Italy is one of the most popular countries for tourism in the whole world. People from all over the world come here to see the Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, visit the Vatican and much more. In addition to good conditions for tourism, people from other countries conduct their business in Italy, you can also get a good European education here. Russian citizens are no exception; they often visit this country for a variety of reasons. It doesn’t matter for what purpose a person wants to come here, he must necessarily apply for a visa to Italy.
Types of Visas
Depending on what a person plans to do in Italy, a certain type of entry document is drawn up. So, for example, a person who has arrived on a Schengen visa does not have the right to make a profit on the territory of a foreign country, in which case one should apply for a national visa of category D. Obtaining this type of entry document is much more difficult and more expensive than applying for an ordinary Schengen. Therefore, before applying for a visa to Italy, you need to clearly understand which type of entry document to apply for.
Transit
It is necessary only if you have a transfer at the airport in Italy. It happens that sometimes the next plane needs to wait a few days, so the Russians need to open this type of visa. Visa-free transit is also possible. But only if before the flight is less than 24 hours, but with this option it is forbidden to leave the transit zone of the airport.
Schengen
The most common type of visa for every traveler. Having issued it, you get the opportunity to move freely throughout almost all of Europe, with the exception of only countries that are not in the Schengen zone. However, there are not so many of them.
The design of such a document is relatively simple and cheap compared to the rest. It is also worth noting a small percentage of failures. Often they can refuse to issue this visa only if a person has previously had a violation of the visa regime or there are certain problems with documents.
National
Such a document is issued only to those people who need to be in the territory of another country for a long time. National visa is valid from 90 days to one year. When applying, you must have an invitation from the employer or have documents that indicate admission to the university.
By applying for a visa to Italy of this type, a person has the right to make a profit, he pays taxes to the treasury of this country, he can receive a scholarship and much more. The procedure for obtaining a visa is much more complicated and more expensive than an ordinary Schengen.
The necessary documents for a visa to Italy
When you decide on the right type of visa, you should start preparing all the papers. To obtain a visa you must have:
- A booked hotel or any other documents proving your place of residence in Italy. It will also be enough to have an invitation from an individual who is legally located in this country.
- Round-trip tickets. Originals or copies may be presented.
- Insurance for the entire period of stay in the country. Note! It should cover at least 30 thousand euros.
- International passport. It should have at least one blank page (the ability to put a visa stamp). The validity factor of this document should also be considered. The passport must be valid for another three months from the planned departure.
- Visa application form. Her sample can be seen in the following photo.
- Four photographs measuring 3 by 4 centimeters are standard conditions for a photo when applying for a Schengen visa to Italy.
- A certificate from the place of official employment, it must indicate the actual address of the place of work, the telephone number of the company and the actual salary. This condition is mandatory only in case of obtaining a Schengen visa; for a national, such a document is not needed.
- To obtain Schengen, documents are needed that confirm the normal financial condition of the applicant. You can present a bank statement on the availability of an account, a credit card with cash, traveller's checks and much more. With these documents, the Italian Consulate reinsures itself against potential illegal immigrants.
- When applying for a national visa, the applicant must have an official invitation from the employer, which will indicate the actual address of the location of the company, who the applicant will work for and what salary to receive. In the case of studying at a university, a person needs to have a document with him that confirms admission to an educational institution.
- Students also need to present papers that indicate the availability of funds to pay for tuition and accommodation in the territory of this country.
This is a complete list of documents that may be required when applying for a visa. But still, the consulate reserves the right to demand other papers that are not listed. It can be almost anything, so you need to be prepared for such a situation. Often, visa officers may have questions to applicants, in which case they call a person for a personal interview.
Where and how to apply
If you want to save money, then you need to apply for a visa at the official Italian representative offices. They are located only in three cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. In addition, in other major cities of the country there are visa centers, they accept documents and send them to the nearest consulate, but in this case they charge an additional fee for their services. You can learn more about the price below.
Visa centers are located in: Kaliningrad, Kazan, Krasnodar, Lipetsk, Novosibirsk, Samara and Nizhny Novgorod.
Note! To apply, you must first register for an appointment. If the filing will be carried out at the consulates, you can make an appointment on the official website of the embassy, in case of contacting visa centers, through the official website of this structure.
