All about the Schengen visa: it is, why it is needed and how to get it

What is a Schengen visa

Let's start from the beginning. In 1985, the representatives of Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France and Germany signed an agreement on phasing out of passport control at border crossings between the two countries. They did it on the ship "Princess Marie-Astrid" in the middle of the River Moselle. Closest to the ship was the village Schengen agreement and therefore called Schengen.

In 1990, the same countries have adopted the Convention on the introduction and application of Schengen in action. Actually it earned an agreement in 1995 to seven countries in the process he was joined by Spain and Portugal. In 1999 it came into force the Treaty of Amsterdam, which incorporated the Schengen Agreement in EU legislation, so that all States acceding to the EU, are obliged to accept its rules.

Schengen visa - this is a document that gives the holder the right to free entry into any of the Schengen countries and the free movement between them. In addition to the EU member states, in this zone includes Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

The three main rules of the Schengen area

Going to any country of the Schengen agreement, remember three important points:

• A Schengen visa issued by the consulate or visa application center of one of the Schengen countries. To enter the Schengen area you must precisely through the country, the consulate that issued your visa. Most of the time you should be in it, visiting other countries is allowed for up to five days and is regarded as transit. I repeat that this is only the first trip.
• If you want to visit several countries in one trip, you need to apply for a visa through the consulate of the country in which you will be the longest.
• If you arrange multivisa, you can stay in the Schengen area in total not more than three months in half a year.

Types of Schengen visas

By the number of visa visits are divided into single, double and multiple (they multivisa). With a multiple entry visa you can travel to the Schengen zone as many times.

1. Visa category A We need to find at the airport during the flight to a third country.

2. With visa category B you can cross the territory of the country by road transport. It gives the right to stay in the country for five days.

3. FROM - Main category tourist, visitor or business visa. Depending on the specific consulate period of stay in the country, such a visa is divided into four types:

• C1 - up to 30 days;
• C2 - up to 90 days;
• C3 - up to a year with no limit on the number of trips;
• C4 - multiple-entry visa valid for five years.

4. Visa category D It gives the right to reside in one of the Schengen countries up to five years. With this visa you can travel to the other country for up to three months, every six months.

5. FTD, FRTD - visas, which are issued to Russians for transit to the Kaliningrad region.

6. LTV - short-stay visa, entitling the holder to attend only the country, the consulate that issued it.

What documents are required for visa

Key documents

1. Passport, where there are at least two blank pages. Note that the document must be valid for three months following the planned completion of travel. It should make a copy of all pages of the passport.

2. Old (canceled) passport, if you have one, and a photocopy of all its pages.

3. Internal passport and copies of all pages.

4. Certificate of employment. It is necessary to specify the details of the company, position and salary of the applicant, name and position of the responsible person signing the certificate. Validity of such a certificate - a month. For the visit to Belgium in this document should be noted release date, will need additional help in the form 2-PIT, and a copy of the work book.

reference sample from work →

5. Help from your bank account (for obtaining a visa to Belgium, Spain, Italy, Norway and Poland - a statement of the last three months). The minimum amount in the account - 581 euros per person, a certificate is valid for one month.

reference sample from the bank account →

Sample extract from the bank account →

6. Marriage certificate and the birth of children, if you have such documents.

7. Two color photographs of the applicant, made by OACI / ISO standard for six months before applying. pictures Size - 3.5 × 4.5 cm, background - white or close to white, the pictures should be no corners, and ovals.

8. Health insurance, which is the minimum amount - 35 thousand euro. The insurance is issued for the entire travel period.

Sample health insurance →

Additional documents

1. If you intend to arrive in the country of destination by plane, it is useful proof of purchase or booking tickets (for Iceland - only purchase).

proof of purchase of tickets sample →

2. For those who travel by car, you will need itinerary indicating dates of travel in the territory of each country, through which passes the path to the destination. Still need a copy of the registration certificate, a copy of a driver's license and an international insurance policy "Green Card".

