visa refused, what now...?

[sonya]

Hello everyone, thanks for reading. I would like some advice.....appeal or wait a few weeks and then make a new apply?
Me and my husband (and son) have been to Srilanka three times, first time in 2002 without child. We met our friend back then and kept on writing all the years in between. Meanwhile, he got married and also got a son. We spend last August together and are making plans to rebuild his property into a guesthouse. Therefore we have to make and discuss plans.

We asked for a visa for our Srilankan friend to visit us in Holland for 10 days. We send all documents requested, including the plane tickets. Now it has been refused 2 times and we are so disappointed and don't know what's the best thing to do.

Swiss Embassy in Colombo who takes care of the requests for Holland, tell me when I call they cannot give information to me (the third party), so I spend a lot of time finding information how to appeal. The information that goes with the refusal doesn't say it has to be in French, German or Swiss f.i.
Does that mean I have to make the letter of appeal, get it translated in German and then send it to SriLanka. In Srilanka it needs to be signed and forwarded to the adress in Swiss. All within the next 3 weeks, as already one week has passed.

or is it better to work out more details, such as drawings or maps, to convince the Embassy we are willing to invest in Sri Lanka and start a new apply in a few weeks after the holiday season?
Thank you, Sonya

[danisara]

Since the application has been denied two times already, I would see an appeal as a more viable option compared to a new visa application. To file an appeal, you need to write an appeal letter, for your convenience, something similar to this sample visa appeal letter:

http://www.euro-dollar-currency.com/sample_visa_appeal.htm

and to support your case with sound reasons and documentation. In case the reason for your friend's visa refusal is the "Your intention to leave the territory of the Member States before the expiry of the visa could not be ascertained" or "The information provided about the purpose and the conditions of intended stay was not reliable", you might find the following page listing Schengen Visa supporting documents handy:

http://www.maxi-pedia.com/forum/index.php?topic=632.0

If the visa letter is in English, I would expect the visa appeal letter in English to be ok.

Good luck.

[sonya]

thank you very much for your reply Danisara, those two were the reasons of denial indeed. I decided to send the appeal...now let's see what happens!

[danisara]

Hello, did you get any response from the embassy yet? Just currious, where did you send the appeal to, or did you bring it in person?

[sonya]

Hi Danisara,

The letter for appeal I wrote in German, then send it to my Srilankan friend as he is the applicant. Let him sign it and bring it to Colombo. The office in Colombo forwarded it to Swiss. Now we are awaitening. I understood later that I could have send it myself and didn't have to pay the 200 Swiss Francs... but again, it is very difficult to find the right procedure.

[danisara]

I agree, most legal procedures are complicated. Hopefully this forum is beneficial to people who need any guidance on anything related to visa. It has been quite a while since you submitted your visa appeal, almost a month, isn't it?

[sonya]

Yes it's been a good 5 weeks now. I send an email this morning, they say it is still pending...