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Unbordr is a Schengen visa preparation and filing service built specifically for Indian applicants. We help travellers prepare a strong, embassy-ready visa file (documents, cover letter, itinerary, application form) and guide them through every step from sign-up to outcome. We are not a travel agency, a flight booking site or an immigration consultancy. We do one thing: short-stay Schengen visas, done well, for Indian travellers.

All Schengen countries. France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Croatia and Liechtenstein. If you're applying for a Schengen visa from India for any of these countries, we can help.

Unbordr is built for Indian passport holders applying for a Schengen tourist, family-visit or business visa. Our typical applicants fall into three groups: First-time international travellers who want a strong, guided application. Frequent travellers who already know the basics but want to save time and avoid the appointment hassle. Applicants who have been refused before and want their next file rebuilt properly.

No. Travel agencies typically book flights, hotels and tours, with visa services tacked on as an afterthought. Unbordr does the opposite: we focus entirely on Schengen visas, with the goal of giving every applicant the strongest possible file. We do not book flights or holidays. We focus on the file itself: the documents, the cover letter, the itinerary and the review that go in front of the consulate.

Unbordr is an India-based service. We operate online, which means you can use Unbordr from any city or town in India. Our applicants come from metros and Tier-2 cities alike. The visa appointment itself is taken at the VFS or BLS centre nearest to you.

Yes. Unbordr is a registered Indian business. Our founder is a FIFA-licensed agent and has built Unbordr to bring real expertise and structure to the Schengen visa process for Indians. If you'd like our company details for your records, just write to us and we'll share them.

Three differences matter most: We're tech-led. You track your application through a dashboard, not on a WhatsApp thread that gets lost. We're transparent. Our pricing is published, quoted per file, and visible before you start. There are no hidden fees, no agent markups on the visa fee, no pressure to upgrade. We're honest. We don't promise approvals, because nobody honest can. We promise the strongest possible file, and we tell you the truth about your chances.

No. Unbordr is built for short-stay Schengen visas (Type C) only: tourist, family-visit and business visas of up to 90 days. We do not handle long-stay visas (Type D), work permits, study visas, residence permits or permanent residency for any country.

Every price is per file, and a file is one traveller's application. Two people travelling together are two files. Minors are charged at 50% of the adult rate. • New Application — ₹6,999 onwards per file. End-to-end collection, verification and file completion. • File Analyzer: New — ₹4,999 onwards per file. A strength check on a file or draft you've already put together yourself, with no prior refusal. • File Analyzer: Refusal — ₹8,999 onwards per file. A diagnosis built from your refusal letter. Deeper work than a first-pass check. • Appointment booking — ₹1,500 onwards per file. VFS or BLS slot booking. Nothing is charged until the price for your case has been confirmed with you.

It depends on how much of the file you want to hand over: • If you haven't started yet, or this is your first Schengen visa, or your profile has any complications (self-employed, refused before, weak financials), New Application is the one. We build and check the whole file. • If you've already assembled a file or a draft yourself and only want to know whether it holds up, File Analyzer: New is the faster, cheaper answer. • If you've been refused, start with File Analyzer: Refusal. It works from your refusal letter, which is the only document that says what the consulate actually flagged.

No. The Unbordr fee is a service fee, charged per file. It covers our work in preparing your file. The actual visa fee charged by the consulate, and the VFS/BLS service fee, are paid separately at the appointment. Both are standard fees that any applicant pays regardless of how they apply. Current Schengen visa fees for adults are around ₹8,500, plus VFS service fees of around ₹2,500–3,500. These shift with the EUR–INR exchange rate.

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No. The published price is what you pay, and it's quoted per file. Appointment booking (₹1,500 per file) is the one extra you can add, and only if you ask for it. The consulate's visa fee and the VFS or BLS service fee are paid by you at the appointment: we don't mark them up or take a cut.

Yes, and the common one is going from an Analyzer to the full thing. If you buy File Analyzer: New or File Analyzer: Refusal and then decide you want us to build the application, we pick up from what the Analyzer already established and quote the New Application on your call. Appointment booking (₹1,500 per file) can be added at any point before your slot is taken.

We do not run permanent discounts on our prices, because our pricing is already structured to be fair. One reduction is built in rather than negotiated: a minor's file is charged at 50% of the adult rate. There is no separate student or senior-citizen rate.

Per file, and a file is one traveller's application. Two adults travelling together are two files from ₹6,999 each. A couple with one child is ₹6,999 + ₹6,999 + ₹3,500, because a minor's file is charged at 50%. It is priced this way because the work is per person: every traveller has their own documents, their own proof of employment or funding, and their own form.

