How to Apply for a Netherlands Schengen Visa from the UK

The Netherlands is a Schengen country, which allows for free movement between the 26 EU and EFTA states (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland). A uniform Schengen visa issued by one of the Schengen states is valid for travel within the whole Schengen area.

The rules for travelling or working in Europe will change from 1 January 2021:

• You will be able to travel to countries in the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period without a visa for purposes such as tourism, visiting family or friends, attending business meetings, cultural or sports events, or for short-term studies or training.
• Therefore, if you’re travelling to the Netherlands, previous visits to the Schengen area within the 180 days before your date of travel would count against the 90-day limit.
• If you are travelling visa-free to the Netherlands and to other countries in the Schengen area, make sure your whole visit is within the limit.
• To stay for longer, to work or study, or for business travel you will need to meet the entry requirements set out by the Netherlands. This could mean applying for a visa or work permit. You should check with the Embassy of the Netherlands what type of visa, if any, you will need.
• Periods of stay authorised under a visa or permit will not count against the 90-day limit.

At border control for the Netherlands, you may need to:

• show a return or onward ticket
• show you have enough money for your stay
• use separate lanes from EU, EEA and Swiss citizens when queueing

You should check that your passport is stamped upon entering and exiting the Schengen area through the Netherlands as a visitor. Border guards use passport stamps to check that you are complying with the 90-day visa-free limit for short stays in the Schengen area.

If these entry or exit stamps are not present in your passport, border guards will presume that you have overstayed your visa-free limit. If this is the case, you can show proof of entering or exiting using boarding passes or tickets and ask the border guard to update this information onto your passport.

You should also check your passport is valid for travel to the Schengen Area before you book your trip, and renew your passport if you do not have enough time left on it. Your passport needs to be valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave the Netherlands, or any other Schengen country and less than 10 years old.

Many non-EU nationals who reside in the UK are still required to get a Schengen visa to travel to the Netherlands.

Citizens of the following countries residing in the UK and planning to visit The Netherlands are required to get a Netherlands visa to be able to enter the Netherlands.

The main requirement is that you must have a UK residence permit valid for at least another three more months beyond the date you plan to leave the Netherlands or the Schengen Area.

Before starting a visa application, or getting a flight to the Netherlands, make sure to check whether you need a visa to the Netherlands or not.

If you have a 3-month UK visa you can extend it for three more months in order to be eligible to apply for a Netherlands Schengen visa from within the UK. You must apply for an extension before your visa expires and while you’re still in the UK.

Note: You can stay in the UK until the decision about the extension is taken, but only if you have applied within the visa period.

• The Netherlands is the only Schengen country you plan on visiting
• The Netherlands is your main destination (the country you will be staying the longest in)
• The Netherlands is the first Schengen country you are visiting (when spending an equal amount of days in the Netherlands and another Schengen country)

You can do this either at the Dutch embassy in London or through other means.

Not all applicants are qualified to apply at the embassy. Only the following applicants can do so:

• Visa applicants for the Dutch Caribbean
• Dutch residents who lost their residence card while in the UK.

If you do not meet any of these conditions, you can apply through the following:

• Book it yourself through VFS Global
• Use a service like IaM who will also make sure that your application will have the best chance of being approved

• A valid passport or travel document. Please make sure:
  • Your passport has been issued within the previous 10 years,
  • Your passport has 2 full blank pages, one for the visa stamp and an additional spare page,
  • Your passport will be valid for at least three (3) months after the date you exit the Schengen Area.
• A valid UK residence permit or other form of Identity Card.
  • The UK residency permit must be endorsed in the actual passport (or on a new biometric ID card)
  • The UK residence permit must be valid for at least another three more months beyond the date you plan to leave the Netherlands.
• One Netherlands Schengen visa application form filled out completely and signed by the applicant.
• One recently taken passport format photo with a blank background and where all your facial features are clear, which must be glued to the application form. Applications with stapled photographs will be rejected.
• A cover letter explaining the purpose of the visit to the Netherlands
• Biometric data (Applies only if you haven’t provided biometric data within the last 59 months):
  • Fingerprints
  • A copy of the passport bio page where the photo is included.
    Note: Children under the age of 12 are exempted from providing fingerprints.
• Proof of travel arrangements:
  • Round trip flight/travel reservations or other proof of intended transport
  • Complete itinerary of your visit to the Netherlands (if several Schengen States will be visited or if the trip covers several Schengen States and non-Schengen countries).
• Travel Insurance stating that you are covered in case of a medical emergency and repatriation not just in the Netherlands but in the whole Schengen zone (minimum coverage of € 30,000).
  • Holders of diplomatic passports and family members of EU/EEA citizens are exempted from providing proof of travel medical insurance
• Proof of accommodation in the Netherlands:
  • Evidence of a hotel booking or rental agreement, or
  • Invitation from your Netherlands host (family member, friend) with a copy of their passport
• Proof of financial subsistence showing at least 48€/day for the period of stay in Netherlands:
  • Original recent bank statement (covering the last 3 calendar months. The last transaction must be no more than 1 month old) to prove that you are able to support yourself during your stay
  • Traveller’s Cheques
    Note: Cash is not considered proof of financial subsistence.
• Certificate of criminal record of the home country– showing that candidate has no open crime case involvement
• Proof of paid Netherlands visa fee.

