Visa to Austria on your own: the most complete instructions
Hello! Today we will tell you how to get a visa to Austria on your own through the embassy, without resorting to paid services of visa centers. Once upon a time, our first trip to Europe began in Austria, and we approached the issue of obtaining the first Schengen very responsibly. We had a choice: prepare the entire package of documents and submit it to the consulate ourselves, or overpay 25 euros for each and contact the EC. Since 50 euros is not lying on the road for us to this day, we decided to take a chance and step by step go through the entire process of obtaining an Austrian visa, stuffing our own bumps. As it turned out, nothing particularly complicated awaited us, it was only necessary to take into account a number of nuances. In addition, now, having traveled around Europe and already having experience in obtaining visas from other countries, we can say that the employees of the visa department of the Austrian Consulate in Moscow are one of the most correct and friendly towards applicants. There even the guards are smiling and usually there are no queues????
Step-by-step instructions for obtaining an Austrian visa on your own (briefly)
- Preparation of necessary documents;
- Making an appointment at the visa department of the Austrian Embassy in Moscow through the official website: https://appointment.bmeia.gv.at/?Office=Moskau
- Visiting the visa department at the appointed time for submitting documents at the address: Moscow, Chisty pereulok, 11
- On the same day: payment of the visa fee at Raiffeisenbank (nearest office, address will be indicated on the issued receipt)
- Obtaining a passport with a visa on the day appointed by the specialist
Now the details????
A photo of the Austrian visa that I received on my own at the consulate
Primary preparation
Before applying for a visa, you should already clearly know the dates of the upcoming trip, the mode of transport by which you will get to the homeland of the Habsburgs and back, and also decide on the place where you will live. The Austrians are very pedantic, and they treat such matters scrupulously. Also, be prepared to prove your financial viability with a bank statement or sponsorship letter. The most important thing to remember is that you should not cheat or cheat by submitting already canceled accommodation reservations or unpaid / refunded air tickets to the consulate. Most likely they will not check, but if they do, in the worst case, you will no longer receive an Austrian visa. At best, you will have to re-submit documents and re-pay the consular fee (35 euros). If you just need a Schengen visa with a minimum package of documents, then you certainly should not request it from the Austrians. There are much simpler and legal options. For example, this one:
Collection of documents for an Austrian visa
Since we are tourists, and independent, we were mainly interested in a tourist visa. Here is the complete list of documents to obtain it:
Usually, quite a lot of questions arise on this list, so we decided to dwell on each item in more detail.
Austria visa application
For all countries of the Schengen zone, the form of the visa application form is unified and differs only in the set of languages in which it is presented. Accordingly, to obtain a visa to Austria, Russians are offered it in Russian and German. This questionnaire is a questionnaire, and at the same time serves as an application for a visa. It does not matter whether you apply for a visa yourself or through a visa center, in both cases it is the same application form. It is not difficult to fill it out, but there are several points that always cause difficulty.
You need to fill out the questionnaire only in German or English, or in Russian, but in Latin letters!
We remind you that you can download the Austrian visa application form from us, this is the official form:
Application for a visa to Austria in PDF format:
The PDF can be downloaded and completed by hand or done on a computer using Adobe Acrobat. Both options are legally identical. We filled out by hand with an ordinary black pen, everything was accepted without question.
Now for the problematic points:
- Point 2: Surname at birth (previous / -s surname / -s) / Familienname bei der Geburt (frühere(r) Familienname(n))
The item is required to be filled in for women and men, if the surname has not changed, enter the one that you have now.
Important! Both the surname and the name must be entered in the visa application form in full accordance with your passport.
- Item 6: Country of birth / Geburtsland
If you were born before 1991 in the USSR, write here "USSR", if you were born already in Russia - "Russian Federation".
- Item 11. ggf. nationale Identitätsnummer / Identification number, if any
This item can be left blank, we do not have such an identification number in Russia.
Passport and its copy
The most important thing is that your foreigner is valid for at least 3 more months after the end of the trip. It must also contain at least two blank pages (for the visa itself and border crossing stamps). If previously issued Schengen visas have already been pasted into your passport, you need to make a photocopy of these pages and submit them along with your passport. The same applies to already canceled old passports: if visas were in them, copy and submit along with the rest of the documents. Do not forget to make a photocopy of the first page of the foreigner with a photo: if you submit documents yourself at the consulate, you will not have access to a photocopier.
Photo
The Austrian Embassy has the same visa photo requirements as the rest of the Schengen countries.
Size: 35x45 mm.
The face should take up most of the photo, 70-80%. That is, if humanly, the distance in the photo from the chin to the top of the head should be from 32 to 36 mm.
The distance from the crown to the upper edge is at least 2 mm.
From the chin to the line of the eyes at least 13 mm.
The upper part of the shoulders is visible in the frame.
The photo must be in color, clear, without color filters, on matte photo paper. Also, there should be no foreign objects or accessories in the frame.