Travel agents typically build their margin into a single service fee that covers everything: their time, their slot booking, their visa fee markup, their travel insurance commission, and their hotel and flight booking margins. Unbordr's pricing is unbundled. You pay our service fee per file, and you pay the consulate and VFS directly with no markup. If you want us to take the appointment booking off your hands, that is priced separately (₹1,500 per file) so you only pay for it if you need it.

Unbordr's pricing is intentionally affordable in a single payment. For a family, where several files add up, we can discuss split payments. Reach out to us to arrange this.

The Unbordr journey has six steps: 1. Sign up and enter your basic profile and trip information. 2. Choose your country and share trip details: itinerary, accommodation, prior visa history. 3. Upload your documents through the dashboard. We tell you exactly which ones your case needs and check every one of them. 4. We prepare the cover letter, itinerary and visa application form. 5. You book your own appointment slot with our guidance, or add appointment booking (₹1,500 per file) and we secure it for you. 6. Submit at VFS or BLS, track via the dashboard, and receive your decision. If refused, our Refusal Recovery service can take over.

The Unbordr file preparation typically takes 3 to 7 working days from when we have all your documents, sometimes faster for a File Analyzer, longer for a New Application where every document is reviewed. The visa processing time itself is decided by the consulate, not by us. Realistic ranges: • Off-peak (October to February): 7 to 15 working days from biometric submission. • Peak (March to August, December): 2 to 6 weeks. Some applications take longer due to administrative processing. We recommend starting your Unbordr journey at least 6 weeks before your trip in off-peak, and 8 to 10 weeks before in peak season.

You can submit a Schengen visa application up to 6 months before your trip. We recommend starting with us at least 6 to 10 weeks before your travel dates, depending on the season. The earlier you start, the more time we have to spot and fix any weaknesses in your file.

No. Unbordr operates entirely online. Everything from sign-up to document upload to file delivery happens through our dashboard. The only physical step is the VFS or BLS appointment for biometrics, which you attend in your nearest VFS centre.

Schengen visas require biometric data (fingerprints and a photo) to be collected from the applicant in person at a VFS or BLS centre. So no, the appointment itself must be attended by you. What Unbordr does is everything around it: prepare your file, fill the application form, write the cover letter, build the itinerary, secure the slot if you've added appointment booking, and review every document before submission.

The dashboard is where the whole journey lives. You can see: • Your application status at any time. • Documents you've uploaded and which ones are still pending. • Review feedback from our team. • Your appointment date once booked. • The final outcome and next steps. It replaces the WhatsApp guesswork that defines most visa-agent experiences.

The Portal Entry Guide is an Unbordr feature for applicants booking their own slot. It's a country-specific, screen-by-screen walkthrough of the official VFS or BLS portal, with all your data already prepared. You log into the portal, follow the guide, and enter exactly what's listed at every step, with no guesswork and no decoding of embassy language. It turns the most confusing part of the DIY process into a paint-by-numbers exercise.

Yes. Every case we take on starts with a call, and you keep the same point of contact through it. Email support is included in everything we sell. We're not a faceless platform. There's an actual team behind the dashboard.

Any Indian passport holder can apply. Eligibility for the visa itself is decided by the consulate based on your purpose of travel, financial means, ties to India and supporting documents. Unbordr can work with applicants of any age and from any city in India: salaried, self-employed, retired or student.

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The core document set for an Indian applicant typically includes: • Valid passport with at least 3 months of validity beyond intended return. • Two recent Schengen-format photographs. • Completed visa application form. • Cover letter explaining the trip. • Day-by-day itinerary. • Round-trip flight reservation. • Hotel bookings. • Schengen-compliant travel insurance with €30,000 medical coverage. • Bank statements for the last 3 to 6 months. • Last 3 years of ITRs. • Salary slips and Form 16, or equivalent self-employed documents. • Employer NOC and leave letter. Unbordr's dashboard generates a country-specific checklist tailored to your profile, so you don't have to figure this out yourself.

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Yes. First-time international travellers from India are approved every day. The trick is to compensate for the absence of travel history with a strong file: clean financials, a clear itinerary, demonstrable ties to India, and a well-written cover letter. New Application is usually the right choice for first-timers.

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Yes. Self-employed cases are one of our specialties. Self-employed applicants face higher scrutiny because the standard salary-slip and Form-16 documentation doesn't apply. New Application is built to handle this properly: GST returns, ITR computations, business and personal bank statements, recent invoices, and a cover letter that frames your business clearly. Many generalist agents avoid self-employed cases. We don't.

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Yes. A cover letter is part of every New Application: drafted around your specific profile and travel narrative, then reviewed before it goes into the file. If you buy a File Analyzer instead, we assess the cover letter you've already written and tell you what's weak in it, rather than writing it for you.