Note: Photocopies of the original documents should also be submitted and documents should not be more than one month old.

The documents listed above are documents required in all cases, regardless of the purpose of your visit to the Netherlands.

Since the Netherlands is a Schengen country, the visa fees are the same as any other Schengen visa.

Find out the Schengen visa fees in our blog post: Schengen Visa Fees: How much does a Schengen visa cost?

• Children younger than 6 years of age
• Spouse/family member of an EU/EEA national

Besides children of ages between 6 and 12 these are two cases when applicants receive visa fee discounts (35 € or 29.70 £):

• Nationals of countries (that have visa facilitation agreement with the EU) that are granted visa discounts are:
  • Armenia*
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina*
  • Cape Verde Islands
  • Georgia*
  • Kosovo
  • Montenegro*
  • North Macedonia*
  • Russian Federation
  • Serbia*
  • Ukraine*
    *Note: This only applies to those nationals who do not hold a biometric passport.
• Persons who apply for a Dutch Caribbean visa

You can apply for a Netherlands Schengen Visa 6 months before your planned trip. Depending on the nationality of the applicant, the processing time may take at least 15 days from the day of application. In some cases when required documents are missing from the application, this process may take longer.

Therefore, to avoid unwanted complications, the Netherlands Consulate General in London advises that you provide all required documents and submit your application at least 20 workdays (4 weeks) before the day you leave for the Netherlands.

• Approved – Once your visa is approved, it will be stamped in your passport. Make sure to carefully check the visa sticker to make sure everything is correct and exactly how you need it.
• Rejected – if your visa has been rejected, it would have been for a specific reason and you have the right to appeal.

• Marriage certificate missing – if you are applying for a visa for family reasons, you may have to prove family ties. This is why you must provide a marriage certificate
• You applied for the wrong visa – it is your responsibility to apply for the correct visa depending on how long you are going to Netherlands for and your reason for travelling there
• It is not clear that you plan to return to the UK – it must be clear that you intend to return to the UK before the visa expires. If the visa staff have doubts about this, your visa will be rejected
• The purpose of your trip cannot be established – the reason why you are planning to go to Netherlands must be made clear. You can do this by providing specific documents like a full itinerary, work contract or invitation letter, etc.

If you receive a negative answer in your Netherlands Schengen visa application, this does not mean you cannot ever travel to the Netherlands. You have two options.

• File an appeal for a Netherlands Schengen visa rejection if you believe that the decision to deny you a visa is unjust. You should have a strong basis for your complaint. You can appeal this decision by writing an appeal letter for a Netherlands Schengen visa rejection.
• Reapply by correcting the mistakes you did in your previous application. Or improve your situation to comply with the eligibility criteria for a Netherlands Schengen Visa.

A person visiting the Netherlands on a Schengen visa is allowed by law to extend their visa if they have legitimate reasons. This could be either personal, professional, medical, emergency, or any other. The decisions to approve a Schengen visa extension request are handled case by case.

The duration you are allowed to stay in the country is stated in your Schengen visa sticker. It is important not to overstay during your trip to the Netherlands or the rest of the Schengen Zone or risk facing penalties like a fine, deportation, being banned from travelling back to the Schengen Zone and having difficulties in your future Schengen applications. There are also cases when people do not get any penalties for overstaying, for example, a child or a person that cannot travel without a caretaker because of an illness or disability or an unforeseen event that prevents you from leaving the country, like COVID-19.

Find out more about overstaying in the Schengen visa in our blog post.

Yes, it’s easy to apply for a Netherlands Schengen visa! You can apply for the visa online or use immigration services like IAM to make the process even simpler for you and have a higher chance of your application being accepted.

You can apply for a Netherlands Schengen visa up to 180 days before your planned trip. The Netherlands visa application process takes a minimum of 5 working days but can take up to 2 weeks. We advise you to make your application 3 weeks before your trip to make up for any possible delays in processing.

If you want to get a multiple entry visa to Netherlands or any country in the Schengen area, you need to justify through your documents and your visa interview why you should be granted such a visa, which includes proving that you have sufficient resources to support your multiple trips.

The fee for a Netherlands Schengen visa is 80€ for adults, 40€ for children between 6-12 years of age, and free for children younger than 6 years of age. Keep in mind that these fees may change depending on currency fluctuations and can be paid only in UK Pounds. Payments can be made in cash and by credit or debit card.

You can get a premium Schengen visa to get your Netherlands Schengen visa within 24 to 48 hours, which includes personalised advice from an expert immigration adviser.

You will need 48€/day for the period of your stay in Netherlands.

Yes, the country adopted the euro as their currency since 2002.

You can travel to any of the 26 countries in the Schengen Area and 18 other countries.

Are you ready to make your Netherlands Schengen visa application? Is there anything we missed or anything you need clarification on? Comment below.

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