The sun's rays of the Spanish Riviera attract travelers from all over the world almost all year round. Comfortable hotel rooms, clean beaches, exceptional architectural monuments in the Spanish tradition, as well as delicious cuisine and a variety of wine varieties await everyone who goes to the Pyrenees. Spanish tourism is the main component of the state treasury.
Perhaps, after Turkey, Spain is the second most popular country for our tourists, because the rich past is attached to the warm sea here. But in order to inhale the Spanish air, you need to apply for a visa. Like any other country, Spain offers a choice of several options for entry documents, which can be found in this article.
Visa regime
Before you start studying materials on how to get a visa to Spain yourself, it’s worth deciding what type of document a citizen wants to apply for. So, for example, travel goals can help in determining.
Firstly, a visa can be transit, short-term and national. Short-term is understood as Schengen category C. Most often it is issued to ordinary tourists, as well as to those who are first applying for a visit to Spain. You can get a Schengen visa to Spain for different periods, but the maximum number of days you can stay at one time cannot exceed 90. You can apply for a Schengen exactly for the period indicated in the hotel reservation.
Secondly, before you get a visa to Spain, you must familiarize yourself with the rules of the visa regime. For example, no one will run after an expired tourist in the European Union, but in the future, when trying to get Schengen to any other European country, he will most likely be denied. Moreover, a violation of the European visa regime may be reflected in the filing of documents in other countries outside the Union (United States, Great Britain and so on).
Types of Spanish Visas
You can get a short-term visa at the Embassy of Spain in the following forms:
- Tourist requested by citizens traveling on vacation.
- The guest room, which is issued by invitation from relatives or friends.
- Business used on business trips.
- Student - for admission to an educational institution.
For a long stay, a national visa of category D is requested. If a tourist needs to use one of the Spanish airports as a transfer hub, then we are talking about a transit visa.
You can get a visa to Spain in Moscow for other purposes aimed at narrow-profile activities, but there are very few such requests.
Judging by the reviews of Russian citizens, the Spanish Schengen among the rest is the easiest to issue and receive, since the state is directing its forces to a larger increase in tourist flow.
Tourist visa
Most often, citizens are interested in how to get a visa to Spain on their own, pursuing tourist motives. First of all, it is worth knowing to all applicants that since 2015, a law was introduced on mandatory fingerprints and special biometric photographs at the visa center. The first procedure is skipped by children under the age of twelve.
Then the next question arises: "Where can I get a visa to Spain?". After all, you can submit documents to the visa center, including online forwarding or courier delivery, right to the door of the center, or you can go your own way and go directly to the official representative of Spain in the Russian Federation.
But first, the applicant must collect a certain package of documents:
- Fill out the form, which can be downloaded on the official website of the representative office of the Spanish side.
- Foreign passport in the original.
- At least two blank pages of a passport.
- A copy of each page of a foreign passport.
- A copy of each page of an internal Russian passport (civil).
- Printed paper with hotel reservation and tickets.
- Medical insurance covering payments of at least thirty thousand euros.
- Evidence of financial security. This may be a bank statement.
- Help from the workplace.
- A signed document of consent to the processing of personal data.
Additional documents
How to get a visa to Spain if a citizen belongs to certain categories of people? Everything is very simple, it is enough to attach additional documentation, which will confirm that the issuance of a Spanish visa will not threaten the country with illegal immigration.
If the applicant is a pensioner, then it is worth adding to the package of documents:
- A statement from the sponsor along with a copy of the passport of the country of which he is a citizen.
- Copy of pension certificate.
- Any papers confirming family ties with the sponsor.
If a citizen is an individual entrepreneur and intends to obtain a visa to Spain on his own in Moscow, then in addition to the main folder with the documentation, an extract on registration of IP is added. Also attached are certificates from the tax department, which prove the registration of an individual.