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There's no official minimum balance, but a healthy benchmark for an Indian applicant is around ₹1,00,000 per week of travel. So a 7-day trip would suggest ₹1 lakh, a 14-day Europe trip closer to ₹2 lakh. More important than the absolute number is stability over the last 3 to 6 months. A balance that has been stable for months is far stronger than a sudden deposit a week before applying. If you're not sure how your financials read, the free readiness check scores them, and New Application includes a review of them before submission.

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No. In fact, you shouldn't. You apply with verifiable holding reservations: dummy flight and hotel itineraries that the consulate can verify but you haven't paid for in full. Buy real tickets only after the visa is approved. What matters is that the reservation is genuine and checkable, not that it is paid for in full.

Yes. Schengen-compliant travel insurance is mandatory for every Schengen visa application. The policy must cover €30,000 in medical expenses, be valid in all Schengen countries, and cover the entire duration of your stay. You buy the policy yourself; on a New Application we check it against the requirement before it goes into the file.

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One, and it is priced per file like everything else: • Appointment booking — ₹1,500 onwards per file. Slot securing at VFS or BLS, so you don't have to fight the refresh war yourself. Refusal Recovery is not an add-on but a service in its own right (File Analyzer: Refusal, ₹8,999 onwards per file). Everything else your file needs — the document list, the cover letter, the itinerary, the form and the review — is part of the New Application price, not a paid extra.

No. You can book your own appointment using the Portal Entry Guide. The appointment booking add-on (₹1,500 per file) is for applicants who want to skip the slot-hunting refresh war. It is especially valuable during peak season (March to August) when slots vanish in seconds.

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A Dummy Flight Itinerary is a verifiable flight reservation document you can submit with your visa application without buying actual tickets. The reservation is genuine and verifiable by the consulate and not a fake, but you don't pay the full ticket price unless you choose to. This protects you from losing money on flights if your visa is delayed or refused. Schengen consulates accept dummy flight reservations as standard, as long as they're verifiable. A reservation the consulate cannot check is worse than no reservation at all.

Same principle as the Dummy Flight: a verifiable hotel reservation document for the dates of your trip, without the full pre-paid commitment. Schengen consulates accept these as proof of accommodation. Once your visa is approved, you can convert to real bookings or change them entirely. The same rule applies as with flights: it has to be verifiable, and it has to match the dates on your itinerary.

You can buy from anywhere, as long as the policy meets Schengen requirements: €30,000 minimum medical coverage, valid across all Schengen states, and covering the entire trip duration. Many Indian travel insurance products meet this standard. You buy it yourself, from whoever you like: we don't sell insurance and take no commission on it. On a New Application we check the policy you've bought against every one of those requirements before it goes into the file.

Yes. Appointment booking (₹1,500 per file) can be added to any of our services, at any point before your slot is taken. It is charged per file, like everything else, so a family adds it for each traveller who needs a slot.

If your visa is refused, the consulate will issue a refusal letter listing one or more reasons under Article 32 of the EU Visa Code. The letter is the most important document in any refusal. It tells you exactly what the consulate flagged. From there, you have two options: appeal the decision, or reapply with a stronger file. Which one makes sense depends on the reason for refusal. Our Refusal Recovery service helps you decide and rebuild.

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Refusal Recovery is Unbordr's service for applicants who have been refused. On the price list it is File Analyzer: Refusal, ₹8,999 onwards per file. We: • Read your refusal letter and identify the exact reasons cited. • Do a full assessment of your original file to find the weak points. • Decide with you whether to appeal or to reapply. • If reapplying, we rebuild the file from the ground up: stronger documents, clearer cover letter, better itinerary. • If appealing, we draft a structured appeal letter addressing each reason cited. If you then want us to build the fresh application as well, we quote that on your call.

Yes. There's no legally required waiting period. But you shouldn't reapply with the same file. The same file gets the same outcome. Take the time to read your refusal letter, identify what was flagged, and rebuild the parts of the file that were weak. Most successful re-applications take 3 to 6 weeks of careful preparation, not a quick same-week resubmission.

Read the full answer: How Long Should I Wait Before Reapplying After a Schengen Visa Refusal?4 min

It depends on the reason for refusal: If the consulate appears to have made a clear factual error (for example, they say a document was missing when you submitted it), an appeal makes sense. If the issue was a weak file (insufficient ties, weak financials, vague itinerary), reapplying with a properly rebuilt file is usually faster and more effective. Our Refusal Recovery service helps you make this decision based on your specific refusal letter.

Read the full answer: My Schengen Visa Was Refused, Should I Appeal or Reapply?6 min

It's logged, yes. Every Schengen application asks whether you've been previously refused, and you must declare it. But a single refusal does not permanently block future applications. A clean re-application that addresses the original refusal reason often succeeds, even at the same consulate. What does cause long-term issues is failing to declare a previous refusal. Always declare. Hiding it is the one thing that genuinely damages your chances.

