Austria Schengen Visa Rollercoaster: 7 Applications, 5 Rejected, Reappealed via Email - Approvals received on Day of Travel

Sharing our Austria Schengen visa journey to help anyone dealing with group applications, rejections, and last-minute stress.

We were a family of 7 applying for tourist visas via VFS Chandigarh for a summer Europe trip (Austria + a few Schengen countries). We submitted everything in April 2025, thinking we were well ahead of time.

To our shock, only 2 members were approved, and the remaining 5 were rejected with the reason: “Purpose of travel not justified.” It was devastating — we had booked international and intra-Schengen flights, stays, insurance — everything.

Instead of reapplying, we submitted a reconsideration email to the Austrian Embassy, explaining our intent clearly: it was a family vacation, we had previous travel history, confirmed return flights, and strong ties to India.

Slowly, the visas started coming in — 4 out of the 5 were approved over the next few days. But one application (mine) was still stuck in “under processing”… even the day before departure.

We followed up repeatedly, requesting an urgent update, and finally — in a movie-style twist — the last visa was approved and delivered on the morning of our travel date. I checked the tracking every hour. So we had to push back the trip by a few days and suffered some losses. The process is certainly tedious and very unpredictable. The visa process was one of the most emotionally and financially draining experiences we’ve had.

Takeaways: Group applications = individual outcomes. Don’t assume everyone will be approved together. Apply at least 60–75 days in advance. Embassy workloads are unpredictable. Always prepare a solid itinerary and cover letter. Reconsideration via email can work. It’s worth trying before reapplying. Don’t give up hope. Even the most delayed visa can come through at the last minute.

Hope this helps someone who’s currently refreshing their VFS status page for the 12th time today.