How to get a Schengen visa to Italy

If you dream of enjoying the Dolce Vita and seeing Rome, Florence or Venice, you’ll have to tinker with the paperwork. We will tell you how to get an Italian Schengen easily, quickly and stress-free.

Italy is part of the Schengen area, which means you need to get a Schengen visa to enter the country. In another way, it is called visa C. This is a short-term visa that allows you to stay in Italy and other Schengen countries for up to 90 days per half year. For a longer stay in Italy, a national D visa or a residence permit (permesso) is issued.

Important. A Schengen visa to Italy allows you to travel to all countries of the Schengen Agreement. However, Italy must be the country of first entry in which the foreigner spends most of his trip. If these visa rules are violated, the Italian consulate has the right to refuse to issue a visa at the next submission of documents or to issue a visa only for travel dates.

Types of Schengen visas

• Single entry — this visa allows you to enter the Schengen area once during a specified period of time. After leaving the country, the visa will expire, even if not the entire period has been used.
• Double entry — you can come to the Schengen country twice within a certain period, i.e., come, leave the country and return again. The validity period of the visa will expire after the second departure.
• Multiple or multi—visa – you can cross the Schengen border an unlimited number of times.

Italy, along with Spain and Greece, is one of the most loyal countries in relation to Russian travelers. Italy issues Schengen visas to Russians almost flawlessly, while most of them are multivisa.

The Council. In order to get an Italian multivisa, when filling out the questionnaire, do not forget to put “multiple entry” in the appropriate paragraph!  

The validity period of the visa

• According to the dates of the trip, such a visa is usually issued if this is the first trip to Europe, or if the applicant has previously violated the visa rules.
• For six months, a visa is usually issued after the first European trip, or upon first submission to the consulate of a country from which no visa has yet been received. Such a visa is also issued to those who have already received annual or two-year visas, but have violated the visa regime.
• For one year— issued to travelers who have already received two or three Schengen visas in the last two years.
• For two years — they are received in the presence of a previously issued annual multivisa. 
• For five years, this is the maximum validity period of a Schengen visa. Such a visa is granted to tourists who have had a two-year visa in the last three years, and it was used without violations.

Since February 2020, the European Parliament has abolished visas for three and four years, so that active travelers can receive five-year visas more often. 

However, in practice, many consulates, including Italy, are more generous than the EU bureaucratic rules prescribe, and even put visas for six months and a year in “clean” passports.

Important. No matter how long a Schengen visa is issued, you can stay in the Schengen area for no more than 90 days within 180 days. In other words, the maximum stay in Schengen corresponds to this scheme — 3 months in Europe (in Italy), 3 months outside (in Russia), 3 months in Europe, 3 months in Russia it.d.

The procedure for submitting documents

Step 1. Pre-registration

Choose the Italian visa application center or consulate where you will apply and make an appointment.

• You can get a Schengen visa at the officially accredited Visa Management Service visa center located in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Arkhangelsk. The fastest way to get a visa is in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
• It is also possible to apply for an Italian visa at another AlmavivA visa center in Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Novosibirsk, Kazan or Samara. The visa will have to wait a little longer, as the documents will be sent to the Italian consulate in Moscow.
• You can also make a Schengen visa directly at the Italian Consulate General in Moscow or in The Consulate General of Italy in St. Petersburg. However, due to the significant number of applications, it will not be possible to get an appointment immediately.

According to the new rules, it is now possible to apply for a Schengen visa 6 months before the trip, and not 3 months, as it was before. In this case, the submission must be no later than 15 days before departure, so that the consulate has time to process the documents.

Step 2. Collecting documents

Collect a package of documents for a tourist visa.

1. The visa application form, which is automatically generated when you make an appointment to submit documents on the website, you need to print it out and sign it.
2. Signed consent to the processing of personal data.
3. Photo — 1 pc. Photo requirements — size 30 mm x 40 mm or 35 mm x 45 mm. The photo must have been taken within the last six months.
4. A passport with at least two blank pages, issued no more than 10 years ago. Its validity period must be at least 3 months longer than the requested visa.
5. Copies of current and old passports — pages with personal data, visas and stamps.
6. A bank statement valid for no more than a month. Calculate the minimum amount you need to have in your account for a trip to Italy on the website of the visa application center.
7. Tickets or a printed round-trip ticket reservation.
8. Confirmation of employment. A certificate from the place of work (if any) indicating the phone number and address of the company, position, length of service and salary of the applicant. The document is signed by the head and stamped. The certificate is valid for a month. Pensioners provide a pension certificate, students and schoolchildren provide a certificate from the place of study.
9. Proof of residence. A hotel reservation, an invitation, or documents about renting or buying a home.
10. Medical insurance for Schengen countries with coverage of at least 30,000 euros. Insurance can be arranged at the visa application center or online.
11. Receipt of payment of the consular fee. You can pay the fee only in cash at the Banca Intesa branch at the visa application center or at other branches of this bank, as well as online. 
12. Passport of a citizen of Russia or another country — the original and copies of pages with personal data, photo and registration.

