A flight booking is a document of the detailed plan of your flight or trip to a specific country. In fact, it is only a flight/travel schedule on the chosen airline, including a flight name, traveller’s name, a valid flight booking number, arrival and departure dates and airport IATA codes.Embassies and consulates generally require a return flight reservation and not a one-way flight booking.

Now, after seeing what a flight itinerary, a plane ticket, a plane reservation and a dummy airfare are, let’s see why embassies and consulates ask for it and how can we book a flight without making the full payment.

Why do embassies and consulates ask for it?Most embassies and consulates around the world do not require visa applicants to book a plane ticket, knowing that if a visa is denied, it will be inevitable that the applicant will lose his or her money. They even indicate in the list of documents required for the visa application that applicants are not obliged to purchase the tickets, but only to book the flight.

And, only after you get your visa, you can buy the ticket you booked or cancel it and buy more on the most appropriate dates, during the validity period of your visa.However, there may be exceptions where embassies or consulates, in specific cases, will ask you to purchase a round-trip airfare before the interview with your visa.As proof you won’t be too long

travel itinerary for visa

The main reason why the embassy or consulate of your destination country asks you for proof of a return flight itinerary is that they want to ensure that your visa does not stay in too long and that you will return to your country of origin before it expires.As a round-trip booking indicates departure and arrival in your home country, it is a compelling document that you will return. This means that you must book a return flight, otherwise your booking would make no sense.

However, this does not mean that the embassy or consulate will issue you a visa. You will have other documents to submit in addition to the flight itinerary. You will also need to pay attention to these documents.

Deciding how long the visa will lastAnother reason is to decide how long your visa will last. The officials of the embassy or consulate with which you apply decide the length of your visa based on the outbound flight so that you can obtain a visa allowing you to stay in your destination country for as long as you wish. , and not for a shorter period of time.

Deciding which embassy you should apply toThe consular officer also wants to make sure that you are applying to the right embassy, in case you plan to travel to more than two countries. For example, if you are applying for a ten-day Schengen visa for a short stay, with which you plan to stay seven days in France and three days in Germany, then instead of applying for a Schengen Germany visa, you must apply for a France visa. Schengen visa at the French embassy or consulate in your home country. But if you plan to spend five days in France and five more in Germany, you will need to go to the embassy of the country where you plan to land first.