Italy is a European state, for a visit to which Russians should draw up a special permit document - a visa. How to make a visa to Italy yourself? Next, we consider the main features of this process, as well as a list of documents necessary for this.
Where to go
Where to get a visa to Italy? In order to submit a package of documents required for a visa to Italy, an interested person should personally apply to the Consulate General of the country, whose offices are located in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
In addition to the above instance, you can also obtain a permit at the branches of the VMS Visa Application Center. This method turns out to be somewhat more expensive, but when choosing one, you can save time on a trip to Moscow to take fingerprints (this is possible only at the Consulate General).
It is worth noting that almost all modern travelers make permits for visits to a specified European country precisely at VMS branches, motivating their choice with the fact that it is quite difficult to make a visa to Italy in Moscow on your own. This is due to the fact that the quota for entry to the Consulate General for such a purpose is very small.
Step-by-step instruction
How to make an urgent visa to Italy? It is important to understand that the Italian government sets high requirements for all tourists entering the territorial borders of the country. In order to become a happy holder of a visa to Italy, you must go through several mandatory steps. The algorithm for the necessary actions is as follows:
- Making a preliminary appointment for a visit to the Consulate General in order to submit documents;
- Collecting all the necessary documents and photos, receiving an information letter (if one is required);
- Personal visit to the visa center for fingerprints and interviews;
- The last visit to the visa center to get a ready document.
Let us further consider in more detail the features of the passage of each of these steps.
Step 1. Pre-recording
To obtain a visa to Italy, first of all, you must sign up for a visit to the Consulate located in the capital or in St. Petersburg (the addresses of the institutions will be discussed below). Experts in the field of tourism business strongly recommend that you do this in advance, even if the necessary documents are not yet ready. This recommendation is based on the fact that making an appointment is completely free, but there may simply not be any places left in the queue. Moreover, practice shows that, if desired, documents for obtaining a visa can be collected in just a couple of days.
It is advisable to make an appointment on the official website of the Consulate, in the special section "New Entry". Here you should fill in all the fields of the submitted form, and then select the branch of the center to which the papers will be submitted, as well as the estimated date of the trip and only then press the "Register Applicant" button.
At the end of the procedure, the system will issue an electronic coupon, which will indicate the date on which the recording was made and the exact time of the visit. It must be printed.
Where to get a visa to Italy in Moscow? In the capital, the Consulate General is located on Yakimanskaya embankment, 10, which is not far from the Polyanka metro station. In St. Petersburg, a similar institution is located on Theater Square, 10.
Honorary Consulates of Italy are also available in other large cities of the Russian Federation (Kaliningrad, Krasnodar, Lipetsk, Sochi, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Volgograd). They can also be contacted regarding the issuance of permits.
Step 2. Preparation of documents
In order to make a Schengen visa to Italy, you must provide the Consulate with a package of required documents. What papers should be included in it? The list of obligatory includes:
- application form completed in accordance with the indicated requirements;
- high-quality color photo (3.4x4.5 cm);
- tickets for transport to and from Italy or coupons for booking such tickets (if you plan a trip by ticket, you do not need to provide them - their availability will be indicated in the tour package);
- information regarding the availability of accommodation in Italy, booked for the duration of the trip;
- medical insurance covering the entire period of a tourist’s stay in a European country;
- papers confirming the financial viability of the person concerned (certificates of employment, bank statements, letter of guarantee, etc.).
When applying for a visa to work in Italy or to get an education in this country, you may need some other documents confirming the stated purpose of the visit (invitation from the employer, from an educational institution, from relatives, etc.).
In the event that the traveler plans to travel to Italy by personal transport, he must include in the package of documents a copy of his registration certificate, as well as a warning letter that the guest of the country plans to move around his territory by personal transport - this document is written in free form.
In the case when it is planned to cross the border in the company of a minor child, the birth certificate must be attached to the specified list of documents, as well as a written notarized permission of the second parent to export the baby (if he leaves only with his mother or only with his father).
It should be understood that the Consulate has special requirements for some documents included in the package under consideration. We will talk about them further in more detail.
A photo
It is important to understand that the employees of the Consulate General are often found fault with the photographs provided.
The correct photo should be color and made on matte paper. Card size must be strictly 35x45 mm.
It is important for a tourist to understand that for obtaining a visa it is worth providing only a fresh photo taken no more than 6 months ago. This moment should be taken as seriously as possible, because in practice the Consulate most often returns documents precisely because of a discrepancy between the photos and the designated rules. In this case, the applicant will have to re-create the package, then pay the consular fee again.
Vehicle Documents
In the event that the tourist plans to travel to Italy with his own car, he should provide some documents for transport. First of all, the list of those includes a certificate of registration (TS), on both sides of which you need to take a copy and attach it to the general package.
Separately, you must attach a letter in which you must indicate in a free statement that a visa is required to travel in your own car. Experts say that it is best to present this document in English or Italian. Of course, in the most extreme case, you can write it in Russian, but this option is undesirable.
Proof of Housing
When considering how to make a tourist visa to Italy, it is necessary to take into account the need to provide a document confirming the availability of a tourist's place of residence during the entire planned period of rest.
As such a document, as a rule, acts as confirmation of booking a hotel room, which can be printed directly from the site.
As for accommodation options, in fact, this may turn out to be not only a hotel, but also a hostel or, for example, a private house.
Insurance
How to make a visa to Italy yourself? Practice shows that without the availability of medical insurance, this is impossible. Moreover, when formalizing it, it is worth considering that its validity should fully cover the entire period of a tourist’s stay in a European country. Often, experts in the field of tourism recommend issuing a policy for a period slightly longer than the planned vacation.
