Can I go to VFS without an appointment for a Schengen visa?
Usually not. The Visa Code lets each visa office require an appointment, and in India the centres run by VFS Global, BLS International and GVC World work on booked slots. Book on the site of the centre serving the country handling your trip, print the confirmation, and attend in person. Whether a centre accepts walk-ins is stated on its own page.
The Common Information Sheet for India puts it in one line: applicants may be required to obtain an appointment, and you are invited to check the website of the member state concerned. Nothing on the visa office side is designed around unbooked visits.
Two practical points that follow from this:
- Slots are released by the centre, not the visa office. Availability changes daily and by city. We do not track live slot availability, and no guide can promise you one.
- The appointment date is the day your 15-day processing clock starts, so book it before you fix flights. The apply-by tool shows the latest sensible date for your trip.
Which centre takes my application?
The country of your main destination decides the visa office, and the visa office decides the centre. Most Schengen states in India use VFS Global; Spain and Slovakia use BLS International, and Greece uses GVC World. Liechtenstein has no mission in India, so its visas go through the Embassy of Switzerland in New Delhi.
| Country | Where applications are submitted in India (per the Common Information Sheet) |
|---|---|
| Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Norway and most others | VFS Global centres |
| Spain, Slovakia | BLS International centres |
| Greece | GVC World centres |
| Liechtenstein | Embassy of Switzerland, New Delhi |
Two things to check before you book. First, get the country right: the which-country tool applies the main-destination rule for you, and the main destination guide explains it. Second, get the city right: centres serve fixed jurisdictions by where you live. Spain's centre, for example, requires that the applicant has been resident in the jurisdiction for at least six months.
Do I have to appear in person?
Yes. Every Schengen applicant in India must appear in person to give fingerprints and a digital photograph. Children under 12 are exempt from fingerprinting. Once taken, fingerprints can be copied to later applications made within 59 months (Visa Code Article 13(3)), but you still attend to submit the file unless the visa office's page says otherwise.
Biometrics can be collected by the visa office or by its external service provider, never by a travel agent. An agent can prepare the file; only you can submit it.
The photograph can be taken at the counter or scanned from a recent print that meets ICAO standards. If you bring your own, follow the photo specification on the visa office's page exactly; the centre will reject one that does not match.
What should I take to the VFS appointment?
Take the printed appointment confirmation, your passport, the signed application form, a photo, the fee in the form the centre accepts, and every supporting document on the list for India in original with copies. The centre checks the file is complete, takes biometrics and the fee, and sends it to the visa office.
The list for India was adopted by the European Commission on 4 July 2025 (Decision C(2025) 4379). For every applicant it includes:
- a cover letter stating purpose, duration, companions, transport and accommodation (see how to write the cover letter);
- proof of transport and itinerary, and accommodation for every country on the route;
- an original bank statement for the last three months, stamped and signed by the bank;
- Indian income tax return acknowledgments for the last two assessment years;
- copies of the passport's biodata page, last page, and any earlier Schengen stamps;
- the extra items for your situation: pay slips and leave approval if employed, company registration if self-employed, pension statements if retired, notarised consents for minors.
Our document checklist walks through each one. Some centres also refuse handwritten forms; Spain's BLS centres have done so since 4 November 2024.
Is there an interview for a Schengen visa?
Not as a routine step. The counter at the centre checks documents and takes biometrics; it does not interview you. The visa office may, in individual cases, request additional documents or call you for an interview while examining the file. That is one of the reasons a decision can go past 15 days.
If you are called, the questions follow the file: who is paying, where you are staying, why these dates, what you do in India. The answers should match the documents, because the documents are what the officer has in front of them.
What happens after the VFS appointment?
The centre forwards the file to the visa office, which must decide within 15 calendar days of submission, extendable to 45 in individual cases. You can track the file's movement, not the decision, with the reference on your receipt. The passport comes back by courier or for collection with a visa sticker or a refusal form.
The processing time guide covers the clock in detail. If the answer is a refusal, the form names the ground from the fixed list in Annex VI of the Visa Code; the refusal reasons guide explains what each ground means.
What happens at the border?
Since 10 April 2026 the Entry/Exit System records third-country nationals at the external border. Visa holders give a facial image only, because their fingerprints are already in the Visa Information System from the application. Carry the documents that justify the trip; a visa is not an automatic right of entry.
Before you book the slot
A slot is easy to lose and hard to get back. Walk in with a complete file. A free readiness check goes through the India list per traveller and shows what is missing before you spend the appointment.
Sources
- Common Information Sheet for Schengen visa applicants in India, published by the Schengen member states' missions in India (appointments, biometrics, fingerprint exemptions, external service providers, interview, list of centres by country).
- Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 (Visa Code), Article 5 (competent member state), Article 13 (biometrics), Article 23 (decision period), Annex VI (refusal form).
- Commission Implementing Decision C(2025) 4379 of 4 July 2025, Annex I: list of supporting documents to be submitted by visa applicants in India.
- BLS International, Spain Visa Application Centre India, short-term visa page, read 17 September 2026 (six-month residence in jurisdiction; no handwritten forms from 4 November 2024).
- European Commission, Entry/Exit System: fully operational from 10 April 2026.