You decided to go on vacation in Spain? The first thing to do is to get a visa. A visa is a permit for a foreign national to enter the country. Spain is part of the Schengen area, so a foreigner to enter Spain needs either a national Spanish visa or a Schengen visa. With a Schengen visa, you can visit any country that has signed the Schengen Treaty.
Visas are authorized by the embassy or consulate of the country to which you intend to travel. You can also apply to the nearest visa center. Here are the Moscow addresses:
Spanish Embassy in Moscow:
Web site: www.mae.es/embajadas/moscu/es/home
e-mail: [email protected]
121069, B. Nikitskaya St., 50/8.
Tel: (+7 495) 202-26-57, 916-54-34, 202-21-61, 202-21-80, 916-54-00
Fax: (+7 495) 291-91-71
Consulate General of Spain in Moscow: e-mail: [email protected]
115054, 31/1 Stremyannyi pereulok
Tel: (+7 495) 958-23-89, 234-22-97
Fax: (+7 495) 234-22-86
To apply at the Moscow Consulate General of the Kingdom of Spain, no advance payment or deposit is required. You will only pay a consular fee of 35 euros per application (payment is made in rubles at the quarterly updated rate. If you need a visa urgently, then you must pay double the fee (70 euros) and the visa center fee of 830 rubles (about 20 euros).
Schengen visas without an appointment are processed at the Spanish Visa Center – VFS, which is located in Moscow at Dubininskaya St., 35, working days from 9.00 to 16.00.
Remember that visa centers and embassies do not consider non-paid applications, as well as applications with incomplete package of documents
The package of documents for different visas is different, but there is a compulsory list necessary to obtain any Spanish visa.
Mandatory documents include:
- a foreign passport with an expiration date exceeding the validity of the visa by three months, a photocopy of it. A photocopy of the old passport with visa stamps is also desirable; a photocopy of the internal Russian passport, including all blank pages. The copy must be of high quality, with legible inscriptions, otherwise your application will not even be considered;
- two photos of high quality – no corners, ovals. The person must look straight into the camera, no headgear, moustaches are allowed (exception – religious motif). In addition, the face should take up most of the area of the photo – about 80%;
- Certificate of income (company form) from the place of work, with the name of the position and salary (it is better if not less than 15 thousand rubles per month);
- Medical insurance with a coverage of at least 30 thousand euros; completed questionnaire (available at the visa department).
If you are traveling to Spain with children, you must additionally have a notarized birth certificate; children over 14 are issued their own passport on a common basis. The only difference is that you need a certificate from your child’s school (school, high school, gymnasium, etc.) instead of a certificate of employment.
If the child travels with one of the parents, a notarized consent of the other parent is required. Otherwise, it is necessary to provide documentary evidence of the absence of the other parent – a police certificate of unknown whereabouts, death certificate, abandonment of the child, single mother’s certificate.
On average a Spanish visa is issued in 10-14 days. If you get a Schengen Spanish visa, then after visiting Spain, you can go to any country in the Schengen area.
Different types of visas and additional documents to obtain them
- Urgent visa is issued according to the standard package of documents, but in a shorter time. The sooner you want a visa, the more you have to pay.
- If you need a tourist visa, you need to provide proof of hotel reservations and round-trip tickets to the main package of documents. Also desirable is an invitation issued by a travel agency.
- A notarized invitation is required for obtaining a visitor’s visa. The invitation includes detailed information about the person who invited you, as well as all the invitees. Such a visa is issued at the Spanish embassy.
- To obtain a student visa, you need a copy of your student ID and a certificate from the school. It is necessary to confirm financial solvency – a certificate of financial support from one of the parents.
- A work visa is issued only with an employer’s company invitation indicating the position to be provided. This visa can only be obtained at the embassy.
- Business visa implies an invitation from a Spanish company, which includes a description of activities, indicating information about the person inviting you – position, name and surname.
- You will be issued a business visa after submitting documents that confirm a long-term business relationship. These can be contracts, invoices, bank transfers, etc.
- If you wish to obtain a multiple-entry Spanish visa, you provide business invitations. On their basis, the visa is extended in stages – for a month, then for three, for six.
- The Spanish multivisa is issued for a certain period of time. It specifies how many days you have the right to stay in the Kingdom of Spain. In other words, if your multivisa is issued for a year and your stay is one month, you have the right to come at any time during that year. The total number of days of the visit must not exceed the length of the stay.
- When applying for a transit visa, you need a proof of transit (bus or airplane tickets, car rental agreement, etc.).
Remember that the consulate also has the right to request other documents at its discretion. However, having a visa does not guarantee that the Spanish customs will allow you to visit the country.
If you do not pick up your visa within a month, it will be canceled and the file will be archived
If a visa is refused, you can appeal against the refusal. Data on all applicants for a Spanish visa is available to all countries that have ratified the Schengen Treaty, so you can be denied a visa to another country that has signed the treaty.
If you received a denial and did not appeal in due time, the application is closed with the wording of the embassy. Usually the consulate indicates the reason for the rejection and the time limit within which you can appeal to the state authorities of the Kingdom of Spain.
Reasons for refusal can be very different. For example, you incorrectly extinguished a previous visa, provided a “clean” passport. The consular staff doubts that you will come back. In this case, it sometimes helps to provide documents of ownership of an apartment, house or car (you have something to lose in your home country). Also suspicious of single young people (it would be better if you are married).
There is a system of codes to decipher failures. 1-C means denial of a visa. If this is the first time it happens, you will not be allowed to enter the Schengen zone for three months. If repeatedly – then the period can reach 10 years, or it could mean a complete ban on visiting Schengen states. 2-C – You are summoned to the embassy for an interview. 3-C – the embassy had questions about the documents. In this case, your task is to get the consulate to review the case. Accordingly, you must provide all the documents that will be required of you.
