My application for a Visa to Portugal was turned down - i applied at the San Francisco consulate.
my itinerary was supposed to take me from Brazil to Portugal then overland and ferry to morocco. Im travelling on a Kenyan passport which certainly makes things more complicated. The reason given was that i don't have a job [ i quit to travel,go figure] .

What is done is done, The question is done denial of a visa by one schengen country - deny it for all other countries ? I'm think of re applying for the visa once i get to brazil - I certainly don't want to be denied multiple times and marked - which could limit my options later on.

What i would like to find out from this forum is if you can apply for visa in another schengen country if you have been denied by another or if anyone has had a similar predicament

What is done is done, The question is done denial of a visa by one schengen country - deny it for all other countries ? I'm think of re applying for the visa once i get to brazil - I certainly don't want to be denied multiple times and marked - which could limit my options later on.

It doesn't mean for certain that other Schengen countries will deny you, but they do share information about visa denials and generally frown on visa shopping. It does lower your chances with the other countries.

This is, unfortunately, a sad reality of traveling on a poor country's passport. The assumption is pretty much always going to be that you're trying to get in with the intention to stay permanently and work illegally. I expect this will not be your last denial, and all I can do is wish you the best of luck and hope you can still have a great trip.

When I was in Hungary, I enquired at the Embassy about the odds of friend of mine who wanted to travel to the USA on a Serbian passport. I happened to be getting a replacement passport at the time.

I was told, point blank

"We don't issue tourist visas to people from certain countries. We always assume they're not going to leave."

So, the EU may well do the same thing. It helps if you go on a student exchange visa, or a business visa.

I keep thinking my USA visa is bloody useless to visit Iran at this particular time. Being denied entrance to the EU is a real eye opener to me. Now I feel lucky.

Just for yuks, I also know they prefer to admit people with family, ie, wife and kids, still left at home. Still, even that might not be enough.

This happens all the time to holders of passports from certain countries. Your best option is to appeal the decision according to Portuguese law. Applying for a visa to another Schengen country will just make things worse. All the Schengen countries share the same applicant database system, and now that there's a "Deny entry" alert on you, you'll be denied automatically.

If you get a new passport, there's a slight chance you might get through, if the official just does a search on your passport number and not on your national citizen ID number.

That said, if you go ahead and travel and visit a number of countries throughout the next months, you have more proof that you're not just a desperate man trying to become a European asylum seeker or something like that, which must be the reason they've denied your application so far. Make sure you get stamps in your passport wherever you go, and include copies of your passport pages in your next application to prove you're just a traveler.

I suppose the reason you applied in San Francisco is because you live and work(ed) there. If not, you really would have a better chance applying at the Portuguese embassy in Nairobi (or the embassy that administers Portugal's business in Kenya, wherever it is). They have more experience in telling the legitimate applicants apart from the others than the people at the San Francisco consulate.

Good luck!

Bjørn
http://bjornfree.com/

What was the reason for denial?

My bf's visa application (Belgian embassy in Ouagadougou) was denied initially too. The main reason they gave was that some documents were missing, when he had submitted them and even got them back from the embassy!

When I protested this, they first said that we could either complain against the foreigner's service, and would most likely win, but this could easily take a year; or, he could try to apply again and would most likely get approval this time. And then they apparantly changed their mind, protested against the foreigner's service themselves, and then they changed their mind and approved his application.

So if the reason for refusal is unreasonable, do not hesitate to complain and ask what you can do about it!

*edit: sorry, just reread your post and saw you did say what the reason for denial was. Do you have someone in Portugal who is supporting you? In that case, it should be irrelevant wether or not you have a job. Otherwise, if you have proof that you can support yourself for the duration of your visa, that should be valid. It could also be that they think you will try to get an illegal job in Portugal and will not leave after your visa runs out. The Belgian embassy recommended to add anything that can prove you do want to return home (social ties, future job prospects, etc.). Don't know if this will really help - these things were mentioned on the refusal of my bf's visa application, too, but when they found the "missing" documents, it wasn't mentioned again. Anyway, you should at least ask the embassy for clarification and if they would accept if you added certain documents to your application.*

Thank you for the replies,
regarding the denial i went back to the consulate and tried to get information regarding the denial and whether it would affect any future applications - i think i was honest and forthright with my application my financials were in order,i have the insurance they require and also had my tickets pre booked showing my arrivals and departures it.

I still have my reservation and im hoping to re apply once i get to Brazil, since i was supposed to fly from Salvador to Portugal and hopefully by then i would have accumulated enough stamps on my passport to prove that i am a genuine traveler. I could try to re route my flight to pass through Spain
and try to get a visa there but i don't want to appear to be visa shopping - worst case scenario i will just skip Portugal and Spain altogether - maybe save the money but on the hand connecting flights to morocco are not cheap either.

irony:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125409630023845069.html