Denmark visit visa for Pakistan passport holders

Denmark splits the process into an online step and an in-person step. First, fill in the application and pay the visa fee online through ApplyVisa on the Danish authorities' New to Denmark site, then print and sign the cover letter. Next, take that letter, your supporting documents and your passport to Gerry's Visa Service Center. The Embassy of Denmark in Islamabad uses Gerry's for all short-stay applications, with centres in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. The Embassy does not accept applications directly, and biometrics are taken at Gerry's unless you are told otherwise. Gerry's charges its own service fee on top of the visa fee.

If you are visiting someone, your host has a part to play. The Embassy recommends that your host fills in the Danish invitation form (VU1 or VU2, depending on the visa type) on New to Denmark. You then give the invitation ID, and a paper invitation is only needed if the host is from Iceland, Greenland or the Faroe Islands. Include your host's name and address, CPR number, a colour copy of their passport and an explanation of how you know each other. The Embassy says tourist visas do not need an invitation letter, but every applicant must show where they will stay, either with a hotel booking or proof that they will stay with the host.

The rest of Denmark's checklist is short but strict. You need a valid passport and one 35 x 45 mm photo. You also need travel medical insurance valid in all Schengen countries with at least €30,000 of cover from an approved insurer, and a return flight reservation for a stay of no more than 90 days. The Embassy recommends not buying your ticket until the visa is approved. It warns that if supporting documents are missing, the application may be refused and the fee lost, so bring everything at once, with clear copies.

The Embassy is open about who usually gets a visa. It says Pakistan is in Denmark's Group 5, which means visas to visit siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends are not commonly granted, although there can be exceptions. Children's cases are not decided separately, and a child gets the same decision as their parents.

The Embassy says processing takes up to 15 days when it decides a case itself, including a Schengen consultation check of 7 to 10 days. A case passed to the Danish Immigration Service can take 45 days. The Embassy calls a decision within two weeks unrealistic and asks applicants not to phone for updates. If you are refused, read the letter carefully, because it explains whether an individual or automatic appeal applies. Approved passports are collected from Gerry's, and someone else can collect yours with a power of attorney and the original Gerry's receipt. The Embassy also warns that agents who sell documents or visa stamps deal in fakes, which usually lead to refusal.