What's the situation with Italian visas now? Mass rejections? Tour agencies offer an alternative

Can we forget about multiple-entry Italian visas?

The situation has changed. Firstly, registration for the VFS waiting list has been suspended since September 15. However, those who were previously registered on the waiting list will continue to be served. And that's tens of thousands of people.

Secondly, new applications are only accepted from tour agencies. However, as tour operators themselves say, a long-term Italian visa is now more of an exception.

Allegedly, you can get it for a month or just for the duration of the trip. They less frequently issue them for six months — this information was shared by one of the tour agencies.

Another agency says that the new consul is not particularly predictable yet, so they advise not to count on getting a visa for 1-3 years, as it was before.

This doesn't mean that Italy no longer issues multiple-entry tourist visas at all. It's just that the number of such visas is many times smaller compared to what it was recently, another travel agency explained.

What are the alternatives?

Literally all visa agencies that Nasha Niva contacted posing as a client offered Spain to those looking for an alternative to Italy.

This Southern European country still readily issues visas for individual tourism.

Павялічыць

As for negative decisions on Spanish visas, facilitators report between 1% and 3% refusals.

However, the visa processing times are quite long. Scheduling an appointment takes from two weeks to two or three months. Additionally, there are another 45 days for application review after submission.

But there is an option to speed up the process, although for that you'll have to go to Moscow. Along with the transfer from Minsk, one company charges 750 rubles for its intermediary services. Plus, about 100 euros will need to be paid for the visa and other expenses in Moscow. So, if you travel to Spain via Moscow, you can get a visa 20 days faster than locally in Belarus.

And despite the fact that the deadlines are far from ideal, facilitators name Spain as one of the fastest options for obtaining a visa.

For those who don't want to bother with verification and waiting when applying for Spain, there are VIP packages that cost 1500-1700 rubles per person for an all-inclusive visa.

However, as agents admit, it's most likely to be a three-month multiple-entry visa. Those who have previously held a Spanish visa and can prove they actually traveled to Spain can count on longer terms.

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