27 February 2009

Swiss Schengen Visa

From March 10-16 the whole family have a plan to visit Switzerland.  Like many others, Swiss was our dream destination for its beautiful scenic country.  The kids had just started their long summer holiday starting from March to May.  Good heaven for Bangkok with less traffic.  Probably the best time to visit Thailand.  We plan to go to Swiss for a one-week trip with Grandma and grandpa.  Both of them and my kids will also stay behind for another week with the visit to Austria and Germany.

The story began with visa application.  Since our port of entry and the longest length of stay will be in Swiss.  We all went to Swiss embassy.  We were treated poorly.  This make me realize that the embassy is not one of the place that had a real negative attitude toward the non-Swiss people.

I understood that going to Europe had been very strict for non-european, but we were very careful.  We learned a lot for the financial statement and asset that we presented to the embassy.  My mom had invested a lot in a non-bank financial institute (for example Tisco, or other trust fund).  This kind of passbook is not accepted at the first place.  My kids will also extend their trip with their grandma and grandpa, but the swiss issued only a 10 day multiple entry visa.  Finally they all have to cut the trip with two-day shorter than expected.

I really had a bad impression with Swiss embassy.  I was told that to apply for Schengen visa, we should apply from other countries like Germany, France, Austria, etc., but not the Swiss.

If by any chance you wish to go touring on your own, consider not applying visa from Swiss.