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Schengen refusal formulae can be difficult to understand sometimes.

When an applicant receives a refusal with "Justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not provided", what does it mean?

When you see "Justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not provided" on a Schengen refusal, it usually means that they decided that the application was either 'incoherent', or not credible, or both.

Incoherence

Coherence has a special meaning in the Schengen vocabulary; it means clear, sensible, consistent, and most importantly, understandable. An 'incoherent' application lacks these qualities. Coherent applications will generally succeed; incoherent applications will not. Some examples of incoherence are given in the handbook...

• an applicant claims to travel to an industrial area, staying in a cheap hotel, for the purpose of tourism;


• an applicant claims to visit a professional event at dates that do not correspond to the actual dates of the event;


• an applicant claims that the purpose of the trip is to visit a friend, but it turns out that the person concerned is absent during that period;


• a trader in jewellery claims to have been invited to attend a medical conference.

While these examples may not correspond to your situation, they have a common thread where the application was not consistent with the applicant's job, status, or apparent life-style.

Premise

Incoherence also includes applications that did not successfully establish a premise for the visit. Commonly, there is no apparent connection between the applicant's itinerary and his career, apparent life-style, or financial capacity. Some examples of this are...

• an applicant expresses interest in an event or geographic area for which there are no signs of previous interest;


• an applicant presents a letter of invitation from a sponsor whose relationship with the applicant is unclear or distant;


• an applicant is continually sponsored by the same person where there is no apparent justification for visiting that person;


• an applicant cannot establish why a visit is contemplated at this particular time.

Credibility

An applicant's credibility can also result in a refusal reason of "Justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not provided".

Some examples of credibility problems are...

• The applicant has an existing support network of friends or family that would easily enable them to break the rules;


• A disproportionate amount of income is being spent for the visit;


• The applicant has changed stories over the course of several interactions with Schengen officials and their credibility has been damaged;


• The decision-maker cannot determine if the funds really belong to the applicant;


• The decision-maker cannot determine if the funds were obtained legally;


• The applicant has a history of prior refusals and there is no visible change in circumstances;


• The applicant's submission contains gaps or evidential shortfalls that cannot be explained;


• The applicant is going to a location where previous visa holders have entered breach;


• The sponsor has a dubious status, or has sponsored people who have entered breach;


• The sponsor attempts to attest to things that are beyond his control (like guaranteeing that the person will not overstay).

Appeal

All of the Schengen members offer a judicial remedy for a refusal, namely to appeal the decision. Each member has their own procedure and the particulars are too ponderous to cover here, but a refusal is accompanied with an explanation of how to proceed if the applicant wants to appeal. There is a great discussion about the decision to make an appeal here.

Fresh Application

The other option is to correct the deficiencies in your original application and apply again. This way is invariably faster and cheaper and there is no required interval or "cooling-off period" between successive applications. However, it's important to recognize that a fresh application made immediately after a refusal is a recipe for disaster when one of the refusal reasons is "Justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not provided". Before lodging a fresh application you need to understand precisely what brought about the refusal (especially if your credibility has been negatively assessed). For the best results, a fresh application should contain one or more of these...

• An explanation of why you think the refusal happened;


• An explanation of how your circumstances have changed since the refusal;


• If the decision-maker relied upon an assumption that was adverse to you, then a brief clarification may be helpful;


• If the decision-maker did not (apparently) examine evidence that was favourable to you, then a brief statement highlighting this may be helpful;


• An itemized list of the evidence you are submitting to correct the problem(s) along with why you think each item will be helpful;

Legal Counsel

Understanding the various Schengen refusal formulae can be daunting. If you do not understand how "Justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not provided" applies to your case, or you are unsure of what evidence you can use to have a better result, then it's advisable to arrange a consultation with a lawyer who operates a practice area in Schengen visas.

The downside is that you may get scammed, especially if you are in Africa or South Asia. For this reason, a safe strategy is to instruct a lawyer who is licensed to practice in the member state you are applying to. Each member state operates a professional body that licenses lawyers and regulates their practice in accordance with EU standards.

In Spain, for example, it is the CONSEJO GENERAL DE LA ABOGACÍA ESPAÑOLA

In Belgium, One such organisation is the Ordre des barreaux francophones

For others, you can use the search portal offered by The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE).

Note that lawyers of this calibre will attract a fee for their services.

Combinations

In some of the more egregious cases, a refusal will also have this reason: "Your intention to leave the territory of the member state before the expiry of visa could not be ascertained". In these cases, the decision-maker concluded that you were not a bona fide applicant.

General Tips

1. Tell the truth;


2. Be sure your financial evidence contains movements that are well explained;


3. Include all foreign travel in an itemized list;


4. Be sure your visit is explained with a plausible itinerary;


5. Don't make vacuous, inane promises about your intentions;


6. Don't let your hosts make assurances about your intentions they can't keep;