"Six months of waiting, minus $1,200—and no visa." How Belarusians are now applying for a Schengen visa.

Kristina Voropaeva, the head of the Lime Travel tourist company specializing in visa services, answers the main question (as well as a dozen others). So where to run? According to the interlocutor, the two most effective options right now are Greece and Spain.

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Option 1: Greece

— The first, fastest option is Greece. You can apply for a visa both in Minsk and in the regions even in the next couple of days, but on average — within a week. Document review takes up to three weeks. So there is a chance to get a visa even before the New Year.

But if you postpone the submission until mid-December and beyond, the waiting times will increase. The Greek Consulate is located in Russia, where there will be long New Year's holidays. Therefore, it will be possible to pick up the passport only after the New Year.

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True, the Greek visa has only one bonus — speed. As for the duration, it is opened exclusively for the dates of the trip. Neither the previous visa history, nor the number of trips to Greece, nor the amounts in the account affect the result.

Option 2: Spain

— As for Spain, there are different options for submission, including in the next few days. Places are being snapped up quickly through the regular hall, so you need to allow one to two months for booking. But there is a booking through the premium hall — dates may be freely available there, although not always. They can disappear in a few hours, or they can hang for a couple of days. In general, you will most likely be able to sign up within two weeks.

The Spanish processing time is currently two to three weeks. But you need to apply for a visa six weeks in advance of the submission date. That is, even if the passport is returned quickly, it will not be possible to leave urgently in this way. And do not forget about the New Year holidays: the Spanish consulate is also located in Russia, which means that the timing of consideration and issuance of passports will be shifted.

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Most often, the Spanish "Schengen" is issued for a period of 1 to 3 months: it can be a double-entry visa for 1 month or a "multi" for 3 months with a limited period of stay. Now, out of season, there is a tendency towards single-entry visas.

Option 3: Italy

Perhaps the most discussed "Schengen" in thematic chats and forums is the Italian one. How are things with him in December 2025?

— There are several ways to act. You can take a live queue number. To do this, you need to submit an online application on the website of the visa center, and then wait about three months for an invitation to verification. Verification can only be done in person, with a passport, at the visa center office in Minsk. And only after that you will be assigned a live queue number. Then it will need to be tracked on the website. When the queue is suitable, you need to send a request to issue a slot for submission. The whole procedure, I think, may take at least a year.

Initially, the applications were planned to be processed in a month. But an incredible number of them arrived. Therefore, the term has already been extended to three months and, I dare to suggest, may increase to five or six months. So this option is similar to waiting for a German visa: there, about a year and a half passes from the moment of registration to submission.

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The second way is to get a visa for a tour from an accredited agency. You can apply within one to two months, the review period is two weeks. It will be more difficult to sign up for the summer.

But in general, the Italians are very loyal: even in a clean passport, they can give a visa for 3 or 6 months. If there was a visa history, the term can be increased up to 3 years, especially when there were already Italian visas and confirmation of trips to Italy (checks, photos). But there are also rare, unpredictable situations when, after a two-year visa, they give one for a year, and after a one-year visa — a "single entry".

A separate topic, available, alas, not to everyone — guest and business visas.

— Everything is fine here. If a client has a close relative, friend, or family living in Italy, with whom he traveled under the Chernobyl program, you can apply in a simplified mode within one to three months. Close relationship is given priority. But if the relationship is not close, the date may not be assigned.

But if you still managed to apply, then the visa terms are excellent: both for a year, and for two, and for three. The Italians are generous in this regard. Approximately the same story with France, but there they more often determine the submission dates for close relatives.

Everything is also good with business visas to Italy and France: they react quickly, quickly assign dates. The visa terms are different: if the trip is the first, they can give a "single entry", if not the first, then six months, a year.

And yet, we return to ordinary tourists and clarify with Kristina: did the resumption of registration in the live queue at least slightly help solve the situation with visas?

— We observe that this has had a positive impact on people's liveliness. Many people are fed up with the difficulties with Greece and Spain, no one wants to pay a lot of money for a "single entry" or a visa for 3 months. So the resumption of the live queue at the Italian embassy greatly shook the market in a good sense.

But it is very important to understand: you will not be able to apply in three months, or even in six months. This is at best a year, and maybe a year and a half. No matter how hard the embassy staff tries, their resources are limited. So far, people who were assigned numbers earlier, even before the resumption of registration, are being missed, and there the figure has already reached 40,000. Now only those with numbers 26,000 — 27,000 are passing, what can we say about new registrations after the resumption of the live queue. But Italy is a great option, just a long-term perspective, like Germany.

