Article 32(1)(b), printed on the form as the box about your intention to leave the territory of the member states before the expiry of the visa. First-time applicants from countries with high refusal rates see this box most often.
Box 9, Article 32(1)(b)
your intention to leave the territory of the Member States before the expiry of the visa could not be ascertained
Whether your circumstances at home give the consulate a reason to be sure you will go back.
there are reasonable doubts as to the applicant’s intention to leave the territory of the Member States before the expiry of the visa;
Handbook for the processing of visa applications and the modification of issued visas, Point 11.1, refusal ground 13
The assessment of the applicant’s intention to leave the territory of the Member State before the expiry of the visa depends mainly on the stability of his/her socio-economic situation in his/her country of residence: stability of the employment, of the financial situation, of the family ties.
Handbook for the processing of visa applications and the modification of issued visas, Part II, point 5.2, documentation on the intention to leave
There is thus no requirement that the competent authorities must, in order to determine whether they are required to issue a visa, be certain as regards whether or not the applicant intends to leave the territory of the Member States before the expiry of the visa applied for. It is, however, their task to determine whether there is a reasonable doubt as regards that intention.
Rahmanian Koushkaki v Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Case C-84/12), Judgment, paragraph 68
Not that the consulate believes you will overstay. That nothing in the file let them conclude you would not. It is a statement about the evidence, not about you, which is why the answer is more evidence rather than a stronger assurance.
Employment with approved leave dates. Salary arriving monthly in the statements you sent. Property in your own name. Dependants who stay behind. Previous travel to any country, with the stamps showing you returned. A business with registration and filings.
A letter promising to return. Consulates read hundreds a day and the promise carries no weight, which is why we will not write one. A large balance on its own, with no income behind it, does not move it either.
Reapply, or challenge the decision with the member state that refused you, inside its deadline. The route and the time limit are printed on your refusal form. Our software reads them from the letter and puts the deadline at the top of the remonstration.
You may apply again at any time. A new application is decided on its own evidence, so it only helps if the ticked boxes are answered.
A remonstration asks the same consulate to look again, with the evidence that was missing. Some member states offer it, some do not, and the deadline differs by state. The deadline on your refusal form governs.
Every member state must offer an appeal against a Schengen visa refusal. The body and the deadline are named on the refusal form. Appeals are formal and most are decided on the papers.
This route needs a regulated adviser.
The refusal is given on the standard form in Annex VI of the Visa Code, Regulation (EC) No 810/2009. The ticked boxes are the grounds. The appeal route, its authority and its deadline are printed on that form and the printed version governs.
Our software reads the refusal, names the grounds and the route, checks every ground against your documents with the refused ones held open, and writes the reapplication letter that answers each one by its reference. Re-runs and second-refusal handling included for 30 days.