PKR 12,000) | VFS / Gerry's |
| Portugal | €38 (about PKR 12,500) | VFS / Gerry's |
| Belgium | €40, paid online at booking | VFS / Gerry's |
| Italy | Ask us — not published | BLS / Intiana centres |
| France | Ask us — not published | AEG for appointments; biometrics at the Embassy, Islamabad only |
Source and date. Consular fee from the European Commission's page on applying for a Schengen visa and the Visa Code, Regulation (EC) No 810/2009. Service fees as published by VFS Global, BLS / Intiana and the missions' own Pakistan pages, all read on 10 October 2026. The operators' fee sheets are not dated, so treat these as the published figures rather than a quotation: confirm the exact amount when the appointment is booked. Fees and exchange rates change without notice, and what you pay may be higher or lower than shown. Italy and France publish no standard service fee for Pakistan, so we will not invent one.
Where each country takes applications in Pakistan
Three different operators and several embassies that still take files themselves. Going to the wrong building is a wasted day.
- VFS Global, operating here with Gerry's International — centres in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Used by the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal and Hungary.
- BLS / Intiana — used by Italy and Spain, with centres in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Italy also has Quetta under its Karachi consulate, and closed its Multan and Faisalabad centres in September 2026.
- AEG Travel Services — France only, and only for appointments and passport return. The interview and fingerprints can be given only at the French Embassy in Islamabad; the Consulate General in Karachi does not take visa files.
- Directly at the mission — Germany, Poland and Czechia. Germany splits by province: Islamabad covers the capital territory, KP, AJK and Punjab; Karachi covers Sindh and Balochistan. Czechia runs a monthly registration with a small number of weekly slots.
Some countries are not in Pakistan at all
Several Schengen states have no visa section here and are handled by another country's embassy: Slovakia is covered by Czechia, Lithuania and Estonia by Hungary, Luxembourg by Belgium, and Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands by Denmark.
Others — including Croatia, Latvia, Malta and Slovenia — have no mission here and no publicly confirmed representative, and Finland's embassy in Islamabad closed in June 2026. If your main destination is one of those, ask us before you book anything, because the route may be through a third country and the timeline is different.
The official document list for Pakistan
The EU publishes a harmonised list of supporting documents specifically for applicants in Pakistan, agreed between the member states and annexed to a Commission decision. It is not a guess at what consulates want — it is what they agreed to ask for. And unlike most lists, it genuinely changes with what you do for a living.
On the official list for everyone
Identity
Who you are- Passport and photographs to specification
- CNIC, as proof of residence
- NADRA Family Registration Certificate, issued in English — the one applicants most often arrive without
Money
On the official list- Six months of stamped bank statements
- National Tax Number certificate
- FBR acknowledgements of tax returns for the last two years
The trip
On the official list- A return flight reservation — a reservation, not a purchased ticket
- Accommodation covering the whole stay
- Travel medical insurance with minimum coverage of €30,000, valid across all member states
What the official list changes with your status
If you are salaried
Named in the EU list for Pakistan under employment- Payslips
- Your employment contract
- A No Objection Certificate if you are a government employee — the EU list names this specifically
- A leave approval letter covering the exact travel dates
If you own a business
Named in the EU list for Pakistan under self-employment- Company registration — SECP incorporation, partnership deed or sole proprietorship proof
- Business bank statements alongside the personal six months
- Company tax returns where the business files separately
- Chamber of Commerce membership certificate if you hold one
If you are retired
Named in the EU list for Pakistan under pensioners- Six months of pension statements — the EU list asks for these by name
- Pension book or retirement order
- Any other income with the paperwork behind it
If you are a student or dependent
Named in the EU list for Pakistan under minors and dependants- A bonafide letter from the school, college or university confirming enrolment and approved leave
- Your sponsor’s full set — their employment or business documents, statements and tax record
- A parental consent affidavit, plus CNIC or passport copies of any parent not travelling
- Proof of the relationship to your sponsor, usually the FRC
Individual consulates may ask for more, and they often do. But a file that already satisfies this list is a serious application, and the FRC and the FBR documents are the two that cause the most last-minute panic.
How the application works
-
Fix the itinerary before anything else
Which countries, how many nights in each, and in what order. This decides which consulate is competent, and it cannot be changed later without starting again.
-
Get the appointment
In Pakistan this is frequently the hard part, not the paperwork. Slots open and close quickly and some missions run registration lotteries or waiting lists rather than a calendar. Start looking as soon as your dates are firm.
-
Assemble the file against the official list
Including the FRC in English and the FBR documents, which take time to obtain. We go through the bank statements with you at this stage, because that is where most Schengen files are weak.
-
Lodge it in person and give biometrics
Fingerprints and a photograph are taken at the centre or the mission. If you gave fingerprints for a Schengen visa within the last 59 months they are reused, so this step is quicker the second time.
-
Wait for the decision, then check the sticker
The passport comes back with the visa or with a refusal form. If it is a visa, check the dates, the number of entries and the duration of stay against what you asked for — a shorter validity than you expected is common and changes your plans.