Option 4: Germany

By the way, about Germany.

— For more than three months, the consulate has not assigned slots for submitting a tourist "Schengen". Applicants are on the waiting list, but do not know when they will be able to submit documents. For the last three and a half months, dates have been assigned only to those who have guest or business visas, and not standard tourism. The waiting time for submitting a tourist visa is already up to a year and a half.

But one of the advantages of this option is that if you open a German "Schengen" time after time, the visa may be "increasing". The Germans pay attention to visa history. If there was a one-year visa of another country, they can open it for 3 months. If it was a German visa and a trip to Germany actually took place, then the chances of getting a visa from a year are high.

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The situation with guest visas is even better: with close relationship, they can give 1 year even in a clean passport, and if there have already been German guest visas, then you can count on 2 — 3 years. With an invitation from friends or distant relatives, "single entries" or visas for 3 months are more common. Unfortunately, in this regard, Germany has become not as generous as two years ago.

Option 5: visas for tours

Italy is not the only country that opens a "Schengen" for a purchased tour. There is also such an option with France, although it is a little more complicated. Now you can count on submission within four to five months. The processing time for documents is two weeks. The result will depend on luck: there are both single-entry and annual visas. A previous visit to France is usually counted as a bonus.

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You can also think about a tour to Hungary. But the visa expert has questions about this option.

— Perhaps this is our subjective opinion, but everything is too unpredictable. There may be an unexpected refusal and a "single entry", while there are cases for a year and two. But it's hard to trace the logic. After a one-year Hungarian "Schengen", a "single entry" for a tour can easily come out. Therefore, I would not place high hopes on Hungary.

Option 6: Poland

The Polish tourist "Schengen" was also on the list with not the most promising options.

— Many people are used to the fact that the Polish embassy used to issue visas on an increasing basis: "single entry", then a year, three, five. Now, unfortunately, this story is over. As in the case of Hungary, everything is as unpredictable as possible: even after a three-year visa, they can give a single-entry one.

Therefore, Poland for us today is an absolutely unjustified story: a long record, difficult registration, expensive and with an unforeseen result. We urge you to switch to other countries and leave Poland only for those who really need to go there — for a work or study visa. For business trips and tourism, it is better to choose something else.

Finally, we ask the most painful question: how common are rejections?

— Every year we see one trend: the closer to winter, the more rejections. First, the consulates are running out of conditional quotas for issuance by the end of the year. To exaggerate, if you need to issue 10 thousand visas per year, and by December 9.5 thousand have already been issued, someone simply will not be lucky.

Secondly, consulates do not always believe that in the off-season people want to open visas to travel specifically to their country and specifically for tourism. This is especially true of the Greeks. Although there are not only beaches, but also sightseeing tours in Athens, and ski resorts. Spain is more loyal in this regard: you can always think of an adequate route even in winter. The risk of rejection increases in winter in all embassies, including the Italian one — not to huge numbers, but there is such a trend.

But if we compare with last year, the statistics on rejections in Spain and Greece has become much more pleasant — not by a little, but significantly. We in the company note isolated cases. If two years ago in Greece the percentage of rejections was about 30%, then this season there are incredibly few of them. I honestly don't even remember any rejections in Spain.

Brief summary: if you need to get a visa as soon as possible, the best option would be Greece. And if for as long as possible — Italy. But a lot will depend on the visa history.

Stories from readers

We decided to talk not only to a visa expert, but also to tourists who opened a visa this year. There are stories with both an inspiring ending and a rather sad ending.

Italy: "The new visa started on the day after the previous one expired"

Maria took a thorough approach to solving the visa issue. The whole process of applying for an Italian "Schengen" took her almost a year.

— We had several Italian visas before. First a year — we signed up for it through the website, without any "live queues", and applied directly to the embassy. Then they very generously gave annual visas, even if this is the first Italian one and there were no confirmed trips. We flew to Italy with her.

The next visa was received for 2 years. We signed up at the visa center through a feedback form with a request to allocate a slot for a family of four, as it was difficult to get from the porch in such a composition. They gave it to us.

At the same time, we signed up in a "live queue" in a notebook under number 8000+. The visa center introduced a system in which small numbers were gradually deprived of the opportunity to submit documents. Last autumn, our 8000 managed to pass. We could not use the number, as the visa was valid until August 2025, the earliest time of submission was spring.

There were two options left: either go on duty to the porch, or premium submission. By the end of December, I chose the second option. It was тревожно, because it was necessary not to sign up too quickly (otherwise they would give dates for January-February, and this is early), but not too late, so that by spring to be with a visa. As a result, we were allocated a date for submission in mid-May.

