Visa to Italy

To travel to Italy, Russian citizens need to obtain a visa. Despite all the current difficulties in obtaining a visa, Russian citizens still travel to Italy, both for tourism and business purposes. 

In the past Italy issued multiple-entry visas to Russian citizens valid from 1 to 5 years. At the moment more and more applicants obtain single/double entry visas for the duration of their trip, and only a small percentage of applicants obtain multiple entry visas with an authorized stay in the Schengen area of ​​up to 90 days. 

If your trip to Italy involves business purposes, such as visiting an Italian company, you must contact the inviting organization to receive an invitation, a copy of which will be sufficient for you to apply for a visa. Based on the above invitation, you may be issued a short-term visa to Italy. 

If you are planning a tourist trip and the purpose of your visit to Italy is tourism, you will need to apply for a tourist visa. You will need to book a hotel and buy airline tickets. The procedure for obtaining a tourist visa will be described below. 

You can apply for an Italian visa only at the Visa Application Centres relating to a specific Consular District (depending on the applicant's registration). Please note that from July 2023, the Italian Visa Application Centre in Moscow (VMS) accepts documents for visas only from applicants with Moscow or Moscow Region permanent registration (stamp in the passport). 

The Italian Visa Application Centre in Moscow (VMS) is located at the following address: Tretyakovskaya metro station, Maly Tolmachevsky lane, 6, bld. 1. Submission of documents to the Italian Visa Application Centre is by appointment only. 

Citizens with permanent registration in St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Pskov, Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Veliky Novgorod, their regions and the Republic of Karelia must submit documents to the Italian Visa Application Centre in St. Petersburg. 

Applicants with permanent registration (stamp in passport) in other regions of Russia should contact company Almaviva. Documents are submitted to the following address: Moscow, Oktyabrskaya metro station, Kaluzhskaya square, 1, bld. 2, floor 1, office 103. However, recently it’s almost impossible to submit documents in Moscow through this company due to the lack of slots for registering for document submission. This requirement significantly complicates the process of applying for an Italian visa. Also extremely inconvenient is the requirement of the Consulate to submit documents for a visa no later than 60 days before the trip.

We would like to pay attention to the procedure for submitting and receiving documents. You can submit and receive documents through the Italian Visa Application Centre (VMS) as follows:

     ·  by the applicant in person;

     ·  in case of applying for a business visa with power of attorney from a company indicating information that the person submitting the documents is an employee of this company;

     ·  in case of applying for a tourist visa by one of the close relatives.

You can also receive a passport with completed visa by ordering return delivery of your passport at the Italian Visa Application Centre when submitting your documents. 

Submission of documents in Moscow is by appointment only, which is usually made 1-2 weeks in advance and also significantly complicates and delays the entire process of obtaining a visa. 

Visa application processing time, Consular and visa fees:

* Payment is made in rubles at Intesa Bank branches. 

Below you can find a list of necessary documents for obtaining a visa to Italy for Russian citizens. 

In case of applying for a business visa:

1. A completed online application form, printed and signed personally by the applicant.
2. Original or copy of an invitation from the inviting company in Italy on a letterhead with a seal, signature and signature transcript (full name, position). The invitation must be signed by an authorized person who is registered in the Chamber of Commerce “Visura di Camerale” (see clause 4).
3. A copy of the passport of authorized person who signed an invitation: pages with personal data and signature.
4. Certificate from the Chamber of Commerce (Visura di Camerale) of the inviting company with a validity period of no more than 6 months (copy). The signatory of the invitation must be in the certificate.
5. Hotel reservation for the entire period of stay, indicating the name, full address and telephone number of the hotel, duration of stay, and full name of the applicant. The reservation must be valid for the entire period of consideration of documents, or the presence of the exact address and phone number of residence in the invitation from the Italian company.
6. Reservation of round-trip tickets, which must be valid for the entire period of consideration of documents.
7. One color photo on a white background (35x45 mm or 30x40 mm, without oval or corners, good quality – not scanned, not appearing on other visas, the face should take up to 70-80% of the photo).

8.   A foreign passport valid for at least 3 months after the visa expires + a copy of the first page with personal information.

The amount of money required to enter Italy is calculated based on the parameters approved by the Italian Ministry of Internal Affairs: https://italy-vms.ru/finansovaya-garantiya-4/. Due to the increased number of additional requests, it is recommended to have as much money in the account as possible. 

Please note that the following documents are not accepted as financial guarantee:

     ·  2NDFL certificate;

     ·  currency exchange certificate;

     ·  cash;

     ·  electronic statements not certified by the bank seal and signature of the person who issued the document.

