Student & academic
Course places, tuition evidence and maintenance funds, assembled the way the mission expects to read them.
National long-stay routes
Long Stay & Residence
National long-stay categories where the paperwork runs deeper — student, employment, family reunification, digital nomad and investor routes.
Overview
What this actually involves.
A long-stay application is a different animal to a short visit. You are not asking to pass through for a fortnight; you are asking a country to let you live in it, and the file it expects is correspondingly deeper — means, accommodation, insurance, qualifications, and a reason this particular category fits you.
So we establish which national category you actually qualify under before anything is drafted, then build the file to that category's own published requirements. Applying under a route that nearly fits is the expensive mistake here: it usually costs the fee, the wait and the travel date together.
What we handle
What this covers.
Employment & skilled work
Permit and sponsorship routes, including the employer paperwork the consulate asks the applicant to produce.
Family reunification
Joining a spouse, partner, parent or child, with the relationship evidence and hosting documents in order.
Digital nomad & self-employed
Remote-work and freelance categories, where income history and where it comes from is usually the deciding evidence.
Investor & business establishment
Routes tied to investment or setting up a company, prepared against that country's own thresholds.
Filed as a national long-stay application, not a Schengen short-stay.
How we help
- Confirming which national category you qualify under
- Building the supporting evidence around that category
- Completing the national forms, which are rarely the Schengen ones
- Arranging certified translations and legalisation where they are required
- Booking the appointment at the correct consulate or centre
- Tracking the file, and starting renewals before they lapse
What you will need
- A passport valid well beyond the stay you are applying for
- Evidence you meet the category — an offer, a course place, a relationship or an income
- Proof of accommodation for the period applied for
- Evidence of funds, usually as statements across several months
- Health insurance valid in the destination country
- Police certificates and medical reports where the route asks for them
- Certified translations of anything not already in the destination's language
Indicative — we confirm the exact list for your case
Questions
The ones we are asked most.
Which category should I apply under?
That is the first thing we work out, and it is worth doing carefully. Categories that look interchangeable from outside often have entirely different evidence requirements, and a file built for the wrong one is usually refused on its own terms rather than corrected.
How long does a long-stay decision take?
Longer than a short-stay visa, and it varies by country, category and time of year. Each mission publishes its own expectation and we tell you the current one before you commit to dates or give notice anywhere.
Can I apply while I am already in the country?
Sometimes, but many long-stay routes require the application to be made from your country of residence before you travel. We confirm which applies to your route before anything is submitted.
Will my documents need translating?
Often, and usually by a translator the destination recognises rather than any translator. Where that is the case we arrange it, and at the right point in the sequence — translating before a document has been legalised generally means doing it twice.
Tell us what you are trying to do.
Describe the situation and we will confirm the route, the documents and the cost — in writing — before any work begins.