“Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.”

– African Proverb

Having a Filipino passport comes with certain disadvantages. Being discriminated in those countries with Filipino domestic helpers (which I have experienced in Singapore) is one. And another is the necessity to apply for visa to enter another country. The latter is really a major drawback for Filipino wanderers like me. So far, the Philippine passport ranked 68th in the world based on the Visa Restriction Index. Philippine passport holders can enter 62 countries and territories visa-free or with visa upon arrival. Currently, nationalities from Germany, Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States of America have the most powerful passports in the world, with visa-free (or visa on arrival) entry to 174 countries and territories.

However, having a temporary residence here in Japan gives me some advantages as compared if I am living in the Philippines. It was easy for me to apply for visas in U.S.A., U.K. and Australia (and not so many people are applying). So I thought applying for the Schengen visa will not be that difficult for me.

I have to go to Switzerland to attend a conference on tropical medicine and international health this September. It will be held at the University of Basel and Basel is located at the borders of Switzerland, France (Saint-Louis) and Germany (Weil am Rhein). After much planning, I decided to enter Frankfurt using Japan Airlines. As I have heard from friends who already got Schengen visa before, I should…

1. Apply in the country of your first entry among the Schengen countries.

And among the Schengen European countries, only Germany has a consulate in Sapporo. This will make my application easier and cheaper, as I don’t need to travel by plane. But I have to confirm it first, so I called the German and the Swiss embassy. And they said that…

2. Statement no. 1 is not true. Apply in the country where you will stay the longest.

As I have mentioned earlier, Basel is in the border of three European countries. So I can choose where to stay at night. I decided to book a hotel in Germany, thus making my stay in Germany longer than that in Switzerland. After completing all the requirements for the visa application, I went to Sapporo and applied at the German consulate. They told me to wait after 1 to 2 weeks.

After 3 days, I received an e-mail saying that they cannot process my application because…

3. Statement no. 2 is not true. Apply in the country where you will have your main activity (like conference or meeting).

I felt frustrated because I need to go to Tokyo to apply at the Swiss embassy and the clock is ticking fast. I was just a month away from my departure. So I called the German consulate in Sapporo and asked them to just send my documents to a friend living in Tokyo. There is no need therefore to mail my documents back to Sapporo and then to me in Obihiro. This will save time, I thought.

The next thing I did was to look for a flight to Tokyo. And damn, they are so expensive (70,000 yen just for a domestic flight). It was the “Obon” week, a Buddhist special holiday for Japanese. Without a choice, I just used my mileage for my flight. Before my flight to Tokyo, I decided to change my hotel into the French borders (as it was cheaper than my previous one).

The Swiss embassy is in the Minato area of Tokyo where most of the embassies are also located. When the embassy opened, I was the first one to submit my documents and finished the fastest. Afterwhich, I decided to go to eat something in a fast food restaurant. Then suddenly my phone rang with an unknown number.

It was the Swiss embassy telling me that they could not process my application because…

4. Statement no. 3 is not true. Apply in the country where you will stay at night.

They were asking me to go to the French embassy because I will stay during the night in France. Immediately, I just changed my hotel to Switzerland and sent to them my new hotel reservation thru e-mail. The Swiss embassy told me to wait for 2 to 3 weeks for my visa. This has been the most complicated visa application I have ever done because…

5. I am so confused with these somehow contradicting statements/rules.

I am so confused that I just even want to give up my application. I am already so tired. If they send me a message again to transfer my application to another embassy, I will just go out of my mind (hahaha!).

And thus the lesson of this story: don’t go to the borders of European countries because it will be too confusing for your Schengen visa application (lol!). And I think it is better to apply for a tourist visa rather than a visa for a conference/meeting.

Oh and after 3 days (earlier than I expected), I received my passport back from the Swiss embassy with the Schengen visa. Thanks God!!!