I flew to San Francisco this week to take the Schengen visa interview. The interview was scheduled at 10:00 a.m. I stayed in a hotel in Newark for other purposes. The bart green line can take me from the Union City station to the Montgomery St station, and from where, it is just a few minutes walk. I planned to leave at 8:45 a.m. and come back before noon. I ended up finishing everything at almost 3:00 p.m. The reason is that the Portugal consulate is much more restrictive on the materials than other Schengen countries, and the requirements are not listed in anywhere I could find. I had to redo a lot of the materials. I am writing down the experience to hopefully help others in the same situation.

First of all, Portugal visa applications are outsourced to VFS Global, as many other countries do. One benefit of using the service is that, if you applied through them once, the biometrics can be reused in your future Schengen visa applications in the next two years and you can just mail them all the materials. The VFS office is conveniently located next to Union Square. After you get on to the 5th floor, there will be bodyguard doing a rudimentary check on the materials, if you do miss some obvious things, they would send you downstairs. Fortunately, the appointment slot is still valid as long as you have been there once. Once you pass the first check, the guard takes you to a room, where you wait and see the VFS agent checking others’ materials. Reviews for this agency on Google is pretty negative. My own experience is that the process sucks, e.g. material requirements are not clearly documented, appointments could take extremely longer (probably because of the lack of clear documentation). But the staff there are nice and responsible. They went through my materials carefully, and pointed out all the things that I did not do or did not do well, which could lead to a reject from the consulate. And they allowed me to come back at the same day once I updated my materials.

Here is the list of materials and requirements that are needed for short stay tourism visas, according to my experience.

  • Application Form
    • Must be typed and hand signed. I was sent back the first time because the form was filled by hand.
  • Money order / Banker Check / Cashier Check for visa fee
    • Several people in the queue were sent back for this.
  • A recent color photograph.
    • The size is not the European visa photo size, but a size that fits the application form. But this is not too important, as the staff would help cut the photos.
  • Passport or Travel Document: Passport or Travel document must be valid for 3 months beyond the Schengen stay
  • A photocopy of prior passport (biometric pages only) and past Schengen visas.
  • Proof and copy of residency status in the United States (Green card, Employment Authorization Card, United States Visa)
    • You will need show the staff the original documents.
  • Travel reservation: Roundtrip flight reservation showing date of departure and date of return
    • If you are crossing country borders, also prepare the proof for traveling, e.g. ticket for train.
  • Travel medical insurance: Proof of medical coverage, including medical emergencies and repatriation. The insurance should have a minimum coverage of €30,000 or 50,000 USD
    • Only 0 deductible insurance is accepted. I ended up re-buying a new insurance..
  • Economic and work conditions:
    • Work certificate and salary
      • Also bring several the pay stubs
    • Three last bank transcripts (proof of means of subsistence), covering the entire stay and return to the country of origin.
  • Hotel reservation (if applicable): Proof of accommodations for entire stay or statement of responsibility.
    • The itinerary needs to show that the max stay is in Portugal, if you are traveling to more than one countries.
    • Include a “number of nights” for each stay, as that is what they actually care.

I would recommend bringing your personal laptop with you, in case you need to update any materials. There is a Fedex close by that you can print stuff. The Fedex also has computers with Internet access. But the minute charge is quite expensive. If all any reason, you need to access computers for a relatively long time, the San Francisco Public Library is a good place to go. It is two bart stops away. It has a lot of free computers and paid printers. The staff there are super nice and provide guest passes for accessing the computers.

I do not understand why Portugal is so much more restrictive. I applied for Schengen visa at Switzerland consulate before the pandemic, and it was a breeze. Anyway, better to be over-prepared next time!