Read the full answer: Will a Schengen Visa Refusal Affect My Future Visa Applications to Other Countries?5 min

No. Nobody honest can guarantee a Schengen visa approval. The decision sits entirely with the consulate. What Unbordr promises is the strongest possible file: a clean document set, a cover letter and itinerary written around your specific profile, expert review of every weak spot, and clear guidance on the rest. That meaningfully lowers the chance of refusal. It does not eliminate it.

Our service fee covers the work of preparing the file, which is delivered regardless of the consulate's decision. So there's no automatic refund on a refusal. What we do instead is rebuild. Refusal Recovery (File Analyzer: Refusal, ₹8,999 onwards per file) starts from the refusal letter and works out what the consulate actually flagged, and the fresh application that follows is quoted on your call. The next attempt is genuinely stronger, not just resubmitted.

The Family Bundle is how Unbordr runs a family travelling together. It is not a separate package with its own price: every traveller gets their own file at the standard per-file rate (from ₹6,999 for an adult, 50% of that for a minor), and the family is handled as one coordinated case, with: • A single shared dashboard view so the lead applicant can track everyone. • Synchronised cover letters and itinerary across all applicants. • Financial sponsorship documentation between family members. • Special handling for minors: birth certificates, parental consent, school NOCs. • Coordinated appointment booking so the family submits at the same VFS centre on the same day where possible.

A family Schengen application is not just a few individual applications stapled together. The cover letters need to align, the itinerary must be a shared trip, financial sponsorship between family members has to be cleanly documented, and minors require additional paperwork. Generic agents often miss this and end up with mismatched files that raise red flags at the consulate. The Family Bundle is built specifically to avoid that.

It's possible but more complex. If a minor is travelling alone or with only one parent, the consulate requires notarised consent from the non-travelling parent (or both, in the case of unaccompanied minors). The Family Bundle handles this paperwork as part of the standard flow.

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For minors travelling on a Schengen visa, the file typically includes: • Birth certificate of the child. • Both parents' identity documents. • School bonafide letter and leave approval. • Notarised parental consent if one or both parents are not travelling. • Sponsor's financial documents (the funding parent's bank statements, ITRs, salary slips).

Yes. The Family Bundle is designed for multi-generational trips. Grandparents are treated as additional family applicants with their own age-appropriate documents (pension proof, retirement certificate, age-appropriate insurance), all coordinated with the rest of the family file.

It's strongly recommended, and we coordinate this whenever possible. Submitting together at the same centre keeps the file genuinely a family file and simplifies biometric handling. If logistics don't allow same-day submission, we plan around it, but same centre and same week is the minimum we aim for.

We accept the standard Indian online payment methods: UPI, debit and credit cards, and net banking. Payment is taken at the start of your application through a secure payment gateway. You'll receive an invoice for your records.

Yes. Our service fee is paid upfront, per file, when you start the application. Add-ons are paid when you choose to add them. The visa fee and VFS service fee are paid separately by you, directly at the appointment, in INR.

Our refund policy is simple and transparent: If you cancel before we begin work on your file (typically within 24 hours of payment), you get a full refund minus the payment gateway charge. If you cancel after we've started work, refunds are pro-rated based on what's been delivered. Once the file is delivered to you, the service fee is non-refundable, regardless of the consulate's decision. The work is complete. If your visa is refused, you can use Refusal Recovery (₹8,999 onwards per file) for a structured rebuild. Add-on services are non-refundable once delivered.

Yes. We treat applicant data with the seriousness it deserves. These are passports, bank statements and personal documents. Your documents are stored securely, accessible only to authorised Unbordr team members reviewing your file, and never shared with third parties beyond what's required for your visa application. We do not sell, rent or repurpose applicant data.

Your documents remain accessible to you through your dashboard for at least the duration of your visa validity, in case you need to reapply or reference them. You can request deletion of your data at any time after your visa journey is complete. We follow standard data retention practices in line with Indian data protection norms.

Three things you can check before you commit: • We publish our pricing openly. Scammers don't. • We don't promise approvals. Scammers do, often with phrases like "guaranteed" or "100% approval rate." • We're transparent about who we are: our company details, our founder and our refund policy are all available on the site. If you're still unsure, write to us with any question. A real service replies; a scam goes silent.

No. The price you agree at sign-up is your service fee for that file. We will only ask for additional payment if you choose to add appointment booking (₹1,500 per file), add another traveller's file, or come back later for Refusal Recovery, and the prices for all of those are published. We will never ask for surprise fees, "processing money" paid to a personal UPI ID, or any payment outside our official payment system.

You can reach us through: • Email: our standard support channel, included with every service we sell. • Website chat: during business hours. • DMs on our official social channels (Instagram, YouTube), recognisable by the verified handle and the Unbordr logo. Once you're an active applicant, your dashboard becomes the primary channel for everything related to your application. We respond to all genuine queries within one working day.