Spain Schengen Visa

Last year my wife applied for a Schengen visa to Portugal. She got it ok.

This year she is going for a Schengen visa for Spain ( for a holiday to the Canaries at christmas ).

Anyone done it already and recently?

Looks like as we are in the Isle of Man we have to travel to the London branch of VFS that acts for the Spanish Embassy. What a pain. From the VFS website that acts on behalf of the Consulate in Manchester we don't come under the same umbrella as Cumbria, Cheshire, Merseyside etc so have to travel to London.
"VF Services (UK) Limited in Manchester is pleased to announce the opening of its Visa Application Centre on behalf of the Spanish Consulate in Edinburgh . This service is open to all nationals in the following areas only , who wish to apply for a tourist, business or transit visa to Spain:
Cleveland, Cumbria , Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire."

http://es.vfsglobal.co.uk/Manchester/all_about_visa.html

http://es.vfsglobal.co.uk/london/

No doubt we will get this visa but it will cost us in travel fares and time.

Is there no postal service provided?

I wish. Not as far as I know. The applicant has to turn up in person. It was the same with the Portugese application last year.

In a perfect world you should come under North West, at worst NI. Right pain that

Yes. Exactly.
I will ask them if we can go to Manchester. But I am sure they will say "Tough" .

Nothing lost by asking though

Aren't the Spanish notorious for being shall we say a little obstructive in issuing visas? Lovers of red tape basically

So this is it. We are going to apply for a schengen visa for Spain. And it looks like it is going to be a right royal pain in the butt. All 3 of us are going to have to find our way down to London from the Isle of Man, staying overnight just to get an effing schengen visa. There is a consulate in Manchester but the IoM doesn't come under it, even though N Ireland does so we have to trek down to London. Wanchors.

http://es.vfsglobal.co.uk/london/contactus.html

I will try the chat option on monday. See if I can get some sense out of them.

"Please contact us on 0044 0203 608 8082 between 08:30-17:30 hours Monday-Friday

To chat with a customer service representative, please click here (Agents shall respond to the queries on a real time basis, between 08:30 to 17:30 hours from Monday to Friday)."

Is it possible to apply for a Schengen visa at another country's embassy, especially one that might offer postal applications? Even if it means buying a 'split' ticket so that you at least fly to that other country first? That might be cheaper than making a special journey to London.

Let us know how you get on John, I fancy taking the loved one to Spain too, I've been there quite a few times myself and I think Mrs Timmers will like it there also.

I think you will be okay. Quick jaunt into the Spanish Consulate in Manchester.

Not really. As the extra tickets will add up. There are three of us. Wouldnt work for us at all.

Makes no sense that you have to go all the way to London.

None whatsoever.

I think you could pretend that you are going to go to another country. I think the Schengen visa might still might be valid.

I have heard of that. But....when we applied for the Portugese Schengen visa last year, they asked for flight tickets and proof of accomodation.

Sometimes 'split ticketing' seems to work - may be not so much on flights to Spain but it can work on some flights and certainly on many train journeys. moneysavingexpert.com has a 'split ticketing' tool for trains but, alas, not one for air travel. But, with the likes of RyanAir spreading it wings even further, you can envisage an overlap of cheap flight operators to make world wide travel by that method quite viable.

I was going to get a 'split ticket' when travelling to Cebu at Xmas as it worked out slightly cheaper buying tickets to Manila and then separate tickets to Cebu. It just so happened it was a good idea as it transpires there is no Consulate in Cebu, meaning I have to go to the British Embassy in Manila anyway.

After checking a few websites, it appears that Manchester used to be the consulate to go to before VFS opened up in London! But there is even worse new, John. Not only do you have to submit your applications in person, you also have to collect the passports as well! They will not send them back by post, but only one of you need attend for collection (with the permission of the others of course).

It seems a terribly antiquated system but maybe they need to protect the Schengen area?

Yes. I think I noticed that one too. Unbelievable. As well as the inconvenience - days off work - there is the cost. Getting off the island is expensive in its own right.

With the Portugese Schengen visa, they posted the passport back to us in a prepaid Special Delivery envelope.