Looking for Schengen VISA suggestion

I'm a self employed software engineer working as a remote contractor for a Berlin based German company. My employer is organizing a company-wide meet for 4 days in April. I also need to visit there. I've got a few queries. 1. Which VISA should I apply for, Business, Tourist or any other? 2. I also intend to stay there for 4 more days apart from 4 days of my official visit (total 8 days) to explore the country. If it's going to be a business VISA, can I also travel using my business visa as a tourist to other places in Germany? 3. If I want to stay there a bit longer as a tourist to explore the city and the country, will I need the invite with the extended dates or can I have the invite with the official dates, book departure flight of 4 days later and can stay 4 more days as a tourist to learn more about the city? 4. If I am provided with the lodgings accommodations for the 4 days from company's end, will I need to pre-book my lodgings accommodations for the rest of the 4 days before applying for the VISA? Thanks for sharing your expertise and experience.

TheOatmeal

Stealth

2 years ago

Ask for an invite letter from the company you work for. Ask them to put the duration of your visit. If you get business visa, you can roam Europe without any issues. You need to book your stay before travelling. If you don’t want to do this, book it get the booking details and cancel the booking.

underpaidasf

Freelancer

2 years ago

I've got the invite, they are providing the accomodation for 5 days. Will I have to book the accomodations like lodgings for the rest of the days and mention in my cover letter that I also want to visit as a tourist after my business work is done, if I want to stay there for few more days? The main challenging part is to get the appointment for visa as the VFS website is full of bugs, I've been trying to book the appointments from last few days but getting error.