A visa is required as confirmation that the country where you are going to travel does not object to your visit. Therefore, the moment of registration of this document needs to be taken up especially carefully.
To avoid unnecessary problems, apply for a visa directly at the consulate of the country where you want to go. If you are going to the Schengen zone, then go for a visa at the consulate of the country where you will go first.
Looking to improve your chances of getting a visa? Collect an additional package of documents that will help you with this. It may include copies of pages with previously affixed visas from an old passport, a copy of a marriage certificate, a certificate of purchase of currency (keep in mind that they must be calculated at 50-60 euros per day of stay) - this will help you prove your solvency, extracts of personal invoices, copies of certificates of ownership of real estate, purchased tickets or confirmed reservations for them, a plan-description of the tourist route, international insurance. All of this will help increase the level of trust in you, and therefore increase your chances of getting permission.
However, do not forget about the main package of documents that must be handed over to the embassy. It includes a passport, which expires no earlier than six months before the intended trip (in some countries, this period can be reduced to three months), copies of all pages of the national passport, a certificate from the main place of work, certified by the head (must be issued on letterhead), photographs, 2 completed questionnaires, documents justifying your trip abroad (invitation, tourist voucher, hotel reservation, etc.)
Children occupy a special place in visa processing. Previously, the child simply entered the parents' passport and received a joint visa. Now every baby from birth must have his own passport, in which a separate visa is placed. Therefore, take care of the child's documents when you go to the embassy. You need to have with you his passport, two photographs, a birth certificate copier and a notarized permission from the second parent that he does not mind going abroad (in case he does not travel with you, or the family is divorced).
The time for preparing a visa can vary from 1 to 21 days - it all depends on the seasonality. Therefore, it is better to be puzzled with the issue of obtaining permission to enter abroad not on the eve of the trip.
