Applying for a Schengen Visa as a Family from the UAE
There is no such thing as a family Schengen visa. Each person — including a baby on a parent’s passport — is a separate application, with a separate form, a separate fee band and a separate decision. What families actually have to manage is the set of extra requirements that only appear once children and a spouse are involved, and those requirements differ sharply from one consulate to the next.
This guide sets out what the EU Visa Code fixes for everyone, and then what four consulates covering the UAE publish differently. If you are still choosing a route, our Schengen document checklist covers the base file and the 90/180 rule covers how long the visa lets you stay.
One application each, including the children
The Visa Code is explicit that being written into someone else’s travel document does not remove the need for an application of your own: “Persons included in the applicant’s travel document shall submit a separate application form.”
For a child, the same article sets who signs: “Minors shall submit an application form signed by a person exercising permanent or temporary parental authority or legal guardianship.” Note the singular — the Code says a person. Several consulates in the UAE require more than that, which is the first place family applications come apart.
What each consulate wants for a minor
These are the published requirements of four missions that decide applications from UAE residents. They are not variations on a theme; they are different procedures.
| Mission | What it publishes for a minor |
|---|---|
| Germany (Dubai) | The form must be “signed by both parents in case of minors, below the age of 18”, plus a “‘Letter of consent’ (Authorization of Minors) from parents, including passport copies and valid UAE residence visa copies of both parents/ legal guardian”. |
| Spain (via its UAE application centre) | “Checklist and Application form must be signed by both parents or legal guardian.” Where one parent has sole custody, “official document to prove this”. |
| Italy (Dubai) | Where the child travels with both parents, the consent letter is signed at the visa centre. Where the child does not, the letters “must be signed by both parents/legal guardians in front of Dubai Notary public, then legalized by MOFA and by Consular Office”. A parent abroad signs at the nearest Italian consulate. |
| Netherlands | Personal attendance regardless of age: “You must appear in person at your appointment to submit your application, even if you’re under 18”, and “Children under the age of 12 must still be present at the appointment.” |
The Italian route is the one to plan around, because a notarised and twice-legalised consent letter is a multi-day errand, not a form. If a parent will not be travelling, start that document before anything else in the file.
Children still attend even though they are not fingerprinted. The Visa Code exempts “children under the age of 12” from giving fingerprints; it does not exempt them from turning up.
Appointments: together, or one each
This is the question families most often get wrong, and the two answers are opposite.
- Italy’s Dubai consulate: “Family members have to apply together.” A family that books staggered slots has a problem.
- The Netherlands: “If you are applying for visas for multiple people, make a separate appointment for each person.” A family that books one slot has a problem.
Book against your own mission’s published instruction, not against what a friend did at a different consulate last year.
The fee is per person, and the child bands are set in law
The fee sits in the Visa Code, so it is the same everywhere, and it is charged per applicant:
| Applicant | Visa fee |
|---|---|
| Adult | EUR 90 — “Applicants shall pay a visa fee of EUR 90.” |
| Child from 6 and under 12 | EUR 45 — “Children from the age of six years and below the age of 12 years shall pay a visa fee of EUR 45.” |
| Child under 6 | Free — a mandatory waiver in the Code |
The European Commission confirmed the current figures when they rose on 11 June 2024: “the fee for a Schengen visa has raised from EUR 80 to EUR 90 for adults and from EUR 40 to EUR 45 for children aged six to below 12 years.”
Two things families assume and should not. First, the Code permits a waiver for children from 6 to under 18, but it is discretionary, and we could find no mission serving the UAE that applies it — the 12-to-17 band pays the full adult fee. Second, the visa fee is not the whole cost: the application centre’s service fee is separate and per person, and Germany’s Dubai consulate states that visa fees there “must be paid upon submission of the above in cash (AED) only”. Fees were checked in September 2026; the euro amounts are set in the Code, the local service charges are not.
Proving the relationship, and the six-month trap
Every mission wants evidence of the relationship — a marriage certificate for a spouse, birth certificates for children. What differs is how much processing that evidence needs, and the range is wide enough that attesting everything by default is the wrong reflex. Our guide to document attestation covers the mechanics of the UAE chain.
- Italy is the most demanding. Certificates issued by a UAE authority “must be: legalized by UAE MOFA and by the relevant Italian Consular Office in the UAE”, translated into Italian by a sworn translator, and the translation legalised too. Originals are required: “Failing to provide original documentation, may result in visa rejection.”
- Germany asks only that “Documents need to be translated into either German or English.”
- Spain wants the marriage certificate translated where the couple hold different nationalities.
The trap is Italy’s validity rule, which catches people who prepared early: “Civil status certificates (e.g. marriage, family status, Custodian appointment, etc) validity is 6 months from issuing date”, and, pointedly, “Note that nor Consular legalization nor Apostille, extend the certificate validity.” A marriage certificate legalised in January is not usable for an Italian application in September. Birth certificates are treated differently — Italy states they have unlimited validity.
When one person pays for everyone
A single earner supporting a travelling family is normal, and missions accommodate it, but they do so in different shapes.
- Spain’s UAE checklist routes dependants to the sponsor’s papers directly: “Housewives, minors and other dependents, sponsor’s salary certificate and bank account statement.”
- Germany asks each applicant for “personal bank statements of at least the last 3 months before application”, and for dependants adds a “copy of sponsor’s valid passport and UAE residence permit to be attached to letter from sponsor.”
