Schengen Visa Documents Checklist: Every Paper You Need

A Schengen visa is decided on paper: the consulate reads your file and judges whether your trip, your money and your return home add up. The core documents come from the EU Visa Code and are the same at every Schengen consulate. The extras depend on the consulate and on why you travel. Below is each document, the rule behind it and what consulates add, as of October 2026.

The Schengen visa documents checklist

A short-stay Schengen visa lets you stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period in the 29 Schengen countries. Whatever the reason for your trip, the application starts with these 7 items:

1. Application form: the EU form, completed and signed, one per person.
2. Passport: issued within the last 10 years, with 2 blank pages, valid 3 months after you leave.
3. Photo: to the ICAO standard, usually 35 mm x 45 mm.
4. Fingerprints: all 10, taken at the appointment.
5. Travel medical insurance: at least €30,000 of cover in every Schengen country for your dates.
6. Visa fee: €90 for adults as of October 2026.
7. Supporting documents: proof of purpose, accommodation, money and your return home.

Application form

Each applicant fills in and signs the standard form from Annex I of the Visa Code. A child listed in a parent’s passport still needs a separate form, signed by a parent or guardian. Consulates must hand out the form free of charge, and some have you complete it online first: the Netherlands issues it with a unique code once you do, and warns against using someone else’s form.

Passport

The passport rules come from Article 12 of the Visa Code: the passport must have been issued within the previous 10 years, have at least 2 blank pages and stay valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave the Schengen area. On a multiple-entry visa, the 3 months count from your last planned departure.

Photo and fingerprints

The Visa Code sets only the standard, ICAO Doc 9303, so each consulate states its own format. The Dutch, Italian (London) and Maltese (Libya) checklists all put the visa photo size at 35 mm x 45 mm.

Fingerprints are taken in person at your first application: all 10, flat and digital. If your prints went into the Visa Information System less than 59 months before the new application, they are copied from the earlier file. Children under 12 give no fingerprints.

Travel medical insurance

The policy must cover repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical care, emergency hospital treatment and death, with at least €30,000 of cover, valid in every Schengen country for every day of your stay. For a multiple-entry visa it only has to cover the first trip, and holders of diplomatic passports are exempt. The Netherlands wants the certificate to state the territory, the period and the amount, so check that yours names all 3.

Visa fee

The Visa Code sets one fee schedule for every Schengen consulate. The adult fee rose from €80 to €90 on 11 June 2024, so a consulate checklist that still shows €80 is out of date.

Applicant	Fee as of October 2026
Adult	€90
Child aged 6 to 11	€45
Child under 6	Free
Citizen of Armenia, Azerbaijan or Belarus	€35
Citizen of Cabo Verde	€67.50

The fee is also waived for students and teachers on study trips, researchers, and non-profit representatives aged 25 or under at non-profit events. A visa application center can add a service charge of up to €45, half the visa fee. Where the country you apply to has no consulate and no representation in your country, the cap is €80, or €120 in exceptional cases.

Supporting documents and what they prove

Article 14 of the Visa Code asks every applicant to prove 4 things, and every supporting document in your file answers one of them.

Proof of accommodation

Consulates accept a hotel or rental booking for each night, an invitation from the host you will stay with, or proof that you own property there. The Netherlands asks for a hotel reservation or rental agreement covering the entire trip.

Proof of funds and bank statements

No single minimum balance applies across the Schengen area. Consulates measure your proof of funds against the daily reference amount of the countries you will visit, multiplied by the days you stay, and a sponsor or free accommodation with a host can count toward it. In the Commission’s reference amounts table dated 8 June 2026, Latvia asks for €14 a day, Germany €45, the Netherlands €55 and Spain €122.10, while Austria decides case by case.

How many months of statements you need is set by the consulate’s checklist: the last 3 months in 5 of the 6 checklists compared further down, and 6 months in Malta’s Libya checklist. Italy’s London checklist also wants them updated no more than 1 month before you apply.

Flight reservation

Annex II lists a reservation of a return or round-trip ticket as evidence that you will leave. The Netherlands asks for a flight reservation in your name to and from the Schengen area, or another document showing your travel plans, and states that a paid ticket is not required.

Proof you will return home

Your intention to leave is judged from your ties at home. Annex II names proof of employment, bank statements, property you own and family or professional ties in your country of residence, and which of those you can show depends on how you earn a living.