It is worth noting that foreign medicine is an expensive pleasure, therefore it is worth taking care of providing some personal guarantees in advance.
Today, there are a lot of intermediaries who help in the preparation of this document - in order to avoid difficulties, it is recommended to use their services.
Confirmation of financial solvency
At the Consulate of Italy, considering the package of documents that you have provided, you will certainly be interested in the availability of sufficient funds for living in a European country. This can be confirmed using various documents, depending on the individual situation.
So, if a person is officially employed and receives a stable income, he can take a certificate from the place of work, which must necessarily contain information regarding the period during which the person performs duties, his position, and also the size of the salary. Also in this document should be a note on the provision of leave to the person with the preservation of the workplace for the entire period of his stay in Italy.
A variant of a document confirming the financial viability of a tourist can be an extract from a bank account drawn up in the name and surname of the applicant himself. The calculation of the amount sufficient to stay in Italy is based on 50 euros for each day of stay in the country. According to the rules, this document must be provided along with a photocopy of the front side of the bank card (you do not need to take a copy from the back of the card).
How to be unemployed with the design of the document in question? Among Russians, there is an opinion that representatives of this social group are not able to apply for a visa to Italy. In fact, this is not so, because Italians are worried about the financial situation of a tourist and his ability to live in the country without any problems, rather than having his job in Russia.
In this situation, it is advisable to submit for consideration a sponsorship letter written by a relative or any other person. No requirements are made to the content of such a document, it is only necessary to indicate in it all the personal data of the sponsor, as well as that he undertakes to cover all expenses of the applicant. It is worth noting that the sponsor must confirm their own income by providing a bank statement.
In fact, there is a simpler way of confirming their financial viability, which is used by most tourists. To ensure it, you need to put on a personal bank card a certain amount calculated on the basis of an amount of 50 euros for each day of the trip, and then withdraw it. The check received at the ATM can be presented as a reporting document at the Consulate. It is worth noting that some Russians managed to improve even such a simple technique - they take a loan for several days, receive the treasured check, and then pay off the debt.
It is worth noting that the check issued by the ATM is valid for 3 days, therefore it is recommended to take it on the eve of the planned visit to the visa center in order to submit papers for consideration.
Documents for traveling with children
How to make a visa to Italy yourself if you plan a trip with children? In this case, it is worth remembering that the child will have to prepare some documents separately. Among the necessary, first of all, is a certified copy of his birth certificate.
In the event that the baby is traveling with one of the parents, it is worth presenting a notarized letter from the second parent, the contents of which will indicate that he does not object to the planned actions. If the child is sent abroad with third parties, then both parents must provide such permission.
In some cases, such permission cannot be obtained. In this situation, it is necessary to provide the Consulate with documentary evidence of a good reason for which this opportunity is missing (death of a person, recognition as missing, recognition of his incompetence, etc.).
It is important to remember that a child has the right to travel to Italy only with the person in whose passport he is entered, since it is this document that a visa for a minor will be affixed to.
Step 3. Submission of documents
At the time indicated on the coupon, a person interested in obtaining a visa must appear at the Consulate or at the visa center where his permit will be issued in order to provide a complete package of necessary papers.
Immediately after arrival, you must take the details to pay the consular fee established for the consideration of the application. The receipt must be attached to all documents.
At the next stage, in the electronic queue, the applicant should go to the designated office, in which he will communicate with the official. As practice shows, during an interview, authorized persons establish the true purpose of a person’s visit to Italy, as well as the availability of real opportunities for his short-term residence in the state.
After a successful interview, the person will be offered a procedure for scanning fingerprints.
At the final stage of the visit to the Consulate, the applicant will be notified of the approximate date for consideration of the documents submitted by him. Specialists in the field of obtaining permits for traveling abroad strongly recommend requesting the activation of SMS information services, the essence of which is to receive an instant message on the fact of a visa or to refuse to do so. The cost of SMS is standard - 50 rubles.
Step 4. Getting a visa
It is important to understand that the applicant can pick up a finished visa both personally and through close relatives. In the second case, the person must appear in the institution with his own passport and a certificate confirming the degree of his relationship with the applicant. Any other person can also get a visa, but only if a power of attorney was issued for him to carry out a specific action.
Deadlines
How long does a visa to Italy take? In the event that a document is requested for a tourist trip, it takes no more than five days. In fact, it can be made much faster (except for the tourist season, which runs from April to October). If there is a need to make a work visa to Italy, then the terms can drag on to two weeks.
How long before the trip should I draw up the necessary documents? Knowledgeable travelers prefer to do this three months before the start date of the planned vacation. This is due to the possibility of receiving a refusal to provide a permit, as well as the likelihood of some other delays.
Price
How much does it cost to make a visa to Italy? This question excites many tourists planning to visit this sunny country.
The cost of considering a submitted application ranges from 35 to 50 euros - depending on which visa is required: tourist or work.
How much does it cost to make a visa to Italy through the VMS Italy Visa Application Center? It is worth noting that when drawing up the document, the client will have to pay not only the established amount of the fee, but also the work of the intermediary - the fee for it ranges from 2,000 rubles.
It is important to understand that the money paid as a consular fee in case of rejection of the application will not be returned to the applicant. This is due to the fact that the fee is not charged for the provision of an authorization document, but for the work of the commission for the consideration of submitted applications.
Knowing where you can get a visa to Italy, you can safely collect all the necessary documents and send them for consideration to the nearest consulate, and with the permission received, move to Europe towards adventures.