How To Obtain Italian Schengen Visa
My friends invited me to spend a few days in Italy visiting Verona, Venice and La Garda. As we both hold Russian passports we had to obtain a Schengen visa for Italy. I decided to find some information on the website of the Italian Embassy in London. It says on th 00004000 e embassy website that visa applications must be lodged not at the embassy, but at the visa centre. What you need to know is that different parts of the UK are serviced by different visa centres. If you a resident of Scotland you must apply for visa to italy in edinburgh. If you live closer to Manchester than London, you may not apply for a Spanish or Portuguese Schengen visa in London, you have to submit your application in Manchester. In any case before booking an appointment with a visa application centre check what visa centre or consulate service your area.
I checked the appointment availability and booked one for me and one for my husband in two week time. It gave us enough time to gather visa supporting documents, to book tickets and make a hotel reservation. There are two points to mention here. The appointment must be booked for every applicant. If, for instance, you are a family of two parents and one child you need to have three appointment slots booked in order to submit your visa application. The other point to mention is this: they want to see every applicant in person on the day of appointment. I did not know about this rule when I came to submit my husband's application and mine, so I had to book another appointment, because they wanted to see him in person and did not accept his application.
The most important thing is get the visa supporting documents right. If you are applying for a tourist visa you need to put the hotel name and address, as well as the telephone number on the application form. If you are staying with your friends or relatives you should submit an invitation and copy of their passport. If it is a transit visa instead of the hotel details you should put the full address and name of the person you are staying with when arrive at the country which is your main destination.For a transit visa you need to know the full address and the telephone number of the hotel or relatives in the country which is your main destination. All visa supporting documents including employment letter and bank statement must not be older than 28 days. It is important to have a photocopy of every original document you want to keep.Visa fee can be paid with credit card or cash.
A lot of applicants are not aware of the following. If you got married outside the UK your marriage certificate must be translated into English and the translation must be legalised by the relevant consulate in the UK. For example if you got married in Thailand you should take original marriage certificate and its translation to the Royal Thai Embassy in London to have it legalised. If you hold British marriage certificate nothing of the above mentioned is required, but make sure you are submitting the original of the marriage certificate.
If you hold a student visa for the UK you can only apply for a Schengen visa at the time of being a full time student. If you want to travel around Eurrope after you finish your course, you must apply for a Schengen visa in your home country. If your enrolment letter is older than one month, you must provide a new letter.
Bank statement serves as your UK address confirmation and proof of having sufficient funds to support yourself while you are on holiday. If you do not receive the bank statements by post you can either ask your bank for a letter which confirms your UK address, or order the bank statements to be sent to your home address. It may take up to 5 working days.
Getting a multiple entry visa depends on a few factors. Your travel insurance must be valid for at least 6 months, better for one year. If you have insurance with your bank account you will need a letter from your bank about the insurance, and the booklet with the policy wording. The letter is necessary because your name is not mentioned anywhere on the booklet. You can also buy insyrance from any insurance company which is registered in EU. It must cover you for 30,000 GBP and include medical expenses and repatriation costs. It took 4 days to process our Schengen visa application.
