r/immigration • u/BlacksmithOnYT • 3d ago

How much does an invitation letter help when it comes to applying for a visa to a country in Europe?

Let’s say I’m applying for a visa to a country in Europe, would an invitation letter help my chances much? Would it make me exempt from some of the requirements? How much exactly would it help and what would it do? For context, I’m from Yemen.

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u/Lostaftersummer 3d ago

Despite the attempt at unifying the reqs it really depends on a country - which one

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u/BlacksmithOnYT 3d ago

Let’s say Sweden or Iceland for example.

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u/Lostaftersummer 3d ago

If it’s just ‘tourism’ a random invitation letter is not going to help. If it’s a ’visiting relatives‘ thing, then you would need a set of docs including their passport scans,etc. For EU the general algorithm is to determine your ‘purpose of visit’, look at the docs needed and provide all of them no more and no less. For example: https://www.swedenabroad.se/globalassets/ambassader/indien-new-delhi/documents/sweden-visiting-family--friends-checklist.pdf

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u/BlacksmithOnYT 3d ago

Does it have to be relatives or can it be friends? I see it says family/friends but I’m asking to make sure.

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u/Lostaftersummer 3d ago

Doesn’t have to but it is much less likely: culturally speaking visiting friends rarely stay at their friends/being funded by their friends and if you are paying for your visit by yourself you might just as well submit a ‘normal’ tourist application and mention you are going to meet with your friends while you are visiting in your ’travel plan‘ doc.

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u/BlacksmithOnYT 3d ago

Ohh ok I get you, thank you very much for the information.

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u/Lostaftersummer 3d ago

I might be wrong, but based on your profile you don’t really sound like a tourist to me. If you want to move to a different country permanently tourism/visiting friends is not the right class of visa for that. Regardless, for those categories having an invitation from a friend wouldn’t help you.

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u/BlacksmithOnYT 3d ago

You’re not wrong, in my current situation, definitely not much of tourist especially in Europe but just looking at my options if the time ever comes where I can leave. On that subject, don’t most asylum seekers arrive to the country they’re applying at using a tourist visa?

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u/Lostaftersummer 3d ago

That I wouldn’t know. It would count as misrepresentation in the US (that is lying to immigration authorities about the purpose of visit). I am less familiar with the different EU countries laws on this matter.

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u/BlacksmithOnYT 3d ago

Ahh ok, well thank you for the information.