So I filled out a typical Schengen Visa form and attached all the possible papers you can attach: bank statement showing my balance, our marriage certificate, a letter from my husband saying that he is my sponsor, copies of my previous visas, medical insurance, a copy of my green card, a letter from work showing my salary and proving that I'm employed. It's also a Must to submit tickets and hotel reservation. We neither bought tickets nor reserved a hotel but Chris attached flight information from Expedia showing what flights we will take and e-mail messages he exchanged with a hotel manager.
I went to the Visa Center in the morning while Chris stayed home with Brendan. As we thought the only question they had was about the hotel reservation. The girl asked me if I was sure that the e-mail was good enough to prove that we would have a place to stay in Greece. I understand that it's a standard requirement but it's just so funny to assume and imagine that a married woman with an American husband and their 5 m.o. baby will deceive the Greek Embassy and make them believe as if we're going on vacation when in reality we want to go and stay there as illegal immigrants. In order to get a tourist visa one has to prove that he has enough ties with his motherland and he is going to a foreign country only on vacation and will be back to his own country and that is why you need to provide such evidence as return tickets, hotel reservation and bank statement.
Anyway, it's pretty cool that it takes only two days to get this visa, before it took visa centers up to a week to issue visas to Europe. In the worst case scenario it will be nice to go to Corfu and stay at our favorite hotel owned by a very nice family. And it's exciting to have our Brendan with us, it will be his first beach trip and our first family trip!
By the way, the main picture of my blog was taken there. The view is just so beautiful!
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