Processing time, and why Pakistani files often take longer
The Visa Code sets the standard plainly: applications "shall be decided on within 15 calendar days of the date of the lodging of an application", and that period "may be extended up to a maximum of 45 calendar days in individual cases".
You may lodge an application no more than six months before travel and, as a rule, no later than 15 calendar days before you intend to go.
The part nobody tells Pakistani applicants
Pakistan is on the European Commission's list of countries whose nationals are subject to prior consultation under Article 22 of the Visa Code. In plain terms: at least one member state requires its central authorities to be consulted before a visa is issued to a Pakistani passport holder, and that consultation adds time to the clock.
It is why a Pakistani file that looks identical to someone else's can take four weeks when the website says fifteen days. Plan for the 45-day end of the range, not the 15-day one, and do not buy a non-refundable ticket to meet a deadline.
Travel medical insurance
This one is a hard requirement with a hard number, and cheap policies fail it. The Visa Code requires insurance valid throughout the member states, covering the whole stay, for emergency medical treatment, hospitalisation and repatriation including in the event of death, with a minimum coverage of €30,000.
Two things to check on the policy before you buy: that the sum insured is stated in euros at €30,000 or more, and that repatriation is named explicitly. A general travel policy that covers "medical expenses" without repatriation is rejected routinely.
The 90/180 rule, properly explained
A short-stay visa allows up to 90 days in any 180-day period, and the way that is counted catches people out.
It is not two fixed halves of the year. On any day you are in the Schengen area, count back 180 days from that day and add up every day you were inside during that window. The total must not exceed 90. Days roll off the back as time passes, which means the allowance refills gradually rather than resetting on a date.
The number of days you may stay is also limited by what is printed on your visa, which is often less than 90. The visa sticker wins. A visa valid for 30 days does not become 90 because the rule allows it.
If your Schengen visa is refused
Here Schengen is genuinely different from the UK, and in your favour.
You are told why. A refusal comes on a standard EU form with pre-printed, numbered grounds, and the consulate ticks the ones that applied. You are not left guessing: you can see whether the problem was the justification for the purpose of the trip, the means of subsistence, the insurance, the intention to leave, or something else.
And you have a right of appeal. The Visa Code states it directly: applicants who have been refused a visa have the right to appeal. The appeal runs against the member state that made the decision, under that country's own law.
What we will not tell you about the appeal
A deadline. You will find websites quoting "you have 30 days to appeal" as though it were an EU rule. It is not. The time limit, the authority you appeal to, and the language you must appeal in are all set by the individual member state, and they differ.
The refusal form itself tells you where and by when. Read it the day it arrives, because the clock has already started. Bring it to us with the file as submitted and we will tell you whether an appeal or a fresh application is the better route — they are not the same decision, and the wrong one wastes months.
EES and ETIAS: what changed, and what did not
Two EU systems have caused a great deal of confusion in Pakistan, much of it sold as urgency by people with something to sell.
- EES, the Entry/Exit System, is live. It began operating in October 2025 and became fully operational in April 2026. It records your face and fingerprints at the external border and has replaced the passport stamp. Your 90 days are now counted electronically rather than by an officer reading ink. It changes your first few minutes at the border; it changes nothing about how you apply.
- ETIAS does not apply to you. ETIAS is a travel authorisation for people who do not need a visa. Pakistani passport holders need a Schengen visa, so ETIAS is simply not part of your journey. It is also not yet in operation and no start date has been announced. If anyone offers to get you an ETIAS for your European trip, that is a straightforward warning sign.
What changes your total cost
The €90 is fixed. The service fee depends on the country. Our charge depends on the work, which is why we quote it per case rather than advertising one number:
- Which country. A German file lodged directly at the embassy and an Italian file through BLS are different pieces of work with different appointment problems.
- How many travellers. A family applying together shares most of the preparation.
- How complete your documents already are. If the FRC, the NTN certificate and the FBR acknowledgements are in hand, there is far less to do.
- How complicated the itinerary is. One country for ten days is simple; four countries in two weeks needs the main-destination rule applied carefully and bookings that match it.
- Whether anything needs fixing first. A previous Schengen refusal, a name that differs across documents, or bank statements that need three clean months all add work.
Send us the trip and you get the consular fee, the service fee for that country and our charge, quoted as three separate numbers.
How we prepare your file
Breeze Travels & Tours is an IATA-accredited agency working from a walk-in office on Davis Road, Garhi Shahu, since 2003. On a Schengen file that means we work out which consulate is actually competent for your trip before anything is booked, build the itinerary so the bookings and the application agree, go through your bank statements honestly, and chase the appointment, which in Pakistan is often the hardest part of the whole process.
Because we issue tickets on our own IATA accreditation and book hotels ourselves, the reservations attached to your application are real bookings with dates that match — not a printout bought to satisfy a checklist. If your trip also needs flights or hotels, the same desk handles them. Travelling for a trade fair or meetings rather than a holiday? See business visas.