Yes, it cost an extra 800 rubles. But in the live queue we were registered as an adult + a child and an adult + a child, and this is no guarantee that everyone will be accepted into one submission from the porch. And that means you need extra documents and powers of attorney to each other for children. In general, I chose to overpay and apply with my family in the premium hall with sweets and drinks (smiles. — Note. Onlíner).

We attached confirmations of the trip on the first annual visa and two trips on the second (copies of boarding passes, personalized checks, bank statements with expenses and photos). As a result — 3 years for everyone. I предварительно changed passports for children so that they would also be given a visa for 3 years.

In general, this whole process of monitoring registration methods is quite lengthy. I started to delve into, study the options, when there was still almost a year left of the current visa. But the whole family got a visa that is valid from the day after the previous one expires. And we could plan trips the way we want, and not the way the conditions dictate.

Spain: "Vacation burned down, as did the desire to apply for a visa again"

The next heroine, on the contrary, was very limited in time. In order to fly on vacation in May, she decided to apply for a Spanish visa with her boyfriend in mid-February.

— My boyfriend had previously had an Italian "Schengen" for 3 weeks, but he did not leave on it. I have a clean passport, plus I was refused a visa to Greece in August 2024. Since we are not married, the agency warned that we could be scheduled to submit documents on different dates. My boyfriend applied in early March and received a visa for 1 month in mid-April. I applied later — March 24, at the Minsk visa center. Time passed, the vacation approached, and my passport still did not return. We even postponed the dates of the vacation, a slight panic began.

In the first days of May, we already realized that we needed to do something: write, clarify, look for a passport. But in Russia, it was just the height of the holidays. On all official resources, the period for reviewing documents is up to 45 days, and it has long passed. There is no connection with the place where the documents are reviewed. The Minsk visa center answered by phone: "We just transfer documents, we cannot influence the terms of consideration. Wait."

There were two options left: either go on duty to the porch, or premium submission. By the end of December, I chose the second option. It was тревожно, because it was necessary not to sign up too quickly (otherwise they would give dates for January-February, and this is early), but not too late, so that by spring to be with a visa. As a result, we were allocated a date for submission in mid-May.

Yes, it cost an extra 800 rubles. But in the live queue we were registered as an adult + a child and an adult + a child, and this is no guarantee that everyone will be accepted into one submission from the porch. And that means you need extra documents and powers of attorney to each other for children. In general, I chose to overpay and apply with my family in the premium hall with sweets and drinks (smiles).

We attached confirmations of the trip on the first annual visa and two trips on the second (copies of boarding passes, personalized checks, bank statements with expenses and photos). As a result — 3 years for everyone. I предварительно changed passports for children so that they would also be given a visa for 3 years.

In general, this whole process of monitoring registration methods is quite lengthy. I started to delve into, study the options, when there was still almost a year left of the current visa. But the whole family got a visa that is valid from the day after the previous one expires. And we could plan trips the way we want, and not the way the conditions dictate.

Spain: "Vacation burned down, as did the desire to apply for a visa again"

The next heroine, on the contrary, was very limited in time. In order to fly on vacation in May, she decided to apply for a Spanish visa with her boyfriend in mid-February.

— My boyfriend had previously had an Italian "Schengen" for 3 weeks, but he did not leave on it. I have a clean passport, plus I was refused a visa to Greece in August 2024. Since we are not married, the agency warned that we could be scheduled to submit documents on different dates. My boyfriend applied in early March and received a visa for 1 month in mid-April. I applied later — March 24, at the Minsk visa center. Time passed, the vacation approached, and my passport still did not return. We even postponed the dates of the vacation, a slight panic began.

In the first days of May, we already realized that we needed to do something: write, clarify, look for a passport. But in Russia, it was just the height of the holidays. On all official resources, the period for reviewing documents is up to 45 days, and it has long passed. There is no connection with the place where the documents are reviewed. The Minsk visa center answered by phone: "We just transfer documents, we cannot influence the terms of consideration. Wait."

On May 19, I received a call from the Minsk visa center. They reported that Moscow had requested new documents: current hotel and ticket reservations. Logically, because all the deadlines have already passed: we requested a visa from May 10. At that time, we no longer wanted any visas — just to leave together, even to a visa-free country. As a result, we spent our May vacation in Belarus waiting for a passport. I received it only on June 5 — 74 days without a passport! The visa was issued to me for 3 months with a permitted stay in the Schengen area of 30 days.