Documents for employees, the self-employed, students and retirees

• Employed: an employer letter with your job title, contract duration and salary, plus 3 months of payslips or bank statements (Netherlands). Italy’s London checklist wants the letter dated within 30 days of your application.
• Self-employed: a business permit or a copy of your income tax return, plus 3 months of bank statements (Netherlands).
• Students: proof of enrollment in your country of residence, stating your field and the length of the program (Netherlands).
• Retired or not working: Annex II lists proof of financial means and property in your country of residence, and the Netherlands also takes proof that you are a caregiver, own a home or have children in school there.
• Someone else is paying: a sponsorship letter from the person covering your costs, backed by their documents. Germany’s Dublin checklist takes it with a copy of the sponsor’s passport and a recent bank statement or payslip.

Article 14(4) lets a country use its own sponsorship form instead: Germany’s missions in India accept a Verpflichtungserklärung, Germany’s formal declaration of commitment.

Extra documents by purpose of travel

On top of the core file, add the documents Annex II lists for your reason to travel.

Purpose	Documents Annex II lists	Who provides them
Tourism	Hotel or rental bookings; confirmation of an organized trip or other travel plans	You, from your bookings
Visiting family or friends	An invitation from the host you stay with; proof of family ties with the host	Your host
Business	An invitation to meetings, conferences or events; proof of trade relations; fair or congress tickets; proof of the company’s activity and your job there	The inviting firm and your employer
Study or training	Certificate of enrollment; student card or course certificates	The school or training provider
Cultural, sports, religious or scientific event	Invitation, tickets, enrollment or program naming the host organization and the length of stay	The organizer
Medical treatment	Official document from the medical institution confirming the treatment; proof you can pay for it	The clinic or hospital

When you stay with family or friends, an invitation letter from your host gives their identity and contact details, the address where you will stay, the length and purpose of the visit and how you are related. Those are the same points Article 14(4) puts on the national forms some countries use instead.

A cover letter is not on the Annex II list, so no EU rule requires one, but Germany’s missions in India ask for a personal covering letter and Italy’s London checklist recommends one. A one-page visa cover letter that states your purpose, dates, route, accommodation and who pays gives the officer your trip in one place, with each claim backed by a document in the file.

How consulate checklists differ from the EU list

Annex II is a list of examples, not a limit. Since February 2020 the Visa Code has also required consulates, within local Schengen cooperation, to assess how its conditions apply to local circumstances and risks. That is why a friend who applied from another country, or to another consulate, may have had a different checklist. The table sets the EU rule next to what 6 consulate checklists asked for in October 2026.

Document	Visa Code rule	Netherlands	Other consulate checklists
Passport	Issued within 10 years, 2 blank pages, valid 3 months after you leave	Same, and it must bear your signature	Germany (Dublin): same rule, written as 90 days after your return
Photo	ICAO standard	1 photo, 35 x 45 mm, light background, under 6 months old; none at a service provider	Italy (London): 2 photos, 35 x 45 mm
Bank statements	Enough money for the stay and the return	Last 3 months, plus 3 payslips if employed	Italy (London): 3 months, British accounts only, no business accounts; Malta (Libya): 6 months of movements
Employer letter	Not named; Annex II lists proof of employment	Job title, contract duration and salary	Italy (London): headed paper, vacation days, stamp and signature, dated within 30 days; Switzerland (India): no-objection statement
Cover letter	Not listed	Not on the checklist	Germany (India): personal covering letter; Italy (London): recommended
Sponsor	A country may require its own form	Show who pays for travel and stay	Germany (Dublin): letter, sponsor’s passport copy, recent statement or payslip; Malta (Libya): notarized declaration

Checklists also say whether to bring originals or copies. The Netherlands’ tourism visa checklist asks for the original form, passport and photo, and color copies of most supporting documents.

Where and when to apply

Which country you apply to

You apply to one Schengen country, and Article 5 of the Visa Code decides which:

1. If you visit one country, apply to that country.
2. If you visit several, apply to your main destination, judged by the length or purpose of each stay.
3. If there is no main destination, apply to the country whose external border you cross first.

The Commission’s own summary of the rule is simpler: the longest stay decides, and with stays of equal length you apply to the first country you visit. So 10 nights in Italy and 4 in France means applying to Italy. With 5 nights each in Spain and Portugal, flying into Madrid, you apply to Spain: neither stay is longer, Spain is the first country you visit, and Madrid airport is the external border you cross first.