11.  The exceptions are statements from Tinkoff Bank, Alfa-Bank, Sberbank, VTB, as well as electronic statements from banks that do not have branches in Russia. 

15.  Consent to the processing of personal data. 

In case of applying for a tourist visa:

1.   A completed online application form, printed and signed personally by the applicant.

2.   Hotel reservation valid for the entire period of document consideration, indicating the name, address and phone number of the hotel, the length of stay, the first and last name of each applicant, as per passport. If you plan to stay in several hotels, you must provide a reservation from each hotel for the entire period of the requested visa.

3.   Round-trip tickets or their reservation, valid for the entire period of document consideration.

4.   One color photo on a white background (35x45 mm or 30x40 mm, without oval or corners, good quality – not scanned, not appearing on other visas, the face should take up to 70-80% of the photo).

5.   A foreign passport with the owner’s signature, valid for at least 3 months from the expiration date of the requested visa, and containing at least two blank pages (spread) + copies of pages of valid foreign passport (pages with personal data and all pages containing stamps, marks and visas).

     ·  An original certificate from the place of work on the company's letterhead indicating the phone number and address of the company, applicant’s position, length of employment and monthly salary. The certificate must indicate the date of issuance (not older than 1 month at the time of submission of documents). The certificate is signed by the head of the company and certified by the company seal. If the applicant’s actual place of work is differs from the legal address of the company, the certificate must additionally include information about the applicant’s actual place of work, especially if the applicant works in a branch or representative office in another city.

     ·  If the employer is an individual entrepreneur, a photocopy of the certificate of inclusion in the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs must be attached to the certificate from work (employees working for Individual Entrepreneurs registered in the register of Individual Entrepreneurs after 01.01.17 provide a record sheet in the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs).

Financial guarantees can be provided in Rubles, US Dollars and British Pounds. If the currency in the certificate is not one of the above, the bank must display the currency conversion rate to Euro in the certificate at the time of its issuance. 

Please note that the following documents are not accepted as financial guarantee:

     ·  2NDFL certificate;

     ·  currency exchange certificate;

     ·  cash;

      ·  electronic statements not certified by the bank seal and signature of the person who issued the document.

11. Consent to the processing of personal data. 

For applicants wishing to apply for a tourist visa to Italy with a minimum package of documents, the list of documents is significantly different. For additional information, please contact Confidence Group consultants. 

The Consular Section of the Embassy has the right to:

     ·  request the provision of additional documents/information;

     ·  refuse to issue a visa without giving a reason;

     ·  reduce the requested visa validity period and visa multiplicity;

     ·  extend the visa issuance period to 45 days without giving reasons.

Additional services of Confidence Group when applying for a visa to Italy for Russian citizens:

* the cost of support includes 2 hours of courier work, the cost of each subsequent hour of courier work is 1500 rubles;

** the cost of a medical insurance policy for applicants over 60 years of age is negotiated individually.

Confidence Group consultants will be happy to advise you on the specifics of obtaining visas to Italy, help you collect the necessary documents, fill out the application form and organize free delivery of documents from/to the Customer.

 The procedure for obtaining a visa to Italy through Confidence Group is as follows

1)      filling out an application and agreeing on the required list of services;

2)      preparation of documents on applicant’s side;

3)      payment*;

4)      filling out an application and making an appointment to submit documents by Confidence Group consultant;

5)      receiving documents for applying for a visa via Confidence Group courier;

6)      accompanying to submitting documents for a visa if necessary, payment of consular and service fees;

7)      informing about the release date of the completed visa.

 * Payment can be made by the following:

• to the company's current account in one of the Russian banks, or in the People's Bank of Kazakhstan;
• cash;
• QR code;
• bank debit or credit card. 

Please note if you need to obtain a multiple-entry Schengen visa, we recommend you to obtain such a visa through French Consulate, which continues to issue Russian citizens, in most cases, multiple-entry visas for up to six months. The cost of this visa varies significantly, the details and more information available on our website.

However, we remind you that it is necessary to enter the territory of the Schengen area through the state whose consulate issued the visa. 

Please note that recently the trend towards tightening entry requirements for Russian citizens is obvious, we strongly recommend that when crossing the border you have with you the documents on the basis of which the visa for entry into the Schengen country was issued. If border guards request these documents and you not provide them, entry into the Schengen country may be denied, even if a visa has been issued.

Should you have any additional questions, please contact Confidence Group consultants.