The Schengen Agreement allows citizens to move freely within the borders of the Schengen area. The Schengen zone includes 26 countries. To open a Schengen visa, you can contact a visa agency or do it yourself. A visa is issued for a country where a long-term stay is planned, and then from this country you can travel unlimitedly to other countries included in the Schengen zone.

A single-entry visa is issued for a specific country through which you can enter Europe. For example, if you want to fly to Spain, but the visa is issued for France, then only from France you can get to Spain and nothing else. And you can go home from any country. A multiple entry visa allows you to enter Europe through any country in the Schengen area. Another advantage of a multiple-entry visa is that you can enter and leave Europe several times during the validity period of the visa, which is issued for a period of 1 month to 1 year. To obtain a visa, you must contact the Embassy of the country where you plan to travel. There are special visa centers that also accept documents, and there you can make additional photocopies, take photographs, take out insurance, get advice and use additional services, for example, home delivery of documents to any city in the country. There is a high risk of refusal if you apply for a visa yourself to the migration service.

The list of documents provided for obtaining a visa may vary in different countries of the Schengen area (the largest list of documents is provided for obtaining a visa to Germany), but the main ones are:
  • a foreign passport, the validity of which must be more than 3 months after the end of the planned trip, a photocopy of its first page;
  • originals of previous international passports, if they contained notes on the issuance of a visa;
  • photocopy of all pages of the internal passport;
  • a completed application form with a photograph attached to it;
  • a certificate from your place of employment or a bank account statement;
  • insurance in the amount of at least 30,000 euros;
  • originals and photocopies of round-trip tickets;
  • birth certificate, if the citizen submitting the documents is a minor, and if he will travel alone or accompanied by only one of the parents, then also written permission from the second parent.

It is easier to obtain a visa for those who have relatives living in the country where they are planning to travel, because... lower failure rate. In this case, in addition to the above documents, you will need:
  • original and copy of invitation;
  • documents confirming family ties (birth certificate, marriage certificate);
  • a certificate from the place of employment indicating the salary of the inviting person (if the inviting person pays for the trip);
  • a document confirming the legal residence of the inviting citizen in the country.

The process of reviewing documents for a visa can take from 4 days to 1 month or more. The timing will depend on the country and its political situation.

When submitting documents for a Schengen visa, you should carefully fill out the application form and, just in case, have additional photocopies of documents and blank forms. After all, an incomplete set of documents or filling them out incorrectly can be a reason for refusal to issue a visa.