How I got My First Schengen (Switzerland) Visa?

In the month of June 2019

"You can't apply for a Schengen visa as of now”........ I was told by few so called agents or consultants whom I visited for advice before applying Swiss visa for myself, my wife and my son. I had a travel history however my wife and son had no travel history. 

I was a taken aback by their advice and decided not to apply for the Schengen visa. 

Mandatory Documents required by the Agents:

1. An ITR of more than 7 lacs.

2. GST certificate.

3. Property documents.

I had none of the above documents. I had been filling my ITR for the last 7 years however it was not close to 7 lacs. I am an Advocate and therefore I didn’t have the GST certificate and live with my parents therefore property documents are in the name of parents (as in most of the families in India). Someone told me to get the property documents (deeds) transferred in my name and wait till next year before filing my Schengen visa. Therefore I dropped the idea of applying Schengen visa in the month of June 2018.

In The month Of July 2019

In the month of July 2018 i made my mind to apply for the Swiss visa after going through the document checklist of Swiss Embassy which didn't make any of the above so called required documents mandatory for the Schengen Visa.

I applied with the following documents along with my wife and son on 12/July/2019 in the Chandigarh vfs:

1.  Application forms duly dated and signed.

2.  Appropriate size photos.

3.  New and old Passports.

4.  Covering Letter.

5.   Copy certificate of Enrollment as an Advocate in Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana (license of Practice).

6.   Copy of identity proof of Advocate registered with District Bar Association, Jagadhri.

7.   Original Account statement of my savings account with Punjab National Bank and Bank  Balance certificate of my savings account with Axis Bank.

8.   Income Tax Acknowledgement for 3 years ( Myself and my wife)

9.   Leave letter of my wife from her college.

10.  Bank account statement of my wife.

11.  Copies of valid Credit cards in my name.

12.  Copies of passports of my wife (Shweta) and son (Rayirth Mahajan).

13.  Travel Insurance with coverage of 30,000 Euros (50,000 UDSD) inclusive of repatriation and  medical emergency for each applicant.

14.  Return flight ticket bookings.

15.  Prepaid Hotel booking reservations as proof of accommodation in Switzerland and France.

We applied in the Chandigarh vfs on 12/July/2019 (Friday) and my application reached the Swiss embassy on 16/July/2019 and on 17/July/2019 I received an email from the vfs Delhi that our passports have been received back from Swiss embassy and dispatched from vfs Delhi to my home address.

Finally our passports were received through Blue Dart Courier service on 19/July/2019 with the Swiss visa stamped for the duration we mentioned in our covering letter. Below is my Swiss visa on which I traveled to Switzerland and Portugal in the month of August 2019.

asrconsultingsrvices@gmail.com