Hey everyone, pushing to prod on my Europe solo trip plans soon. I’m a 3rd-year engineering student from India, also working as an SDE intern.
Layout: 10 days in the Netherlands, 5 in Spain (15 days total).
Logic check: I have NOCs from both college and employer, plus stipend slips. currently, I have ~1200 EUR liquid in my account and ~7000 EUR in Bank FDs.
I know 1200 is on the lower side. My father (Govt employee, ~20k EUR balance) can sponsor me.
Should I optimize for independence using my funds + FDs, or integrate the sponsorship to debug any potential rejection reasons? Applying next week. Tips for optimized approval?
Observe the detail. While 1200 EUR mathematically covers the daily requirement (usually around 34-55 EUR depending on the country), consulates look closer at students. The Netherlands can be expensive, and history helps us predict that they prefer abundant financial proof over ‘just enough.’ Your father’s sponsorship is the ‘Ancient wisdom’ here—it provides a verified foundation. Why risk the architecture of your trip on a weak foundation? Greetings from Egypt.
I’d suggest including your father’s financial documents as well. It only makes your case stronger, especially since you’re still a student and the €1,200 liquid balance is a bit low for a 15-day trip.You can still show your own funds and stipend slips to prove independence, but adding your father as a sponsor helps avoid any doubts about money. Since he’s a government employee with a good balance, that works in your favour. For the FDs, try to get a letter from the bank stating that they can be encashed at any time. That helps a lot, because visa officers don’t always count FDs unless this is clearly mentioned. Overall, showing your funds, stipend and your father’s support is the safest and strongest approach.