Regarding the bank statement and certificate of employment, it is worth knowing that the processing of these documents occurs with the indication of the place where they are provided (Embassy of Spain) and the use of a special letterhead. The certificate shall indicate the position (general director) of the applicant and his income for each month. The document is certified by the signature of the Director General himself.
Work Visa
In addition to all of the above documents, some travel with the purpose of employment, so the urgent question for them arises: "How to get a work visa to Spain?".
The most basic factor will be an invitation to work from the employer. Without such paper, one should not even count on such an adventure. Therefore, the first step for those who want to work for the good of the Spanish state is to find a place for work.
In fact, in Spain, in Europe itself, finding a good job for a foreign citizen is quite difficult, because there are enough "own" defectors. Plus, the Spanish government monitors every worker who arrives from outside the cordon so that extra ones do not appear and take away jobs from local indigenous people. In this regard, obtaining a visa to Spain for a year or more related to work affairs is not easy.
Among the Spanish legislation, there is a very important law, according to which jobs are issued to foreigners according to certain quotas. That is, the higher the qualification of a foreign worker, the more likely it is to get a work visa. Given that over the past few years, immigration to European countries is increasing more and more, such protection of their fellow citizens is justified.
All decisions are made not so much by the Embassy as the Spanish Ministry of Labor, where each contract is subject to certification. On the topic of the contract: Ministry of Labor employees consider each foreign candidate as a separate, special case, and give consent only to those whose specialty is in short supply among Spanish fellow citizens. They have a specific catalog with a complete list of such professions.
In turn, the employer must provide strong evidence that such a specialist was not found among the Spanish population. The easiest way is to transfer from one office located, for example, in Moscow, to an office located in Madrid.
But the question of how to get a visa to Spain for labor and making money has a simpler but not cheap answer. For example, a person can enter the country on a guest or tourist visa and subsequently register his company in the state. In this situation, a citizen first obtains a visa to Spain on his own in Moscow, and upon entering the country, he can, in addition to working permission, apply for a residence permit. The last document is issued even for permanent residence.
There is an even better example where a work visa is not required at all. If a person is registered as a volunteer and participates in a program to help women, the poor, or is a fighter for the country's environmental situation, then he does not need to draw up a working entry document.
Types of work visas
Since the activity may be different, the work visa will also differ in terms and type:
- Category A is awarded for seasonal work based on a contract.
- Category B is issued for a year, subject to the performance of duties relating exclusively to professional data.
- Category C is issued as an extension of a previous visa B.
- Category D is one-year, it is usually received by private entrepreneurs.
- The same category D, which replaces the national and issued for two years.
- Category E. You can get a visa to Spain for 3 years after the expiration of the previous, already extended type D visa.
Work visa
In fact, in addition to the above main document, it remains to collect not so many papers.
How to get a visa to Spain, having the intention to work for the good of the Kingdom of Spain and what must be presented to the Embassy:
- A copy of the entire Russian passport and its original.
- Passport with a validity period of at least four months.
- Photos in the amount of three pieces.
- A criminal record certificate received no later than three months before the filing of an application with the Embassy.
- A medical certificate indicating the absence of diseases that threaten the health of others.
- Guarantees of cash security from the employer or a personal bank statement.
- Copy of permission issued by the employer for employment and residence in the country. The original is obtained by the employer in the Ministry of Labor.
- A copy of the contract with a work permit with the signature and seal of the Spanish immigration authorities.
- Absolutely all documents in a language other than the national language of the Kingdom must be translated and notarized. Similar services are provided at the Spanish Embassy or at the Consulate. You can contact the official sworn translator.
There are no formal requirements for age and physical parameters, but each employer is still guided by his vision when selecting for a particular vacancy. A visa is issued prior to arrival in Spain, so the applicant submits all the documents on his own.
It is worth mentioning that the presence of relatives in Spain and other developed countries of the world will play absolutely no role. Since they primarily look at the qualifications of a potential employee and experience in a similar field. However, upon receipt of a work visa, the applicant's family will be able to move with him, however, it is better to submit documents to everyone immediately.