This is a standard list of documents that may vary depending on the type of visa. Additional documents are also required to apply for a visa for minor children. 

The Council. When filling out the visa application form, specify the actual dates of the trip. It is important that the same dates are included in the hotel reservation, tickets and insurance. So, if you are given a visa only for the dates of your trip, you will still be able to use it. 

Step 3. Submission of documents

Submit your documents at the visa application center or consulate only by appointment. You need to arrive on time, turn off your phone and show a printed appointment. You will have to enter the visa application center or consulate without an escort. 

Actions inside the visa application center:

• pay the consular fee,
• pay for medical insurance,
• submit documents and fingerprints,
• pay the visa application center fee.

Step 4. Obtaining a passport with a visa

Track your visa readiness on the visa application center’s website or subscribe to an SMS notification. When the visa is ready, go to the visa application center. You need to take with you an agreement with the visa application center, a receipt from Banca Intesa for payment of the consular fee and an internal passport.

When receiving an international passport with a visa pasted into it, make sure that all the data is filled in correctly. Now you can travel to Italy, but only from the date when the visa is open!

Types of Schengen visas to Italy

Tourist — for recreation and tourism in Italy. When applying for a tourist Schengen, it is important to have a sufficient amount of funds in the account, show the ticket reservation and confirm the place of residence in Italy — hotel reservation, invitation or rental housing.

Business — for conducting negotiations with business partners, concluding cooperation agreements and passing work trainings. The main document for obtaining this type of visa is an invitation from an Italian company, you also need to add an extract from Chamber of Commerce (visura camerale) and certificate of incorporation in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.

For family reasons — for family members of EU citizens and foreigners who have a residence permit in Italy. You need to confirm the relationship and provide an invitation from an EU citizen or a residence permit holder in Italy. In the latter case, also obtain a permit (Nulla Osta) from the Unified Immigration Service when The prefecture. This visa can be converted from a short-term type C to a long-term national type D.

Student — students, students of Italian universities and exchange students, students of the Italian language school receive a C or D visa, depending on the duration of their studies. The same type of visa is granted to graduate students of Italian universities and students undergoing internships in Italy.

Work visa — this type C or D visa is obtained for employment or independent work in Italy. For example, business owners or freelancers can get it. You need to have a work contract or a business project, get an official permit (Nulla Osta), and also confirm the availability of sufficient financial resources. 

Sports — a visa is issued to professional athletes to participate in international competitions. To receive it, you need to have an invitation from an Italian sports organization.

A medical visa is issued to patients with medical indications to undergo a course of treatment in a public or private clinic in Italy. You need to provide an invitation from the clinic and confirm the 30% payment for the treatment. This visa can be of type C or D depending on the duration of therapy.

For religious reasons, this visa is issued to priests and monks to participate in religious events. They need to confirm their religious status and provide an invitation. Pilgrims receive a tourist visa.

Transport — for international transportation of commercial goods by heavy trucks, as well as for the transportation of people by buses.

Transit — for staying at the airport and crossing the Italian border while traveling to San Marino. Sailors and cruise ship workers also receive this visa. 

The cost and duration of the visa

The consular fee for the Schengen visa to Italy for Russians is 35 euros. 

Close relatives of citizens of the European Union and foreigners who have a residence permit in Italy — spouses, children, parents, grandparents and grandchildren – are exempt from its payment. To do this, you need to confirm your relationship with a European citizen or a foreigner who has an Italian residence permit (birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc.) and provide a copy of his European passport or residence permit.

The consular fee also does not need to be paid for children under 6 years old, disabled people and participants in youth international sports events.

The service fee of the Italian visa application center is 3,375 rubles. You can pay the fee at the visa application center when submitting documents in cash or by bank card. If you apply directly to the consulate, you do not need to pay the service fee.

The minimum period for obtaining a Schengen visa to Italy is 7 working days.

Grounds for refusal to issue a visa

Italy rarely refuses to issue visas to Russians. However, this can happen if bureaucratic formalities and visa rules are not followed.

One of the main reasons for refusing a visa is a violation of visa rules. For example, a previously issued Italian visa was not used to travel to Italy, but was used to travel to other European countries. 

Another important reason is the insufficient amount of funds in the account to make the trip. The Italian consulate will also refuse if it finds fake certificates and invalid account statements, incorrectly executed documents and the applicant’s criminal past.

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