We confirm the correct consulate first.
Before anything else, we settle which country's consulate must receive your application. Getting this wrong costs you the whole timeline, not part of it.
Schengen Visa Processing Time: How Long It Really Takes from the UK
The consulate's decision takes 15 calendar days in most cases. That is not the number that catches people out. The appointment you need before that can be weeks away, and almost nobody counts it.
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Independent consultancy. Not affiliated with any government, embassy, consulate, VFS Global, TLScontact, BLS International or GVCW. Official visa fees are paid directly to the relevant authority.
The extractable answer
How long does a Schengen visa take from the UK?
A Schengen visa decision normally takes 15 calendar days from the day the consulate receives your application. It can extend to 45 days where additional checks are needed. But the full wait is longer than that, because you must first attend a biometric appointment, and appointment availability is usually the tighter constraint. Counting both, a realistic total from first enquiry to passport in hand is six to twelve weeks.
The information gain
Calendar days or working days? They are not the same
This is the detail that costs people trips, and almost nothing online resolves it.
The Visa Code sets the standard decision period at 15 calendar days. That is what the European Commission publishes.
Several embassies and visa centres describe the same period as 15 working days. The German Embassy in London, for example, states its processing time in working days.
Fifteen calendar days is a fortnight and a day. Fifteen working days is three full weeks, and more if a bank holiday lands in the middle. That is a difference of roughly six days on a countdown to a flight, and if you have planned to the calendar figure while your consulate is working to the other one, you can be a week short without having done anything wrong.
What to do about it. Work to the longer number. Assume 15 working days, then add margin on top for the appointment. If a consulate beats it, you have lost nothing. If you plan to the shorter figure and your consulate uses the longer one, you have no room at all.
Why people miss flights
The two clocks nobody separates
Almost every page that answers this question quotes the 15 day figure and stops. That is only the second half of the wait.
Clock one: getting an appointment. You cannot submit anything until you have attended a biometric appointment at the visa application centre for your destination. Availability varies by country, by centre and by season, and it is the part of the process furthest outside your control.
Clock two: the consulate's decision. This is the 15 day period, running from when the consulate receives your file after your appointment. Where extra checks apply it can reach 45 days.
The two clocks run one after the other, not at the same time. That is why people who allow "about three weeks" for a summer trip miss it. The decision was never the problem.
Stage by stage
The timeline, stage by stage
| Stage | Typical time |
|---|---|
| Preparing your documents | A few days to two weeks, depending on what you need to obtain |
| Waiting for a biometric appointment | Varies widely by country, centre and season. Usually the longest single wait |
| Consulate decision after your appointment | 15 days standard. Check whether your consulate counts calendar or working days |
| Where additional checks apply | Up to 45 days |
| Passport return | A few days after the decision |
You may submit your application up to six months before you travel, and no later than 15 days before. Applying early is the single most effective thing you can do, and it is free.
The urgency question
Can I get a Schengen visa in a week?
Sometimes, and it is not something anyone can promise you.
There is no official fast track for a Schengen short-stay visa. The 15 day decision period belongs to the consulate and no agency can shorten it. What determines whether a one-week turnaround is possible is almost entirely whether an appointment happens to be available, which is outside everyone's control including ours.
If you have a week and no appointment, the honest answer is usually no. If you have a week and an appointment already booked, it may be possible, and it depends on the consulate.
We will tell you which of those you are in at the first message rather than take a fee and hope.
Avoidable delays
What actually makes an application slower
Applying in peak season.
Spring through late summer is when appointment demand is highest.
Applying to the wrong consulate.
If your file goes to the wrong country it can be refused on that basis alone, and you start again from the appointment queue with a refusal now on your record.
A file that raises questions.
Financial evidence that does not clearly support the trip, or an itinerary that does not match the bookings, is what triggers the extended examination that turns 15 days into 45. A cover letter that does not invite questions is part of the answer.
A previous refusal that has not been addressed.
Resubmitting the same file that was refused invites the same scrutiny.