Spain national visa
We found out how to get a tourist visa to Spain in the form of Schengen. Now let's move on to the national visa of category D, which is available for each country that is a party to the European Agreements. In contrast to the Schengen described, it is long-playing. But it can only be issued according to three criteria:
- Based on family reunion.
- In view of the education in any educational institution.
- When executing an employment contract.
Initially, such an entry permit is issued in the same way as Schengen, for ninety days, after which it is renewed without leaving the territory of the state. But such a visa has one very good and useful factor: you can travel with it in all twenty-nine countries in the Schengen area. The time frame is limited to three months, you can use this privilege once every six months. True, work on it is allowed only in the Spanish Kingdom.
There should already be no questions about where to get a visa to Spain, since without an intermediary a national visa is also issued at the Embassy or Consulate of Spain.
student visa
In addition to recreation, Spain is a huge success among international students. But there are certain differences between coming to the country only for the sake of learning the language and passing the corresponding classes in specialized courses and entering a university. So, for the first option, you can safely use a Schengen type C, and in the second you need a national visa D followed by a resident card.
You can get a student visa to Spain in two ways: permitting residence for up to one hundred eighty days and up to a year, with the possibility of extension.
For 180 days issued in the case of long courses exceeding the period of ninety days. And you can apply for it in the same place where you receive a visa to Spain in other formats. The list of documents provided in this case is quite small; there is no need for him to order a certificate of criminal record. But to extend such a document, alas, is prohibited.
For longer periods of study, a national visa D is issued. However, it should be borne in mind that a resident card is not a residence permit, therefore, being in the country on a student visa, a citizen will not be able to apply for citizenship after a certain period of time.
What documents are collected in the folder of a potential student applicant:
- Application form for a national visa in duplicate. Signed either by the student or his official representative.
- Foreign passport, the validity of which exceeds the period of the visa.
- Confirmation of financial security. The state must be sure that the student will be able to return to his homeland if necessary and provide for himself, being in the Kingdom. Evidence may be a sponsorship letter from parents or other trustees; bank statements; certificate of employment, indicating the amount of parental salary.
- If the student has not reached the age of majority and leaves unaccompanied by his parents, then the latter will require a certified permission to leave indicating the name of the institution where he will study, the approximate period of study and the personal data of the person responsible for guardianship on Spanish soil. An original document proving the responsibility of the guardian with his signature is also required. If the school acts as the guardian, then the responsibility lies with the director, that is, accommodation takes place in a hostel or a boarding house at an educational institution. There is an option of living in a Spanish family, the procedure for registering guardianship is the same.
What documents confirm the student’s residence for the duration of his studies in the country:
- An official document from an accredited full-time educational institution and involving the issuance of diplomas after graduation. It contains information about the name of the student, the name of the institution, the name of the course, it indicates the period of study and the program of the entire course is scheduled taking into account the hours for each week.
- If the student has reached the age of majority, then he is obliged to provide a certificate of no criminal record.
Absolutely all documentation is translated into English and notarized by the official representative of the Kingdom in the Russian Federation. A criminal record must be accompanied by an apostille.
If the employees of the Consulate or Embassy make a positive decision on the issue of a visa, then a long-term Category D visa is pasted into the passport. The passport should be collected within two months, otherwise the officers will consider that the student refuses the visa and will be sent to the archival department.
The first visa is issued for ninety days, after which the period in the migration department of Spain is extended, however, a request for a resident card must be submitted before the end of the initial visa.
Transit visa
Such a visa is required when using the Kingdom of Spain as a transfer hub. But since 2015, Category A, or transit entry document, has ceased to be issued to Russians.
Therefore, in cases of transit stop at the airports of the state, it is recommended to apply for Schengen, in which they mark "transit". With such a visa, a tourist can stay in the country for up to five days.