Visa documentation
Flight reservation for a visa application.
Read the checklist. It tells you which document you need.
Two words, two different documents.
Almost every checklist uses one set of phrases or the other.
It asks for a reservation or a booking
The wording points at something held with an airline.
- Phrases
- Flight reservation. Confirmed booking. Booking confirmation. Reservation in your name.
- What it wants
- A record that exists at the airline and can be looked up.
- Our document
- Verifiable Flight Reservation. Carries the airline's own reference and an expiry date.
It asks for an itinerary or travel plans
The wording points at information, not at a held seat.
- Phrases
- Travel itinerary. Intended route. Evidence of travel plans. Proposed dates of travel.
- What it wants
- A clear statement of where you are going and when.
- Our document
- Flight Itinerary. Real scheduled flights, nothing held, and it says so.
When the wording is ambiguous, the reservation answers both, because a document that can be checked also shows the route. It costs more, and it expires, which is the trade.
Nothing here guarantees visa approval, entry, or acceptance by an embassy, airline or border authority. Requirements are set by the authority assessing your application and can change, so check yours with them directly. Read the product disclaimer.
How to work it out.
Four things to check before you order.
- 01
Find the exact line
On your authority's own checklist, not on a blog and not on a forum post.
- 02
Read the noun
Reservation and booking mean one thing. Itinerary and travel plans mean another.
- 03
Check for return or onward
Many checklists ask for a round trip. If yours does, a one-way answers a different question.
- 04
Time it to the appointment
A held reservation expires on the airline's schedule. Order it close to when it is needed.
What each country asks for.
Quoted from the authority's own published guidance, with links.
- Schengen visaFour consulates, quoted from their own checklists.Read this
- Netherlands visaThe plainest sentence any consulate writes on this.Read this
- Spain visaThe consulate that tells you not to buy the ticket.Read this
- Italy visaRound trip and a full itinerary, both asked for.Read this
- UK visit visaWhat the Home Office asks for, and what it does not.Read this
- US visaWhat the interview covers, and what it does not.Read this
- Canada visitor visaWhat the checklist asks for, and what it leaves to you.Read this
The short version, if you only read one line: the Schengen pages are the ones where a flight reservation is on the checklist, and the consulates are quoted saying so in their own words. The UK, the US and Canada all ask you to show that you will leave and that you can pay your way, and none of them names a flight booking among the documents you must provide. Anyone telling you the Home Office requires a dummy ticket is selling, not informing.