After a refusal
Refused. What happens now?
A Schengen visa refusal is notified on a standard form: eleven grounds, numbered checkboxes. Whichever box is ticked on your paper determines what has to be done. All eleven are below.
Check the date first
The appeal period starts the day the decision is notified to you, and the deadline, the authority and the procedure DIFFER BY COUNTRY. That is why we do not print a number of days here: the correct one is written on your own decision. The Visa Code obliges every member state to state it there. Miss it and the right to appeal lapses; only a fresh application remains.
Three things to do today
- 01
Find the refusal form and note the DATE OF NOTIFICATION — the clock starts there.
- 02
Write down which boxes are ticked; there may be more than one.
- 03
Keep the entire old file: both an appeal and a new application are built on it.
The grounds fall into three families
Listing eleven grounds gives you a table; separating them gives you a decision. Whichever family yours belongs to is the road you take.
Missing or insufficient documents
2 · 3 · 7 · 10This is the good news. Something was absent or fell short; once completed, a second application goes in strong.
- 02
The purpose and conditions of the stay were not justified
- What it means
- The file does not show why you are travelling or what you will do there.
- What must change next time
- Invitation, bookings, programme, enrolment — the chain that proves the purpose must be complete.
Appealable
- 03
No proof of sufficient means of subsistence
- What it means
- It was not shown that your funds cover the stay and the return.
- What must change next time
- Account statements must be rebuilt for the actual length and country; a sudden deposit works against you.
Appealable
- 07
No valid travel medical insurance
- What it means
- There was no insurance, or its cover or period fell short.
- What must change next time
- Take a policy covering the whole Schengen area, every day of the trip, at the minimum required cover.
Appealable
- 10
No justification for applying at the border
- What it means
- It was not sufficiently explained why you could not apply in advance.
- What must change next time
- Use the ordinary application route instead of the border post.
Appealable
Credibility
8 · 9The documents were there, but the consulate was not convinced by the account. What is needed is not another paper but consistency.
- 08
The information provided was not reliable
- What it means
- The documents existed but the account was not found consistent.
- What must change next time
- Statement, documents and past travel must corroborate each other; a contradiction alone is a ground for refusal.
Appealable
- 09
Your intention to leave could not be ascertained
- What it means
- It was not established that you would return before the visa expires.
- What must change next time
- Show your ties at home: work, property, family, studies, regular income.
Appealable
Legal obstacle
1 · 4 · 5 · 6A different road is required. These are not solved with one document; the source of the obstacle has to be identified first.
- 01
A false or tampered travel document was presented
- What it means
- The passport or document was not accepted as genuine.
- What must change next time
- The origin and authenticity of the document must be established officially; this is not a step to take alone.
Appealable
- 04
90 days in 180 already used
- What it means
- Your right to stay in the Schengen area is exhausted for this period.
- What must change next time
- Count the days precisely and plan after the date the allowance resets.
Appealable
- 05
An alert in the Schengen Information System
- What it means
- A member state has entered an entry ban in your name.
- What must change next time
- Find out which country entered it; removal is requested from that country.
Appealable
- 06
Public policy, security or health
- What it means
- One or more member states consider you a risk under these headings.
- What must change next time
- Do not reapply before learning what the ground rests on.
Appealable
Your own request
11This ground is used when you asked for the visa to be revoked.
- 11
Requested by the visa holder
- What it means
- You asked for the revocation yourself.
- What must change next time
- Apply again for a new trip; this is not a negative decision.
No right of appeal
You have a right of appeal
Visa Code Article 32(3): there is a right to appeal against a refusal, and the decision must state to which authority, by which procedure and within what time limit. The only exception is ground 11: if you asked for the revocation yourself, no appeal arises.
Refusals other than visas
Residence permit, work permit and university admission refusals follow other procedures and have no single standard form. Let us read your decision together — there too the deadline is on the paper.
Source
Visa Code (EC) No 810/2009, Annex VI — standard form for notifying refusal, annulment or revocation. The eleven grounds come from that form.
Last verified: 2026-08
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