3. Electronic voucher, fixing the fact of rooms at the hotel reservation or payment, or issued travel company documents to prove that you will be where to live. For visa to Poland booking enough - you need to pay at least half of the cost of living. To obtain a visa to Slovakia voucher must be authenticated by the signature of the responsible person or the original confirmation of payment, if it is processed online.

A sample voucher →

Additional documents for entrepreneurs

1. For individual entrepreneurs - OGRN and its copy. For the founders of limited liability companies - OGRYUL and its copy.

2. VAT number and a copy.

3. Current extract from the bank account of the enterprise. Certificate is valid for three months from the date of receipt.

4. Extract from the tax registry.

Additional documents for pensioners

1. Pension certificate and a copy thereof.

2. If the trip pays relative need help from his bank account and proof of relationship.

Additional documents for the unemployed

When the trip pays relative needed help from his bank account and proof of relationship.

Additional documents for Disabled

A document confirming the disability and its copy.

Documents for minors

1. A birth certificate and a copy thereof.

2. If a child travels with one parent, the other must give notarized consent.

3. A copy of the parent's Schengen visa, traveling with the child, if any.

4. Certificate from the institution, confirming the place of the child's learning.

5. Copies of internal passports of parents.

How to apply for a visa

Despite the differences in the requirements to present documents, unified visa process. If you go to Austria, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Iceland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal and the Czech Republic need to register on the site VFS Global. For each country, the resource has a separate page: choose in a special form of country of arrival and country of residence, and the service is the section with the right information.

For the other countries of the Schengen zone there are separate portals for registration:

• Belgium →
• Spain →
• Italy →
• Norway →
• Finland →
• Switzerland →
• Estonia →

Download the questionnaire in English and consent to the processing of personal data, fill out and print them.

• Austria: questionnaire; consent form for processing the data you find here.
• Belgium: profile will come to you via e-mail after of registration; consent to the processing of data.
• Hungary: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Germany: questionnaire and consent to the processing of data (Paragraph 4).
• Greece: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Denmark: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Iceland: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Spain: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Italy: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Latvia: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Lithuania: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Liechtenstein: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Luxembourg: questionnaire.
• Malta: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Norway to complete the questionnaire to register on Online Visa Application Center; consent to the processing of data.
• Poland: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Slovakia: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Slovenia: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Finland: questionnaire (Registration required) consent to the processing of data.
• France: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Czech Republic: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Switzerland: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Sweden: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.
• Estonia: questionnaire, consent to the processing of data.

The next step - filing of documents in the visa application center. If you are traveling to Greece, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Iceland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Switzerland and Portugal, You will need to make an appointment in a private office, print out a confirmation letter entry, and then come at the appointed time. For a visa to France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Sweden are served in a queue.

The visa application center have to pay fees: visa fee of EUR 35, the amount of the service for the different countries is different - from 18.5 to 30.5 euros.

Then you need to go through the procedure of fingerprinting. On 14 September 2015 it became mandatory for all who are older than 12 years. If the last five years, you have to be fingerprinted for a Schengen visa, do it once again is not necessary. The only exception is Italy.

All are now awaiting approval or rejection of your request. In theory, you can call up additional interview at the consulate, but in practice this rarely happens.

What if i do not want to mess with visa registration

When on the march to the consulate have neither the time nor the inclination, it is necessary to entrust all the people who understand the intricacies of the visa regulations. There are two main criteria for selection. First, the higher the percentage of successful issuance of visas, the better. Second, you must provide a guarantee, for example, to return the money, unless the visa center will come refusal by the fault of an intermediary.

Over three years the company "Okay Visa"Issued more than 9500 visas, with 97% of them were approved consulates the first time.

From you only need a package of documents, the rest of the specialists' Okay Visas "assume. They will make all the copies, fill out a questionnaire and statements, Book your hotel and prepare you for an interview at the consulate if necessary. If you do not have time even to bring the documents they will take the courier, leaving you with a receipt.

The cost of preparing documents for Schengen visa - from 1900 rubles. "Okay Visa" and help with photographs and photocopies, with all it's completely free. Documents will be filed on time and according to the rules, so that the probability of failure is somewhere near zero.

Make a Schengen visa