Frequently Asked Questions

The whole trip. Route and itinerary design, budgets, accommodation logic, travel-health planning and timing come first; Schengen documentation is one part of the work, not the point of it. If all you need is the trip itself, that is a normal engagement, not an exception.

The Schengen area and its neighbours — we publish 29 country guides spanning Western, Northern, Central, Southern and Eastern Europe, and build multi-country routes across them. If a route crosses outside the Schengen area, we plan around the border implications rather than pretending they are not there.

Three self-serve planners, free and with no sign-up: a trip budget calculator, a cost-per-country comparison built on official Eurostat price data, and a Schengen document checklist that adapts to your situation. Everything you type stays in your browser.

Earlier than most people expect. Visa applications can be lodged up to six months before travel, appointment availability often adds weeks, and good accommodation in peak season goes early. Working backwards from your travel dates — route, then bookings, then documentation — is the sequence that avoids collisions.

No. DURIAN is an educational visa application strategy consultancy. We do not provide legal advice, legal representation, or any service that constitutes the practice of immigration law. For legal advice, you should consult a qualified immigration attorney.

No — and no honest service can. Visa decisions are made by embassy and consulate officers based on their assessment of your application. We help you prepare the strongest possible application, but we have no influence over consular decisions.

A free 20-minute consultation where we review your current visa preparation strategy and identify the specific areas you need to strengthen before submitting your application.

No. We provide educational guidance on how to prepare your application. You are responsible for submitting your own application to the relevant embassy or consulate.

Our primary focus is the Schengen tourist visa (Type C), but many of our document strategy principles apply to UK Visitor Visas, US tourist visas, and other non-immigrant visa types. We'll tell you clearly in the audit whether your specific visa type is within our expertise.

Yes — refusal analysis and reapplication strategy is one of our core services. We can help you decode your refusal letter and build a stronger application for resubmission.

Yes. Self-employed applicants often face unique challenges with financial proof documentation. We specialise in helping freelancers, contractors, and business owners understand what financial documents to gather and how to present them.

Visa agencies typically submit applications on your behalf and may have formal relationships with embassies. We are a purely educational service — we teach you how to prepare your documents, but you submit the application yourself. This means lower cost, more transparency, and more control for you.

We provide services in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French. Please let us know your preferred language when booking.

Yes, all sessions are conducted online via video call. We work with clients globally.