The Kingdom of Spain is the most sought after destination for our tourists in Western Europe. The Iberian Peninsula provides the traveler with an unprecedented range of services and entertainment. The favorable Mediterranean climate, rich historical and cultural heritage, high level of service and temperament of hospitable locals have recommended Spain as a resort country. But what does it take to visit Madrid or Barcelona, see Granada or take a swim on the beaches of the Costa Brava? Do Russians need a visa to Spain? We’ll talk about this today. We will describe the entire procedure for applying for a visa to Spain and tell you what you need to do step by step in order to get the cherished sticker in your passport. Believe me, if you pay attention to collecting documents, you will soon enjoy ice coffee and swimming in the warm Mediterranean Sea.
Schengen visa (Spain): visa center, Embassy, consulate, travel agency
Let's first figure out where we will submit our package of documents. Residents of Moscow and the region are easiest. They can contact the consular department of the Embassy of Spain in the Russian Federation. Also lucky Petersburgers and residents of the Leningrad region. The Consulate of the Kingdom of Spain, which also issues visas, has been opened in the northern capital of Russia. It is clear that traveling from beyond the Urals or from the Far East to Moscow for some kind of brand in the passport is very unprofitable. For this, there are visa centers in Spain. They are open in Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Kazan, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Saratov, Samara and Sochi. And, of course, the cities in which service centers issue a Schengen visa (Spain) are Moscow and St. Petersburg. Residents of other cities can seek mediation in opening access to the country to numerous travel agencies. They will assist in filling out the questionnaire, tell you what package of documents is needed, and will pass it on to the consular section of the Embassy. There are travel agencies in which you do not need to buy a ticket to Spain. For independent travelers, they only provide visa support. But their intermediary services cost money.
What are the visas to Spain
The country is a member of the Schengen Agreement. Therefore, visas to Spain are typical of the entire Western European zone. The requirements for the package of documents to be collected have only minor “regional deviations”. We will talk about them later. Now let's consider what type of visa we need for Spain. Schengen Area divides them into categories according to expiration dates. Type “B” is a transit visa. It gives the right to stay in the Schengen area for only five days. This category is suitable for those travelers who travel to Morocco. Or people who have a lot of time between connecting flights and want to leave the neutral zone of the airport. Category "C" is a tourist visa. It is suitable for a short stay in Spain. And finally, category D. This visa is issued for study or work in the country. So, we realized that tourists need category “C”. But this type has several subspecies. If you have never been to Schengen countries before, it is recommended to apply for a single entry first. If you have accumulated sufficient “tourist experience”, you can take the risk of asking for a multivisa.It gives the right to enter the country several times and stay there for up to 90 days for six months.
Self Visa to Spain
Now that we have understood what exactly and from whom we will ask, we proceed to the collection of a package of documents. The main one is the passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation for traveling abroad. The embassy makes certain demands on it. For example, your passport must be valid for another three months after the end of your intended trip. This is not a simple whim: after all, a tourist visa to Spain often opens for a period of six months (in this term you can stay in the Schengen zone for only 90 days). Therefore, the passport must be valid for another six months from the start of your tour. Schengen visa to Spain is a big stamp with your photo. Therefore, a passport must have at least two blank pages. A stamp is glued on one, and on the other a border guard puts a stamp of the first entry.
Application and other documents
Photocopies must be removed from all pages of the passport. There are also certain requirements for them. So, on one sheet of A4 paper should fit four photocopies (on both sides). If you have an expired passport, you must provide the consular department with their originals and photocopies of all pages. If you had such documents, but for some reason lost them, you should submit a certificate of this from the competent authorities. You also need to submit photocopies of all, without exception, the pages of the internal passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation (the same requirements as for the document to travel abroad). Questionnaire - the main document on the basis of which a Schengen visa is issued (Spain). The visa center can provide assistance in filling it out. Although there is nothing particularly difficult about this. It should bear four of your original signatures: three in paragraph 37 and one at the end of the last page. Try to make a scarlet as in your passport. Still need to provide two photos. The studio knows the requirements of the embassies. Color photos 3.5 x 4.5 cm on a white background, without corners and ovals, with a head size of 3.2 to 3.6 centimeters. The depicted person should be without a hat, sunglasses, preferably in dark clothes, with prominent ears.
