What is the least amount of letter and documents that you got away with when applying for a Schengen visa for a Thai national?

We’re about to go on a trip to Europe again and need a Schengen visa for my wife. I’m German, and we’re applying for a German Schengen visa.

We live together in Thailand, are married, I have a job and a work permit and a long term visa, making good money, so everything is in order, and there’s zero chance we wouldn’t come back to Thailand as this is clearly the place where we are living. She’s had four Schengen visas before and has visited other countries, too. House and land in her name, family in Chiang Mai and all.

Every time we apply for her visa, I stack up a bunch of documents and write a letter to “invite” my wife to come with me to Germany, lay out our travel plans and so on. While I think that might be necessary for first timers or constellations where it is less obvious, I wonder if we can put less effort into these applications. So – people in similar situations – what is the least effort Schengen visa application you got approved?

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