- Italy requires UAE statements specifically: “Last 3 months bank statements (foreign bank accounts will not be considered)”. An offshore account, however healthy, does not count there.
- The Netherlands uses a formal instrument and does not let one cover the family: “If you are travelling with other people, everyone will require their own proof of sponsorship, including children.” It also assesses funds per head, and says so for minors: “You need at least €55 per day” and “This also applies if you are under 18 years old.”
Which country the family applies to
One family, one destination consulate. The Visa Code sets the order of the test: the sole destination; failing that, “the Member State whose territory constitutes the main destination of the visit(s) in terms of the length of stay, counted in days, or the purpose of stay”; and only if no main destination can be determined, the state of first entry.
Missions enforce it. Switzerland’s UAE page states that “Applications having a different Schengen country listed as the main destination will not be accepted”, and the Netherlands warns that otherwise “your application will be rejected”. Split the nights across an itinerary and the answer follows from the count, not from which consulate has the earliest appointment.
If one of you is an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen
This is a different procedure and a much lighter one, and families routinely pay for the ordinary route without realising. Directive 2004/38/EC requires that such visas “shall be issued free of charge as soon as possible and on the basis of an accelerated procedure”, and that “Member States shall grant such persons every facility to obtain the necessary visas.”
Missions serving the UAE implement it plainly. Spain’s EU-family checklist states “there is NO VISA CHARGE for this procedure”, while noting its application centre still charges its own administrative fee. The Netherlands states “If you meet the requirements for this visa, you do not need to pay any visa fees”, and its checklist for this route does not ask for proof of funds or travel insurance at all. Italy makes the waiver conditional on the family actually travelling together or joining the EU citizen, and requires tickets showing it.
Two conditions catch people. Italy will not accept “Marriage/civil partnership certificates older than 6 months” on this route. And the relationship evidence must be the right kind — Spain states that “only VALID & RECENT documents issued by the authorities of a Member State entitle you not to pay for your visa.”
Applying from the UAE: check your residence visa first
The Visa Code fixes where you apply: “An application shall be examined and decided on by the consulate of the competent Member State in whose jurisdiction the applicant legally resides.” For a UAE resident that is the UAE, and the mission will look at how much life your residence visa has left. There is no common figure:
| Mission | Remaining validity required on the UAE residence visa |
|---|---|
| Germany | “valid at least three months from the date of expiry of the requested visa / intended end of journey” |
| Italy (tourism) | “valid at least 90 days from the intended return date” |
| Switzerland | “valid for at least one month beyond the planned return from the Schengen area” |
| Spain (tourism) | “a minimum validity of 1 month from the date of expiry of requested visa” |
For a family this compounds, because the residence visas usually expire together. One parent’s renewal falling due inside that window can make the whole family ineligible at one consulate and perfectly fine at another.
Italy adds a jurisdiction rule of its own in Dubai: “Only applicants holding an UAE Residence Visa issued by any ‘Northern Emirates’ authority may apply in Dubai.” The checklist does not define which emirates it counts, so confirm before booking.
Timing a family application
Work backwards from the tightest constraint in the family, not the loosest. Germany states processing “takes up to 15 days” and accepts applications “not more than 180 days prior to the intended date of journey”; the Netherlands allows applications “up to 6 months before your trip”; Italy requires submission “at least 15 days before the intended travel date”; Spain says its process “can take up to 3 weeks after your submission”.
Against that, put the documents that have their own clocks: a notarised consent letter for a child not travelling with both parents, a marriage certificate that must be under six months old on the day of submission, and a residence visa renewal. Those are the items that decide when a family can realistically apply.
If you would rather not assemble this yourself, our visa services desk builds the file against the deciding mission’s own published list, and our how it works page sets out what that involves.
Frequently asked questions
Can one Schengen application cover a whole family?
No. The Visa Code requires a separate application form for every person, including anyone written into a parent’s travel document. Each person is decided individually and each pays their own fee band.
Do both parents have to sign for a child?
The Visa Code requires the signature of a person exercising parental authority. Germany and Spain go further and require both parents to sign, and Italy requires notarised and legalised consent when a child is not travelling with both parents. Check the deciding mission’s own page.
Do babies and small children have to attend the appointment?
At the Netherlands they do, explicitly, including children under 12. Children under 12 are exempt from giving fingerprints under the Visa Code, but that is not the same as being exempt from attending.
How much is the Schengen visa for children?
Free under 6, and EUR 45 from 6 to under 12, both set in the Visa Code. From 12 the adult fee of EUR 90 applies. The Code permits missions to waive the fee up to 18, but we found no mission serving the UAE doing so. Checked September 2026.
Does the whole family book one appointment or one each?
It depends on the mission, and the published answers are opposite. Italy in Dubai states that family members have to apply together; the Netherlands states that a separate appointment must be made for each person.
Which country should a family apply to for a multi-country trip?
The main destination, judged by the length of stay in days or by the purpose of the visit, with the country of first entry used only where no main destination can be determined. Switzerland states it will not accept applications naming a different country as the main destination.
Is the visa free if one of us is an EU citizen?
For a qualifying family member of an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, yes — the directive requires it to be free and on an accelerated procedure. Missions still charge the application centre’s own service fee, and Italy requires evidence that you are travelling with or joining the EU citizen.
How much validity does our UAE residence visa need?
There is no single answer: Germany asks for three months beyond the visa or journey, Italy for 90 days beyond the intended return, Switzerland and Spain for one month. Check the figure for the mission you are applying to before you book.