Ming

you need to decide your trip schedual first -- this means you need to make a plan for the trip and decide which country as your first entry country.
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Then go to this 'first entry country' embassy in UK website, check the docs that you need to prepare for a trourism visa (short stay). Print out this list, then prepare them one by one. , ]) ?( Z3 z' }8 [4 {* c1 d1 g
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Normally this work can be done within 1-2 weeks.
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' J( P4 W$ F9 S. M9 v. Z+ FI'm very familar with Belgium visa application....so I can tell you what you need to prepare for a SHENGEN trourism visa first entry Belgium. They are:' {* z3 A7 w9 J) M* |8 Z
(1) last 3 months bank statements (you can just print them from website or query by mail)8 n7 j7 a& M! K
(2) travel insurence  G6 P# O# z; k* {# q' j
(3) travel tickets (flight, train...)& Y, i  D( Z- X6 i
(4) hotel booking statement4 K7 f5 W3 M0 Z2 O% ~1 t
(5) school certificate (to prove you are the student of Manchester Uni, can be get from Student Service Center); P* Q- K7 \2 p, x2 P
(6) 2 application forms/ ?. [2 H, i. t, K- H
(7) 2 ID photos" ], E7 K: w+ q4 d! G
(8) your passport
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All above docs need one more photocopy for each. You can just go to Belgium Visa Application Centre in London without any booking. It accept application from 8:30am to 11:00, 5 days per week. If docs are all provided fine, your visa will be ready within 3 days and could be post by special delivery or collect in person.
  F3 M6 e- `+ s4 g7 oType B visa application fee is £49.8,
1 t( G- X# S# [7 ^( i9 M* BPost charge is £7.4.
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Important: If you apply a Belgium Shengen visa, you must spend main part of your trip in Belgium. ( of course, you can cheat...em...)
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More information about Belgium Visa apply, you can go to here: http://www.vfs-be-uk.com/index.aspx
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Other countries are very similar like this, but some embassies require booking for the application, some of them can return you visa within one working day (france?). You do need to check their website for more accurate information.
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Good Luck~
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& `$ n. T5 a4 D; B8 f3 p$ d[ 本帖最后由 Ming 于 2008-9-6 05:01 编辑 ]

Ming

No, for most of EU countries, you must apply a visa.
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2 r4 |0 J0 ^3 @; }5 {瑞士 accept UK visa this year, but will be a member of Shengen next year and won't accept UK visa anymore (not sure about this...just heard).
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If you come from Hongkong, you can just go most EU cities without a visa.

Ming

because they never think they are a part of EU. They call EU mainland as EU......

Ming

for any question about Belgium visa, you can just ask me, never be shy, hahaha......
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5 {# \9 l# ]! L& f8 r& dI applied Belgium Visa 3 times this year....both short stay and long stay, so I'm very professional about Belgium one, hahahahah