Guide: Accommodation Sponsorship Letter For A Schengen Visa

What Is The Schengen Visa Sponsor Accommodation Letter?

The “Accommodation Sponsorship Letter” for your Schengen Visa application is a sponsorship letter where it states that someone living in the Schengen Region (e.g. a parent, sibling, friend, etc.) provides you with accommodation only and will not be covering other expenses related to your trip (e.g. travel, activities, daily expenses, etc). 

On most websites available on the Internet where the Schengen Visa requirements are listed you may find out that showing proof of accommodation means submitting a hotel reservation or a general sponsorship letter from your host (where it states that they will be covering all of your expenses during your trip). 

Also, these websites typically refer to the general sponsorship letter for Schengen Visa as an “invitation letter for Visa application”. However, an invitation letter is not a letter of sponsorship but a letter from a friend, relative, or institution who invites you to the Schengen Region but without providing you with accommodation or covering any expenses related to your trip. 

Many applicants who intend to visit the Schengen Region are able to cover the costs of their trip themselves while choosing to stay at someone’s place. 

Or, they have different sponsors (e.g. someone who is providing them with accommodation and another person who is covering other expenses). Or, they will be staying at the sponsor’s address during their journey in a specific city located in a Schengen country and at a hotel in other cities/countries that they will visit using the same Visa. 

If this applies to your situation as well, then you must submit an accommodation sponsorship letter for Schengen Visa (which is what this guide covers). 

Therefore, an accommodation sponsorship letter for your Schengen Visa application is a letter addressed to the Consular officer which states that a citizen/resident of a Schengen country is providing you with accommodation only. 

The accommodation sponsorship letter must clearly highlight that you will be present at a specific address during your stay in one of the Schengen countries. 

Submitting it is mandatory for all Embassies/Consulates if you plan to stay at a friend’s/relative’s house during your journey. 

The Importance Of The Accommodation Sponsorship Letter For Schengen Visa

The accommodation sponsorship letter for Visa is extremely important because you have to provide proof of accommodation for each Schengen country (and city) you plan to travel to using the same Visa.

For example, if you plan to travel to France to visit Paris only and then to Italy to visit Naples and Rome, you must submit proof of accommodation for all three different cities (Paris, Naples, and Rome). 

Suppose you have two sponsors who will provide you with accommodation in Naples and Rome and you will be staying at a hotel in Paris. In that case, you must submit your hotel booking for Paris and two sponsor accommodation letters with supporting documents for your stay in Naples and Rome. 

Therefore, if a friend or relative provides you with accommodation during your trip to the Schengen Region, it is mandatory for you to submit a Schengen sponsorship letter of accommodation. 

Otherwise, you risk your Visa application being rejected (because you didn’t provide proof of accommodation). 

For the Embassy/Consulate officers, your accommodation sponsorship letter as proof of accommodation during your stay in the Schengen Area is important because:

How To Get An Accommodation Sponsorship Letter For Your Schengen Visa Application

Writing this letter isn’t complicated. 

You can get an accommodation Schengen Visa sponsorship letter by contacting your friend/relative who will provide you with accommodation and ask them to write a sponsorship letter for you. 

They can write the sponsorship letter on their computer and use an electronic signature to authorise it – otherwise, they should write the letter, sign it by hand and send it by post or courier but this would mean wasting time and money. 

If they have not used an electronic signature before, ask them to use one of the many free tools available on the Internet to sign the letter (like this one).  

What Documents Should Be Attached To The Accommodation Sponsorship Letter?

When you submit a sponsorship letter for Schengen Visa written by a sponsor who covers all of the expenses for your trip, several documents must be attached to this letter (e.g. the last 6 months bank statements of your sponsor as proof of financial means of subsistence, travel itinerary written by your sponsor, etc.). 

But when you submit an accommodation sponsorship letter for Schengen Visa, you must attach to the letter just a few documents:

● Sponsor’s ID card/passport

We recommend you attach a certified copy of your sponsor’s ID/passport to the sponsorship letter (for more details on how to get a certified passport copy, please check out this guide). 

Also, if a relative provides you with accommodation, you must submit documents proving your degree of kinship.

E.g., If your sibling who lives in the Schengen Region provides you with accommodation, you must submit your birth certificate and a copy of the birth certificate of your sibling (in order to prove that you have the same parents). 

● A document proving that your sponsor lives at a specific address

Your accommodation sponsor must prove that they live at a specific address which is the address where they will host you. 

Examples of documents they can provide are a bill under their name (e.g., a utility bill), rental agreement, real estate purchase agreement, etc.

● A copy of your sponsor’s residence permit

You must submit this document if your sponsor located in the Schengen Area is not a citizen of the country where they live.

Note: If your friend/relative is not familiar with the format of the accommodation sponsorship letter for Schengen Visa, you can download our templates and ask them to fill them out with all the information required. 

For further details about our services, do not hesitate to contact us.  

Common Mistakes To Avoid When Writing An Accommodation Sponsorship Letter

Before submitting your accommodation sponsorship letter for Schengen Visa, make sure you avoid one of the following mistakes:

As we mentioned previously, you must attach to the sponsorship letter a copy of the ID card/passport of your friend/relative, a document proving that your friend/relative lives at a specific address, and a copy of their residence permit (if applicable). 

All of these documents should show consistency. For example, some ID cards issued by the Schengen States include the holder’s home address. Do not submit documents of your friend/relative that show a different address than the one you will stay at. 

Of course, it may happen that they change their home address without changing the address on their ID card. If this applies to your friend’s/relative’s situation, we recommend they explain it in the accommodation sponsorship letter. 

For example, the can add a paragraph similar to the one below:

“I, [Sponsor’s Full Name], resident/permanent citizen of [Country’s Name], declare that the address on my residence card is [Sponsor’s Previous Home Address]. However, I have changed my home address recently.

Thus, I declare that [Applicant’s Name With Passport Details] will be staying at [Sponsor’s Home Address] which is my current address, as shown by [Supporting Required Documents].

Please do not hesitate to contact me for further inquiries.

Kind regards,

[Sponsor’s Signature, Phone Number and Email Address]” 

Also, some town halls located in the Schengen Countries can issue a “certificate of residence” – which is a certificate where it is mentioned the current address of an individual. 

Typically, they are issued for people who need to prove their current address but they didn’t change the details on their ID card – this is because issuing a new ID card can take some time, depending on the rules of each Schengen country. 

Alternatively, you can ask your friend/relative to request a certificate of residence from the town hall (or another institution responsible for issuing them) and submit it in order to prove their current address. 

Ask your friend/relative to write your accommodation sponsorship letter carefully in order to avoid any inconsistency.

For example, the travel dates mentioned on your accommodation sponsorship letter must match the travel dates on your other documents (such as the travel dates on your Certificate of Employment or your flight reservations).