In the photo, you should not frown or somehow distort normal facial features. Also, the face should not cover the hair.
We recommend that you strictly adhere to these requirements, since the Austrians are not among the most loyal bureaucrats. Nevertheless, we are sure that in any photo studio they know what photos should be for Schengen ????
Visa fees
When you apply for a visa at the Austrian consulate, you will be given a receipt for paying the visa fee. Size: 35 euros. You need to pay in cash at the nearest branch of Raiffeisen Bank. The bank address is on the receipt. You need to present the paid receipt upon receipt of the passport, without it the documents will not be given.
Medical insurance
To visit Austria, as well as any country in the Schengen area, you need insurance with a minimum coverage amount of 30,000 euros. The official website of the Austrian Embassy has a list of insurers whose policies are suitable for obtaining a visa. This list includes all major Russian companies.
Travel insurance is better to do here ↓
Proof of residence
If you are a tourist, then you will most likely book a hotel, hostel or apartment in booking systems like Booking.com, AirBNB or any other. It is enough just to print the confirmation through the site. It is important that the printed version is in English or German, otherwise you will have to translate the reservation. To our knowledge, most booking systems allow you to print your booking in at least English. If for some reason you do not need to book accommodation (you will live with friends, for example), it is enough to write an information letter about this in free form in English or German.
Convenient hotel search for all booking systems and price comparison
Route Confirmation
As confirmation of the itinerary of the trip, air or railway tickets, or bus tickets are usually attached. If you plan to travel by car, you must attach a copy of the Vehicle Registration Certificate and a free form description of the route in English or German. You can do it in Russian, and then give it to a translation agency. It is not necessary to certify the translation by a notary, a stamp of the bureau is enough. If, in addition to Austria, you have planned trips within the Schengen zone, you must also inform the consulate about this: attach tickets or a description of the route. In this case, it is important that you spend more days in Austria than in another country. Otherwise, the Austrians will refuse a visa and recommend contacting the consulate of the main host country. There is a nuance here: for example, you go first for 3 days to Austria and then immediately for 3 days to Germany. In this case, you need an Austrian Schengen, because in this case Austria is the country of first entry, all other things being equal.
The cheapest flights are usually found
Income confirmation
In this matter, the Austrian Embassy is not strict. The easiest option, if you are an employee, is to bring a certificate from work stating that you are really employed in company X and receive an average salary of N.
If this is not possible, you can submit a bank statement. There are disputes about the minimum amount available: someone is calmly given an Austrian visa with a minimum of money: 50 euros per person for each day of stay, while others are refused. Our advice: show from 70 euros per person for each day of your stay in Austria. More is better, but 70 is enough.
By the way, the Austrian embassy accepts not only an account statement with a bank seal. When we submitted the documents ourselves, we saw that a young girl in front of us was handing over a card statement issued by an ATM, and attaching a photocopy of this bank card on both sides. This kit was also accepted without problems.
Important! A bank statement or any other proof of income and financial situation is best submitted in English or German. You can translate it yourself, it is not necessary to certify it with a notary.
For those who will translate on their own, we are attaching examples of translations of standard certificates that are suitable for the visa department of the Austrian Embassy (available for download):
Making an appointment at the Visa Section
When everything has been collected, the next stage is a visit to the Visa Section at the Austrian Embassy. You can make an appointment on the official website: https://appointment.bmeia.gv.at/?Office=Moskau
If you do not have access to the Internet (anything happens), you can make an appointment at the Visa Department in person on Wednesdays from 13:30 to 14:30.
It is best to sign up early in the morning, in which case the queue for the delivery of documents and the bank to pay the fee is least likely.
Submission of documents
Arrive at the Visa Section 20 minutes before the appointed time.
Recall the address: Moscow, Chisty per., 11
If you arrive by car, then in the morning there are usually quite a lot of parking spaces next to the Visa Office. Parking is paid, rate: 40 rubles per hour.
About 10 minutes later, a security guard starts you up and asks you not to use your mobile phone. By the way, it is better to turn off the phone altogether.
You wait for a call and submit documents, along the way you pass biometrics / fingerprints (fingerprints) in the same window.
Together with a receipt for the acceptance of documents, you will receive a receipt for payment of a visa fee in the amount of 35 euros (payment in rubles at the exchange rate of the Central Bank). You need to pay on the same day at the nearest office of Raijfeisen Bank, they will tell you which one.
Obtaining a passport with a visa
On the day appointed by the visa specialist, come for a visa!
By the way, you can pick up a visa for your spouse without a power of attorney upon presentation of a passport (the one who will pick it up) and a marriage certificate. To pick up your passport, you do not need to arrive on time, it is enough to meet the visa issuance hours: from Monday to Friday from 14:00 to 15:00. The main thing is to come not earlier than the appointed day, otherwise the visa may not be ready. Later, you can.
We hope this step-by-step guide to obtaining a visa to Austria on your own will help you save time and money. As you can see, there is nothing complicated in this, the main thing is to carefully collect a package of documents.
