Guide: How To Write A Schengen Visa NOC Letter From Employer
What Is A Schengen Visa No Objection Letter (NOC) From Employer?
A Schengen Visa “No Objection Certificate (NOC)” (or Letter) from an employer is a letter written by one of the representatives of the company you are working for where it states that the company has no objection towards you taking a specific period off in order to travel to the Schengen Area.
The main purpose of a Schengen Visa NOC Letter from an employer or company is to state that the company you are working for agrees for you to take off the days for which you applied for the Schengen Visa and to assure that you are permitted to travel abroad.
For some Embassies/Consulates, this document is mandatory but others consider it optional. Visa applications that do not contain the No Objection Certificate will not necessarily be rejected by the Embassies/Consulates that do not find it mandatory.
However, we highly recommend you submit it for two reasons:
- The NOC Letter from your employer increases your chance of approval
- The NOC Letter can significantly speed up and streamline your Schengen Visa application process
Through the NOC letter for Visa purposes, the company you are working for not only declares that you are allowed to take some days or weeks off, but also assures that you have the necessary funds to support you through your trip/journey (in case you pay for the trip with your own money and you don’t have a sponsor) and that there is a job that you will be returning to within your country of residence.
The No Objection Certificate must be written by a representative of the company you are working for (such as your manager, your supervisor, the president, or the vice president).
Most of the time, the NOC Letter can be requested via the personnel of the HR department.
You should submit the NOC Letter whether you are planning to travel for tourism, business purposes, or to visit family members.
Please note that there is a slight difference between a NOC letter and a leave approval, meaning that you must first have the permission from the company to take a certain period off (leave approval) before requesting the No Objection Certificate from your company.
Therefore, you should first make a leave request (the company can accept or deny your request, or it can propose a different period that you can take time off).
After your leave request has been approved, you can request a NOC Letter from your employer.
Although the NOC Letter is highly important for your Schengen Visa application process, please note that this is not the only document proving that you are employed.
For this reason, you must also submit your employment contract (submitting it is a mandatory requirement) and a Certificate of Employment (the certificate of employment is not mandatory for all the Embassies/Consulates but it is highly recommended to submit it).
To sum up, the main purpose of the NOC Letter is to prove that your employer allows you to travel abroad (the best way to think of it is as though your employer was vouching for you and your credibility to the Embassy/Consulate).
Are There Different Types Of No Objection Letters?
There are two basic types of No Objection letters: for employees (this guide) and students.
Therefore, the No Objection Certificate is extremely important for students as well.
If you are a student, you need to get this certificate from your school or university.
For further details, please feel free to check out our Guide – No Objection Letter for Students. (our article will provide you with complete and detailed answers to all of your questions, a NOC letter sample and template, and much more).
The Importance Of The No Objection Certificate (NOC) For Your Visa Application
Although submitting a NOC Letter from your employer is not mandatory for all the Embassies/Consulates when you apply for a Schengen Visa, this document is extremely important for the following reasons:
- The consular officer(s) reviewing your application will get additional evidence of your intentions to return to your home country/country of residence (where you have contractual obligations).
- It is another piece of validation that you are who you say you are (in simple words, the No Objection Letter provides proof that you actually are an employee who has received leave approval to travel to the Schengen Region for tourism or other purposes).
- A trustworthy company that allows you to get a tourist Visa (or any other type of Visa) and travel abroad provides additional proof that you are an honest person with a clean background (and that you won’t break the laws of the country where you will be traveling).
- It provides evidence that you have enough funds to support you during your journey (because the Visa officer(s) must ensure that you won’t be a burden to the country you are going to travel to).
How To Get A No Objection Letter (NOC) From Employer
Once your leave of absence is approved by your employer and you know for sure that your company allows you to travel over specific dates, you can request a No Objection Letter from the representatives of the Human Resources Department (or directly from your manager or supervisor – according to the organisation of your company).
You can request a No Objection Letter for employees by sending an email to those responsible for issuing it in which you mention the reasons why you need the certificate.
Below you will find some suggestions on how to write a letter addressed to the HR Department in order to request a No Objection Letter (if you work for a small company you might not need to send a request letter as you can ask for the certificate directly from your manager/supervisor):
- Use the name of the person you are addressing the letter to. If you work for a big corporation you might not remember the name of the recipient (or maybe you just don’t know it). In this case, you are allowed to start the letter with “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Sir/Madam.”
- Introduce yourself and mention the position you are covering within the company.
- Explain the reason why you need a No Objection Letter (which is to get a Schengen Visa) and remind the recipient that your leave of absence was already approved and the period when you are going to travel abroad.
- If you cover all of the travel and living expenses yourself, ask the HR personnel to mention this in the letter.
Here is a sample of how a No Objection Certificate request letter addressed to the Human Resources manager/department should look like:
Sample No Objection Certificate Request Letter
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Dear [Name of Human Resources Manager]/Dear Human Resources Department/, Dear Sir/Madam, To Whom It May Concern,
I, [Your Full Name], would like to visit [Name of the Schengen Country/s] from [Beginning Date of your Trip] until [ End Date of Your Trip], as my leave of absence for this period has already been approved.
I would highly appreciate it if you could write a “No Objection Certificate” (NOC) addressed to [Name of the Embassy/Consulate] located at [Address of the Embassy/Consulate], in order for me to use it for my Schengen Visa Application.”
I would also kindly ask you to mention in the letter that all the expenses during my trip will be covered by myself.
Please feel free to contact me for further inquiries.
Kind regards,
[Your Full Name]
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Important: In cases where your company is not familiar with the No Objection Letter procedure, you can download our templates and samples and provide them to those responsible for issuing the Letter, so that they can model from them, use them, and fill them out correctly.
For further details, do not hesitate to contact us.
Common Mistakes To Avoid When Writing A Schengen Visa NOC Letter
Before submitting your documents to the Embassy/Consulate, it is highly recommended you double-check what the company representatives have provided, in order to be sure that you are not missing an important piece of information.
Below, you can find a list of common mistakes you must check before you submit the No Objection Certificate for Visa from your employer:
- Not using a letter headed paper that includes the company’s logo.
- Your leave dates outlined within the No Objection Certificate do not match your flight bookings or your day-to-day itinerary (you are allowed to leave the company one or two days before travelling as well as coming back to work one or two days after you return to your country of residence, but the difference between your leave dates and your flight bookings must not be significant).
- The person writing the letter does not provide a signature or contact details (e.g., email address and phone number) at the bottom of the letter – These details are mandatory as the Visa officers might want to contact your company’s representatives for further inquiries.
- Not highlighting that the travel and living expenses necessary during the trip/journey will be covered by the employee (the Visa applicant) – This must be mentioned if you cover the expenses yourself and you don’t have a sponsor who is funding your trip.
- Not mentioning in the letter the salary you get (per month or per year).
- Your passport details mentioned in the No Objection Letter do not match the ones on your passport.
- Your name on the No Objection Letter does not match your submitted Passport or other documents, such as your hotel bookings or reservations, travel insurance, leave approval letter, etc.