Leaving it late.
Applying three weeks before travel means competing for an appointment that may not exist.
Honestly
Can you make it faster?
Partly, and it is worth being honest about which parts.
What nobody can speed up.
No agency, including us, can accelerate a consulate's decision. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something they cannot deliver.
What can genuinely be improved.
Being ready to move the moment an appointment is available, and submitting a file that does not invite extra checks. Those two things account for most of the difference between a smooth application and a slow one.
A word on choosing a faster country.
Some consulates do decide more quickly than others, and you will find lists of them online. It does not help you, because you do not get to choose. Your application must go to the consulate of your main destination, meaning the country where you will spend the most nights. If your nights are split equally, it is the country you enter first. Applying elsewhere because it looks faster is visa shopping, and it is a reason for refusal rather than a shortcut.
Conversion
How we work the timeline
The order is deliberate. Each stage constrains the next.
The appointment sets the schedule.
The appointment is the binding constraint, so we identify the correct centre for your destination, tell you exactly what its booking or registration process requires, and make sure your file is ready to move the moment a date is available. Everything else is built backwards from that date rather than hoping a slot appears once the papers are ready.
The audit happens before submission.
Every document is checked line by line before your appointment. Catching a problem at that point costs an afternoon. Catching it after submission can cost the 45 day examination, or the trip. This is the heart of how we prepare a file.
Abdul Mateen, who founded the practice, reads the cases himself. Our fee starts from £95, confirmed in writing before any work begins.
What travellers say
Reviews from people who sat where you are sitting
Rated 4.5 out of 5 based on 27 reviews
- September 2026
Lalian Sen
My Schengen visa just got approved. The agent helped me throughout the process. Just respond with the info they ask and they’ll sort out everything else for you in no time!
Verified Trustpilot review - August 2026
Mahesh Patil
Excellent and prompt service! Very efficient team with quick responses, smooth booking, and all documents handled professionally. Really pleased with the overall service.
Verified Trustpilot review - July 2026
Nayya Hassan
It was my first time applying for a Schengen visa and Fly Pass Holidays made the process so easy and seamless. I got a multiple entry Italy visa for 4 months within just two weeks of application. Highly recommend their services!
Verified Trustpilot review
Straight answers
Common questions about timing
Official references: EU Home Affairs, Schengen visa policy · Companies House, Flypass Holidays Limited
No. Flypass Holidays Limited is a private consultancy registered in England and Wales, company number 16891200. We are not affiliated with any government, embassy or consulate, nor with VFS Global, TLScontact, BLS International or Global Visa Center World. We cannot issue a visa and we cannot influence a decision.
The consulate's decision normally takes 15 days from the date it receives your application, extending to 45 days where additional checks apply. The appointment you must attend before that is usually the longer wait. A realistic total from first enquiry to passport in hand is six to twelve weeks.
The Visa Code sets it in calendar days. Several embassies and visa centres publish the same period in working days, which is roughly six days longer. Check what your consulate states, and plan to the longer figure either way.
There is no official fast track. The fastest realistic case is someone who already has an appointment and a complete file, and even then the decision belongs to the consulate. If you do not yet have an appointment, the appointment is your timeline, not the 15 days.
It does not matter, because you do not get to choose. Your application must go to the consulate of your main destination. Applying to a country because it looks faster is visa shopping, and it is grounds for refusal rather than a shortcut.
Up to six months before you travel, and no later than 15 days before. Applying early is the single most effective thing you can do about your timeline, and it costs nothing.
No. Nobody can, and you should be wary of anyone who says otherwise. What we can do is tell you honestly at the first message whether your dates are realistic. If they are not, we say so rather than take the fee.
Contact the visa application centre handling your file first, since they hold the tracking. If your dates are genuinely at risk, changing a flight is usually cheaper than losing it. We would rather tell you that early than reassure you and be wrong.
Ask before you book anything.
Tell us your travel dates and where you are going, and you will get a straight answer about whether the timeline works. Including when the answer is that it does not.
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