When the trip covers several countries, a day-by-day itinerary listing the nights in each one is how the consulate can check that you applied to the right country, so it should match your hotel bookings and flight reservation night for night. As a general rule you also apply in the country where you legally live, at the consulate or visa center that covers it. A consulate that is not competent returns the file and the fee and tells you which consulate is. That costs you time inside the 15-day limit.

When to apply and how long it takes

Lodge the application no more than 6 months before the trip starts (9 months for seafarers on duty) and, as a rule, no later than 15 calendar days before. A consulate can accept a later application in a justified urgent case, but it does not have to. You may need to book an appointment first, and the first application is made in person because your fingerprints are taken.

The consulate then has 15 calendar days to decide, counted from the day you lodge an admissible application. In individual cases it can extend that to 45 calendar days, for example when it wants a closer look, and it may call you for an interview or ask for more documents.

Schengen visa documents for children

Children apply with their own form, signed by a parent or guardian, and pay €45 from age 6 to 11 or nothing under 6. They give no fingerprints until age 12. When a child travels without one or both parents, Annex II lists the consent of the parent or guardian, and the Netherlands asks for:

• a recent extract of the child’s birth certificate
• a consent form signed by each parent or guardian who is not traveling
• a copy of the passport of each parent or guardian who is not traveling
• a death certificate, proof of guardianship or court permission, where one applies

How to put your Schengen visa file together

Build and lodge the file in this order

1. Work out the country you apply to: your only destination, your longest stay, or with equal stays the first country you enter.
2. Download that consulate’s checklist for the country where you live, and work from it rather than from a generic list.
3. Check the passport: issued within 10 years, 2 blank pages, valid 3 months past your last day in the Schengen area.
4. Book the appointment inside the window, no earlier than 6 months and no later than 15 days before you travel.
5. Reserve the flights and accommodation, then buy insurance of at least €30,000 for the same dates.
6. Collect the money and ties evidence: bank statements and payslips for the period your consulate names, and the employer, school or sponsor letter.
7. Fill in and sign the form, then match every date on it to your bookings.
8. Bring originals and copies to the appointment, give your fingerprints and pay the fee.

This is an invented sample, not a real applicant.

Applicant: Meera Nair, 34, an accountant in Kochi, India, traveling alone. Trip: 2 to 16 May 2027, 10 nights in Rome and Florence, then 4 in Paris. Applies to: Italy, the longest stay, through the visa center that covers her state. Lodged: 18 March 2027, 45 days before departure.

Document	What Meera put in the file
Application form	Completed online, printed and signed
Passport	Issued June 2019, expires June 2029, 6 blank pages
Photo	35 x 45 mm, white background, taken 3 weeks earlier
Insurance	€50,000 medical cover, all Schengen countries, 2 to 16 May 2027
Flight reservation	Kochi to Rome on 2 May, Paris to Kochi on 16 May, in her name, not paid
Accommodation	Hotel bookings for 14 nights: 6 in Rome, 4 in Florence, 4 in Paris
Itinerary	One page, day by day, matching the hotel dates
Funds	Bank statements for December, January and February, stamped by the bank, closing balance INR 640,000
Employment	3 payslips and an employer letter with job title, start date, salary and approved leave from 1 to 17 May
Cover letter	One page: purpose, route, dates, hotels and who pays
Fee	€90, plus the visa center’s service charge

The dates line up: the form, the reservations, the insurance and the leave letter all cover 2 to 16 May.

Missing documents and visa refusals

The consulate first checks that the application is admissible: lodged inside the time window, with the form, the passport and the photo, your fingerprints taken and the fee paid. If any of those fails, it returns the file unexamined, destroys the biometric data it collected and refunds the fee. Everything else is judged on the evidence.

A visa refusal comes on a standard form that gives the grounds, taken from Article 32 of the Visa Code, and explains how to appeal. The grounds include no justification for the purpose of the trip, no proof of enough money, no valid travel medical insurance, and reasonable doubts about your documents or your intention to leave. Each one points at a document in this checklist: the purpose at your bookings or invitation, the money at your statements, the insurance at the certificate, and the intention to leave at your job and ties at home. A previous refusal does not lead to an automatic refusal of a new application, so fix the weak document before you apply again.

How to read your Schengen visa sticker

When your passport comes back, read the visa sticker before you pack it with your other travel documents. VALID FOR shows where you may travel: the Schengen States, or only the countries named if the visa is limited. The FROM and UNTIL dates should cover your trip, and NUMBER OF ENTRIES and DURATION OF STAY show how many entries and days you have. Check that the name and passport number match your passport too.