How do you register for an appointment?
Having come to the official site, at the top of the page you can see the “Record online” button, clicking on it, a new page will appear. Here you need to choose the city where the documents will be submitted, indicate the phone number, email address and click the "Next" button. Then you should fill out a short form where you need to specify personal data. This completes the recording procedure.
Attention! When the registration procedure is carried out in the visa center, a confirmation letter arrives at the indicated email address, it must be printed and brought along with the rest of the documents.
Visa Fee
According to generally accepted rules, any type of visa is issued absolutely free of charge, the fee is charged only for the acceptance and processing of the application. When submitting documents through the consulate, only the consular fee is charged; to obtain a Schengen visa, citizens of the Russian Federation must pay 35 euros at the current exchange rate in rubles. This is the price for the normal paper review process.
Sometimes there are cases when a visa is needed as soon as possible, in which case the consular fee is raised exactly twice. However, a person can receive an answer at the request within three days. In this case, it is necessary to add a written statement to the main list of securities, which will indicate good reasons for urgency.
When applying for a category D national visa, a consular fee of 116 euros will be charged. This is a single price for obtaining such a “pass”.
There are some categories of citizens who are exempted from paying the consular fee. In the case of applying through visa centers, a service fee must be paid, while there are no preferential categories of citizens, with the exception of children under 6 years old. The price of the service fee is from 1500 to 2500 rubles, it all depends on the region where the documents will be submitted. This money is paid to the visa center for the services provided.
Note! The consular and service fee is the fee for considering the application; in case of refusal to obtain a visa, the funds will not be returned.
Terms of consideration of documents
As already reported, getting a Schengen visa is quite simple, as a rule, the time for considering papers when applying through the consulate does not take more than 10 working days. However, this structure reserves the right to make a decision up to 30 days. Delays can be associated with heavy workload or the need to provide additional documents. Expedited consideration of documents - 3 days.
Since it is much more difficult to get a national visa, a decision can come within 120 days. Therefore, documents should be submitted in advance. In this case, you can often be denied a visa.
Possible reasons for failure
In most cases, consular officers do not provide reasons for making such a decision. But, according to observations, people who previously violated the visa regime are most often prohibited from entering the country. That is, they crossed the border later than the planned date, moreover, even if a person left the country several hours after the end of the visa.
Often people who are unable to provide significant securities receive a refusal, which confirms their financial condition. According to generally accepted rules, if a person does not have enough money, he may be a potential emigrant.
When applying for a national visa, an invitation letter from the employer is required. If the company was opened less than one year ago or there are certain violations behind it, then the probability of receiving a refusal increases several times.
Brief instructions on how the application procedure looks
Summing up all of the above, we can distinguish such basic steps as the procedure for obtaining a visa to Italy for Russians will look like:
- Decide on the type of visa.
- Collect all the necessary documents.
- Pay a consular and, if necessary, service fee.
- Go through the registration procedure to submit documents.
- Apply for a visa through the Consulate or the Italy Visa Application Center.
- Wait for a passport with permission to enter.
These are the main points that should be highlighted when applying.
Biometrics
In the fall of 2015, new visa regulations began to apply. Everyone is required to take their fingerprints. You can do this directly when submitting documents. These data are stored in the database for 5 years, that is, if you previously issued a visa and underwent fingerprinting, then you do not need to re-conduct it.
Only children who are under the age of 12 may not be fingerprinted. All other citizens are required to provide their biometric data.
The difference between the consulate and the visa center
If you apply for a visa to Italy yourself, then doing it is much more convenient in the visa center. When registering, the exact time when it is necessary to come is indicated, so there is no need to spend the floor for just standing in line. Also here, for an additional fee, you can order the completion of a visa application form.
In visa centers there is a special photo machine that takes photos on a visa, in accordance with all established standards. If desired, you can order courier delivery of your passport to the specified address. In general, it is much more convenient and comfortable here, however, a service charge will have to be paid for comfort, so everyone decides for himself where and how he is better to draw up documents.
Now you know how to get a visa to Italy yourself, without resorting to the help of various agencies that take a lot of money to provide their services.