My boyfriend never went anywhere on his visa, which expired on June 10. He said that he would no longer apply for a Schengen visa in principle, he would plan a vacation in visa-free countries. But I still went to Europe! But the stress we experienced in May cannot be conveyed in words. How many forums were read, how many letters were sent, how many calls were made — both to Minsk and Moscow. Of course, more experienced travelers issue two passports: one is submitted for a visa, the other is left to themselves. But who knew that everything could happen like this.

Another story about the Spanish "Schengen" — this time with a happy ending.

— At the end of May, I contacted a visa agency. They helped me to draw up documents, make reservations. There was a feeling that information sometimes had to be extracted with pliers. And there were also problems with video verification, since it worked very poorly on Android, it constantly froze and crashed.

I received a visa for 3 months — on time, although I applied very close to the deadline. I went to Moscow for submission, the trip was organized by the agency. The visa fees themselves cost about 9 thousand Russian rubles (340 Belarusian), I paid 600 rubles to the agency for personal submission, while I had to put 12,000 Belarusian rubles (€3500) into the account.

Several people wrote that they had been refused a Spanish visa.

"I took up the issue in November. I contacted the Spanish visa center. Before that, I traveled to France in 2020, but now the passport is new. I was planning to actually go to Spain, and then to other European countries. I submitted the documents on November 20, and on December 1, the passport came with a refusal. In the explanations, there are two points: "Lack of justification for the purpose and conditions of the proposed stay" and "Untrustworthiness of the information provided confirming the purpose and conditions of the proposed stay". They say that this is because it is off-season. But it's sad to just send 740 rubles to the wind. I will try to file an appeal, but I doubt that this will solve anything. If there is another refusal, I will focus on other countries for recreation. I don't want to go through this anymore."

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Germany: "The record bank statement was 100 pages long"

Our next hero decided to try his luck at the German embassy — and here's what came of it.

— I received a visa to the Netherlands, in the window of the German embassy I was immediately warned that in recent days the terms of visas have been greatly reduced. Before that, I had two Italian annual visas. This time they gave for 3 months. My friends with "juicy" bank statements (a family of three) applied a day later — they were issued German visas for a month.

I was a little outraged that the embassy requires a bank statement with the full movement of funds for the last six months. I spared the domestic trees and brought only the balance on one page — I was turned around and forced to redo it. A total of 20 sheets just into the trash, because the embassy only needs the first sheet. By the way, the bank said that the record statement was just over 1000 sheets.

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And his "colleague" at the embassy, after a long wait, completely abandoned the idea of getting a visa.

— Since August 2024, I have been on the waiting list for a German "Schengen" by invitation. Then in August 2025 there was a refusal to register, but after a while they still gave confirmation and scheduled submission for the second half of November. A day later, I myself refused, because I no longer wanted to go through all this and plan a trip, and with a high chance of getting a visa for a short period. Although in 2022 I was issued a visa for 2 years.

Poland: "Six months of waiting cost us $1200"

Some have encountered unscrupulous help, which did not lead to anything.

— A "helper" sold and sent us with my wife fake Polish invitations. At the same time, she could not sign us up for submission. As a result, my wife was refused a clean passport (due to the invalidity of the documents), and I did not apply. Six months of waiting cost us $1200. I know that the same situation is with other our friends.

Bulgaria and Hungary: "In order to open a visa for a year, I had to go on the fourth tour in a row"

And other readers decided to try their luck with rare visas: Bulgarian and Hungarian.

— We applied for a Bulgarian visa with my wife in one package of documents on November 6. We indicated a trip in our car, hotel reservations were in order, as were other documents. We received our passports on November 27: I was given a visa, my wife was not. In the justification, point 12 was indicated: there are not enough grounds to trust personal documents. We assumed that the reason was either in the certificate from work, although it was certified by the accounting department, or in the bank statement, although there was enough money in the account.

On the same day, we requested an appeal. A day later, we were assured that we could re-submit on Monday, December 1, and just before the trip from the 3rd, they would review the passport and could put a visa. On Friday, November 28, we received all the certificates and statements again, but on the evening of November 29, the consul called us and said that it made no sense to apply on Monday, because no one would consider our documents accelerated. She did not comment on the fact of refusing a visa to his wife and issuing one to her husband.

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At the end — the most motivating story of all.

— I received a one-year Hungarian "Schengen" in May of this year. True, from the fourth attempt. Before that, the Hungarians opened a "single entry" under the dates of the trip three times. All this time I ordered tours from the same company.

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