• In deciding whether or not to approve your Schengen visa request, consular authorities will look closely at whether or not you have successfully demonstrated your intent to exit the Schengen area (as well as your ability to pay for that exit) before your visa expires.
  • Also known as “proof of return,” one of the most common ways of establishing your intent to leave the Schengen area within your visa validity period is to make a reservation for a roundtrip flight in and out of the Schengen area on entry and exit dates within your visa validity period.
  • Please note, while flight reservations are the most commonly accepted and preferred proof of return, you may submit any proof of travel out of the Schengen area, such as a train ticket, ferry boat reservation, etc.
  • Some forms of acceptable proof of return are as follows:
    1. Confirmed airline booking or pre-paid round-trip plane ticket out of the Schengen area-even if you are able to cancel your ticket without incurring a fee, because this method shows that you have looked into flights out of the Schengen area, it is perhaps the best way of demonstrating your seriousness about leaving the Schengen territory.
    2. Pre-paid ferry ticket out of the Schengen area-for example, a ticket for a ferry boat trip from a port in southern Spain (a Schengen Member State) to Tangiers, Morocco (a non-Schengen state).
    3. Pre-paid train ticket-such as train ticket from Paris, France (a Schengen Member State) to London, U.K. (a non-Schengen state).
    4. Travel itinerary (from a reputable travel agency or group) detailing your exit from the Schengen area.
  • After selecting your form of proof of return, you should print out your receipt/travel ticket and submit this with your application as proof of your intent to exit the Schengen area.
  • If you have pre-paid for a ticket allowing you to leave a Schengen Member State, this has the added advantage of satisfying the condition that you can afford to exit the Schengen area.
  • Please note, the date of your intended exit out of your respective Schengen Member State on your ticket or travel itinerary should match the date you indicated you would leave the Schengen area on your Schengen application form. If the dates do not match, this might be taken as an indication that your intent to leave the Schengen area is not genuine.

Why make a flight reservation for a Schengen visa application?

  • Because flight reservations are generally more expensive than other forms of travel, flight reservations for Schengen visas are perhaps the best means of establishing both your intent to leave the Schengen area and your ability to afford to do so. Because of this, it is recommended that you make a flight reservation in order to establish proof of return on your Schengen visa application.
  • You can make a reservation for a flight through the following:
    1. An online travel booking website.
    2. An online airline website.
    3. A travel agency.
    4. By calling an airline directly.
  • Once you have decided how to make a reservation, you can do one of the following:
    1. Make a reservation for a flight and/or obtain a flight itinerary.
    2. Purchase a refundable flight ticket.
    3. Purchase a non-refundable flight ticket.
  • Please note that you do not have to buy a plane ticket in order to make a flight reservation. Pre-purchasing a flight before you are approved for a visa could result in you losing money in the event that your Schengen visa is denied.
  • Reserving a roundtrip flight through a reputable travel agency or website will provide you and the requisite authorities a reliable way to confirm that:
    • You have thoroughly researched your options for entering and leaving the Schengen area.
    • That the flight is a genuine flight that exists.
    • The flight’s arrival and departure dates match the dates you selected on your visa application for when you will enter and leave the Schengen area.
    • Your resulting flight itinerary will include your name, flight numbers, destinations and dates, and the price of the ticket (further indicating your commitment to leave).
  • Please note, failure to reserve a flight out of the Schengen area could result in you being judged as not having properly established your intent to leave the Schengen area within your visa validity period, and therefore cause you to be rejected for a visa.
  • In very rare cases, if you are approved for a visa, the embassy/consulate you are applying through may insist that you purchase your flight out of the Schengen area, as a final confirmation of proof of return, as a condition of receiving your Schengen visa. Please note, this only happens in exceptional cases and is not the norm.

What kind of flight reservation should I make?

  • Your flight reservation does not have to necessarily be made for return to your country of origin, so long as it is a flight out of the Schengen area (i.e. it lands in a non-Schengen country).
  • If you make a reservation for a flight out of the Schengen area to a third country where you do not have citizenship or residency, you must present proof that you will be able to enter said country upon arrival. Failure to adequately provide proof of entry to a third country you have a flight reservation for entry into could result in you being judged as not having properly established your intent to leave the Schengen area within your visa validity period, and therefore cause you to be rejected for a visa.
  • For example, if you are a citizen of Egypt residing in Egypt, who is flying out of the Schengen area to Japan (rather than back to Egypt), you must successfully demonstrate that you will be allowed to board the flight to Japan and enter the country (i.e. that you possess the correct visas/entry documents to enter Japan as an Egyptian with your specific travel document.
  • Ideally, you would also provide proof of travel out of the third country (non-Schengen state) back to your country of residence/citizenship. Continuing the above example, this would mean that your application included proof of flight reservation/tickets showing that you will eventually be travelling from Japan to your home country/country of residence.
  • Please note, if you cannot afford a flight out of the Schengen area at the moment of your apply, but are able to credibly demonstrate that you will possess the means to do so in the future, you may be judged to have satisfactorily demonstrated your intent to leave the Schengen area within your visa validity period.