The same Thursday afternoon...



...that I submitted my documents, I received the first SMS from VFS telling me that my Visa application has been dispatched to the Spanish Consulate for processing, and I was to wait for a message as to whether I will need to appear for an interview. It was about an hour later when I received a second SMS informing me that the Spain Consulate General was expecting me to appear for an interview anytime between Mon-Thurs (except holidays) before 8:30 am.

The following Monday morning, I was up at 5 am, debating with myself whether to have coffee or not since my heart was already pounding from nerves. In a moment of weakness, I took the coffee and proceeded to prepare for my interview. On the commute to Makati, I went over and over in my head possible questions I might get asked and how I will answer each one of them. As I said in my previous post, I have never been interviewed for a Visa before so I was quite unsure of what to expect.

I got to the building that houses the Spanish Consulate a quarter before 8 since I heard how long the lines can get. And despite being 45 minutes early, there were already a lot of people outside ACT Tower, all waiting for their own interviews. I was glad that they didn't call us out right away. People actually started being called at about a quarter before 9. The longer I waited, the more my nerves calmed down, so much so that I was actually getting sleepy by the time my name was called to go up to the 5th floor at about 10:30 a.m. That's when my nerves went into overdrive.

On the 5th floor, there was still more waiting involved. I was sitting near the window so I could hear some of the responses of the people, if not the questions themselves. Based on the answers, the questions seemed innocuous enough and I felt calmer. It was another half hour before my number was finally called. The consul was a pretty lady with a serious demeanor. I showed her my copy of the application form with the official receipt so she could locate the long brown envelope with my name on it. When she found the one, she started asking me questions: What will you do in Spain? How long are you staying? Where else are you going? Who are you travelling with? Is your sister here? Is she also applying for a Visa? What do you do? What's the name of the company you work for? How much do you make? Who are your clients? How long have you been working there? Do you live with your parents? What do they do for  a living?  How far are you walking? Where will you start? Where did you hear about the Camino? Why are you doing this now? The questions seemed to me endless at that time, when in fact the interview took only about 5 minutes in total. She said that I will hear from them in about 7-10 business days. I was out of the Consulate by 11:00 a.m. with no clue of whether I was approved or not.

I left the consulate and proceeded to make my way back to Muntinlupa, where I was to have my APE that afternoon. The next few days were nerve-wracking. The thought of 2 weeks of waiting and uncertainty is not something I relished. But, what can I do but twiddle my thumbs and get on with my life.



This was waiting for me inside a courier bag
when I got home on June 18.

A few days after that interview, I came home at 11 p.m. and saw a courier package waiting for me. I opened it in a hurry and saw my passport inside. I went directly to the middle section which is historically where I have seen my previous Visas attached. It was blank! My heart plummeted to the floor and I wanted to cry. And then I went through the pages again, slowly this time and I saw it! I got my Schengen Visa! Hurray! My sister and I were so excited, we were literally jumping up and down for a few minutes. We kept looking at it with big smiles on our faces. Last hurdle down, Camino, here we come!

I have never been interviewed...

Documents I submitted to VFS

... for a visa before. So, even as Anj and I were already preparing for this much awaited trip, this one hurdle remained. I researched, read blogs and prayed over this. On June 11, I submitted the following visa requirements to VFS with a few additional documents in a long brown envelope:

• Duly filled-up Schengen application form on A4 paper
• 2 recent passport-sized photos with white background
• Original passport with photocopy of the first and last pages
• Original bank certificate
• Original Certificate of Employment with position, salary and tenure
• Photocopy of previously issued visas (Chinese visas) 
• Photocopy of other passport stamps
• Travel health certification insurance with a coverage of 45,000 euros  
• Copy of Income Tax Returns for 2014
• Flight Itinerary: Manila to Paris; Galicia to Barcelona; Barcelona to Manila
• Itinerary for the duration of the trip
• Confirmed booking of accommodations
• Original Approved leave of absence
• Photocopy of a property title in my name ***
• A personal letter of request explaining the significance of the trip with a copy of our planned itinerary in Paris, the camino and Barcelona***

My appointment was 8:45 a.m. and I got there just in time. I got a little nervous since the lady who was receiving my documents was looking for a list of places we will be staying in during the camino. I had to explain to her that the auberges do no accept advance bookings and are usually on a first-come, first-served basis. She seemed unconvinced of my answer and had to go to an inner office, presumably to verify what I told her, because a couple of minutes later, she came back to me to accept my documents. I paid the necessary fees which totaled to P4,380. which included the following:

Visa - Php 3,210.00

VFS Logistics Fee – Php 1,070.00
SMS Alert – Php 100.00

After receiving my payment, she gave instructions on what to do next and what to expect. I was to wait for a message through mobile or email to see if the Spanish Consulate will require an interview. I also had to wait a few minutes more for my picture to be taken and for a biometric scan. All in all, I was in and out of the VFS office in 30 minutes. I left the building and hailed a cab to take me to work. And so the wait began...