Proof of solvency
An independent visa to Spain is a good way to try your hand. But it opens only to wealthy tourists. Therefore, you need to prove your own solvency or the viability of those who sponsor this trip. So, necessary certificate of employment. It should be on the letterhead of your company. It indicates your position, length of service, term of paid vacation period and monthly salary. If the latter does not exceed fifteen thousand rubles a month, the chances of obtaining a coveted visa are slim. The certificate is signed by the director of the enterprise and certified by a seal. The term of this document is one month from the date of issue. You also need to provide an extract from the bank with a description of the movement of funds in your personal account for the last three months, as well as a certificate of the availability of sufficient funds. How to determine the solvency of a visa applicant? It depends on the length of your trip to Spain. It is believed that spending 62.4 euros per day in the country is a minimum. Both documents must contain bank details with a seal and signatures.
Spouses with different surnames
If you are a housewife and the wife of a wealthy person, then proof of your husband’s solvency is enough for you to travel to the Schengen area. When the spouses have different surnames (for example, you have not yet had time to renew your passport), you need a copy of the marriage certificate.
Tickets, hotel reservations, insurance
Visa to Spain does not end with proof of solvency.Consulate workers are extremely interested in knowing where you will live and how to get to the Iberian Peninsula. Therefore, the following copies must be provided: round-trip tickets, hotel reservations or private rental agreements. In the latter case, you will also be required to extract from the register that this person is the owner of the property. Also, consulate employees must be sure that in case of injuries and sudden illnesses you will not put an unacceptable burden on the health system of Spain. You must have medical insurance with a minimum security of thirty thousand euros, valid throughout the Schengen area.
Departure by invitation
In addition to the tourist, a guest visa to Spain is also practiced. To get it, you need to prove not your solvency, but the person inviting you. To do this, you must provide sponsorship letter. In it, the receiving party must declare its readiness to bear all the costs associated with your stay in the country. You must also provide the original invitation (in Spanish). If the sponsor is a citizen of Russia, then more documents are needed. This, in addition to the sponsorship letter, should be: a copy of the first page of his passport (or the first two internal documents), a certificate of employment and an account statement. And you have to be with this person in direct family relationships.
Departure of children
Each child, even an infant, has his own visa to Spain. For children under six, it is free. A copy of the birth certificate is provided. Difficulties may arise when the names of the child and one of the parents do not match. In this case, proof of paternity / motherhood must be provided. But the biggest difficulties await you when the child leaves with one of the parents. In this case, it is necessary to provide permission, certified by a notary, for the export of a child from a parent remaining in Russia. You must also attach a copy of his internal passport. Divorce does not affect this rule. If the child does not have a father, then you must provide a copy of the certificate of his death or deprivation of his parental rights, or a book of a single mother (form 25 from the registry office, notarized). When leaving a minor with third parties (grandmother, aunt, as part of a children's group), the permission of both parents, certified by a notary, is required.
Departure of individual entrepreneurs
For entrepreneurs, you need to provide a copy of the certificate of registration with the tax office, as well as a certificate of registration. Persons who work with an individual entrepreneur, in addition to the above, must attach a certificate of employment from the package of documents.
Registration term
It depends on where you submit the package of documents. A visa to Spain in St. Petersburg is issued in three working days, and in Moscow - for five. It is possible to open a permit to enter the country and per day. But there must be a good reason for this. In addition to the cost of the visa itself, you need to pay another 20 euros for the urgency of registration and the same amount - for delivery by courier.
Cost
It also depends on where you submit the package of documents. It is clear that the fewer intermediaries, the cheaper the visa to Spain will cost you. 2014 did not change the value of the Schengen brand. She is still thirty-five euros. If you submit documents to the visa center, then be prepared to overpay 20 Є for the processing of information by its specialists. And a visa issued through a travel agency will cost you a lot.
