Marrying a European meant that we do have to go to Europe every now and again to visit family or just go sightseeing. The problem with that is, I need to get a Schengen visa since I have a Philippine passport. Not to worry, did you know you can get a free Schengen visa application with a Philippine passport? There is a catch though – you’ll have to prove that your family member is a European citizen. The process is almost the same as a Schengen visa, but is easier because of the EU’s right to free movement, and of course, free and faster. Since there are not much articles available on the internet about this, I figure I’ll tell you how I got my Schengen visa (for free), expedited, and how you can too if you are in (almost) the same situation as me.

Our situation: My spouse is a dual-citizen: an EU National (Slovakia) and an American, while I hold a Philippine passport. We don’t have residency in Europe (we currently live in the USA), so that means I still need to get a Schengen visa to get to most European countries. Even if I am a valid green card holder, as long as I am holding a Philippine passport (or any other passport that needs a visa to get to Europe), I will need a Schengen visa to enter.

The Schengen Visa Application for Philippine Passports

The big hassle with any visa application is, as always, the documents. Gathering them up and making sure you have everything can be a downright pain in the back side. Below are the requirements that they normally need for the Schengen visa application from the USA:

1. Signed and filled out visa application form
2. Passport-size photo
3. Original passport
4. Green card (or proof of US residency, since I currently reside in the US)
5. Proof of accommodations (AirBnBs, hotels, etc)
6. Supporting documents: marriage certificate, a letter of invitation from an EU National, job verification letter with approved vacation days
7. Bank statements, payslips, anything to prove you can afford to pay for your trip
8. Travel arrangements: airlines, etc
9. Travel insurance

By being married to an EU national, the only thing they asked from me are:

1. Signed and filled out visa application form (but I left out the accommodations part blank and the day to day schedule because as a family member of an EU national, they specifically say you should NOT fill that part from the form)
2. Passport size photo
3. Original passport
4. Green card
5. Supporting documents: a certified true copy of our Slovak marriage certificate, and a copy and Peter’s original EU (Slovak) passport. If we were applying on another country’s embassy or consulate other than Slovakia (say, Spain or France), you’ll need to bring in an English translated copy of the marriage certificate. Same goes if your marriage certificate is French, and you’re applying in a Spanish embassy.
   • Additional Posts about our engagement (happened in Slovakia) and wedding (in America): A Philippine Slovak Wedding in America | A Slovak-Philippine Wedding: Part 1 | A Slovak-Philippine Wedding: Part 2: Ceremony | A Slovak Philippine Wedding: Party (Part 3) | Peter and Ruby Wedding Photo Gallery | A European Castle Proposal
6. Travel insurance

Related Articles: 

• Irish Visa Application for Filipinos
• Green Card Application for Filipinos
• Expat Journey Through the UK and the USA
• Ruby’s Current Journey to Financial Independence

See the difference? By being married to an EU national and going back to his country (and neighboring European/Schengen-qualified countries), I can easily bypass all the planning and the booking of the AirBnBs and hotels and knowing exactly what date I’ll be in which city. Gives us a little flexibility in time (even though we already booked our AirBnBs and hotels for this trip in advance).

You still need a personal appearance to get a Schengen visa, and you have to apply in the country you’re planning to spend the most time in (in our case, its Peter’s home country, Slovakia). The problem is: Slovakia only has two embassies/consulate-generals that process visas, one in DC and one in New York.

In terms of residency, we’re supposed to apply in Washington DC, but since we are already stopping over in New York, Peter emailed the consulate-general in NY and asked if we can do the visa processing there instead of us going to DC (and incurring additional travel costs). They said yes and scheduled us on the day that we were going to be in New York (YES!)

 

Visa Day

We arrived 10 minutes before our scheduled visa appointment and we got to the building. There was a lady who checked us in and Peter talked to them in their language (Slovak). The appointment was set under Peter’s name even though it was actually me applying for the visa (because Peter set up everything for me).

We got inside, took out all our documents and waited. Peter was with me the entire time, and whenever questions would pop up like: what is the first point of entry in the Schengen Area (in this case we had a 12 hour layover in Sintra, Portugal, before our next flight), so we had to put in Portugal.

It helped that this is the third time I’ve applied for the Schengen visa because my information was already in their database (I applied to the German and French embassies respectively, but this was before I was married to an EU national, so we had to do it the old fashioned way with more documents and questions). Having your information in the Schengen database makes it so much easier for them to check on your documents and information.

The consul was super nice, and even said that I have to mind the number of days that I can be in the Schengen area – 90 days out of 180 every single year. I got a multiple entry, 1 year Schengen visa. She can’t extend anymore because my passport was expiring in 2019. She could have given me a longer visa had my passport expiry date been longer.

She also asked for Peter’s aunt’s address in Slovakia (whoops we forgot), so we had to quickly check my email, where an old copy of his aunt’s invitation letter was still saved, and had her address and contact details. Score! Peter’s old apartment in Bratislava had sadly been sold, so we can’t use that address anymore. Boo.

We even discussed the probability of Peter and I moving back to Slovakia, and she mentioned that there is a different visa type for that, and that would allow me to go work in Slovakia (and maybe anywhere else in the EU).

Did I mention I got my visa on the spot? As a family member of an EU national, they are required to expedite visas of family members. She said that if we’re lucky, we could get the visa printed on the spot, and we were lucky – I got my passport back on that same day, and we just waited 10 minutes for the visa to be printed out.

And the cost? $0.

If you’re a family member of an EU citizen and you need a visa to get into the Schengen area, then you don’t have to pay anything to get the visa processed. That saved us a bit of money (around $67)!

So that’s how you get a Schengen visa as a Filipino/Philippine passport holder living in the USA for free. Not everyone can have this perk, but I’m just putting it out there in case you are married to a European and didn’t know you can get the visa for free!