How to Track Your Schengen Visa Status on VFS Global

VFS Global has an online tracker for every Schengen application it accepts in India, but it trips people up. It says “invalid input” when you're on the wrong country's page, rejects correct numbers typed the Blue Dart way, and keeps asking you to retype the verification words. Here's how to get through it, and what the answer means once you do.

Step 1: open your country's tracking page

The tracker is different for every country. The form looks the same everywhere, but a Netherlands number entered on the Germany tracker (or a generic “VFS tracking” page from a search result) is reported as invalid. Start from your country's page on the VFS India website:

• Netherlands
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Austria
• Belgium
• Switzerland
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Latvia
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Bulgaria

On that page, click “track your visa application status online”. It opens the tracking form, whose heading names your country, for example “Apply For Visa to The Netherlands In India”. If the heading names another country, you're on the wrong form.

Spain isn't on the list because its applications go through BLS International, which has its own tracker.

Step 2: enter your receipt number, with the slashes

The form asks for three things:

1. Application Reference Number: the number on the receipt or invoice VFS gave you at the centre, exactly as printed, slashes included, for example NLD/BLR/210826/0012/01. This is the opposite of Blue Dart, where you leave the slashes out.
2. Last Name: as it appears in your passport.
3. The text in the image (the “verification words”).

Numbers from earlier steps won't work here either: the code from the online application form (for the Netherlands it starts with NEDL), your appointment confirmation, or your passport number. Travelling as a family? Each person has their own receipt number, ending 01, 02, 03, and you check each one separately.

“Invalid input” or “verification words are incorrect”

• Invalid input / no record: almost always the wrong country's form, or the number typed without slashes. Go back to step 1 and use your country's link.
• The verification words are incorrect: the image is hard to read and the form is fussy. Reload the page for a new image rather than retyping over the old one. Several applicants tell us it takes a few attempts, even with everything right.

What the VFS statuses mean

The wording varies a little by country, but you'll see roughly these stages:

1. Application received at the Visa Application Centre: VFS has your passport and documents.
2. Forwarded / processed to the embassy: your file has gone to the embassy or consulate, usually within a day or two.
3. Under process at the embassy: the embassy is deciding. This is where you'll spend almost the whole wait, and it doesn't change until the decision is made. What “under process” really means.
4. Processed passport received at the centre / dispatched via courier: the decision is made and your passport is on its way back, or ready to collect.

VFS never tells you whether the visa was approved. You find out when you open the envelope.

The VFS tracker is usually the last to know

The VFS tracker often lags behind, and the dispatch SMS or email many applicants pay for often arrives late or not at all. Two places show movement sooner:

• Blue Dart. Your passport shows up there the evening it leaves VFS, searchable by your receipt number. How to track your passport on Blue Dart (includes a helper that builds the link for you).
• VisaTrackr. Before your own passport moves, our tracker shows which application dates the embassy is sending back now, for your country and VFS centre, from Blue Dart dispatches we check several times a day.