Let me tell you how I tackled Swiss visa paperwork last month. Started by calling Switzerland embassy in Beijing – waited on hold 45 minutes just to confirm they don’t accept walk-ins.
Gathering documents chaos
First screwed up the photos. Went to cheap photo shop where guy took pics with white wall background. Embassy rejected them because wall had tiny gray stains. Had to reshoot at expensive studio costing 120 RMB.
- Bank statements: Printed 3 months’ history at bank, but teller forgot stamp on 2 pages. Had to go back next day
- Flight itinerary: Almost got scammed! Some shady website sold fake bookings. Ended up asking real travel agency friend to draft tentative flights
- Hotel reservations: Booked refundable Expedia hotels for entire trip, cancelled after visa came
The form struggle
Online form took 3 hours to complete. Section about parents’ jobs confused me – wrote my dad’s retirement as “gardener” since he grows veggies. Almost got rejected for “insufficient detail”. Had to redo with official retirement certificate.
Biggest headache: employment letter. My HR wrote vague “works here since 2018”. Embassy demanded exact salary, position AND approval for leave dates. Took 3 revisions to get it right.
VFS Center nightmare
Booked earliest 8am slot at visa center. Arrived 7:30 to find 50 people already queuing! Security guard yelled at me for standing wrong place. Fingerprint machine broke twice while waiting. Paid extra 300 RMB for SMS updates that never came.
Final shock: insurance certificate dates didn’t match trip by one day. Had to sprint to insurance office across town to fix before they closed.
The whole mess took 23 working days. When passport arrived with shiny visa sticker, I almost cried. Moral: triple-check EVERY detail and bring patience!
