The Czech Republic is popular both among lovers of package tours and connoisseurs of individual travel. Regardless of whether a visa to Prague in 2020 is made independently or a tourist resorts to the help of an agency, the volume of documents remains the same: the difference is only in price. In the first case, the costs will consist of consular and service fees, in the second, you will have to pay extra for the work of an intermediary.
Who needs an entry permit
There should be no doubts about whether a visa to Prague is needed - every Russian planning a trip to the Czech Republic in 2020 must apply for one. It can be a Schengen visa of another country (when the largest number of travel days is planned to be spent in it) or the Czech Schengen.
If the travel time is evenly divided between two or more countries, you should apply for a visa at the embassy of the country of first entry into the Schengen area.
Types of visas
There are several types tourist visas to Prague for Russians:
- Single entry - for one entry into the Schengen area and one exit. Validity period - 90 days;
- Double entry - for two entrances. Validity period - 90 days;
- Multiple - for multiple border crossings. Validity period - from 6 months to 6 years. The total time spent in the Czech Republic is no more than 90 days within six months.
For admission to an educational institution, reunification with relatives or work in the Czech Republic, you must apply for long-term visa ... It does not limit the number of trips, it allows you to stay in the country for up to 180 days.
Entry permit for treatment issued on the basis of medical documents. They can give it to anyone required time... The main difference between such a visa is that you can extend its term while already in place. In most cases, written comments from the attending physician are sufficient for this. He also determines the total length of stay in Prague.
Where to register
A tourist visa to Prague for Russians can be issued at the consular department of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Moscow (Fucik st., 12/14), at the consulate general in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg or at any visa center. In addition to the capital, Czech service centers operate in most major cities: Volgograd and Vladivostok, Voronezh and Ufa, Irkutsk and Kazan.
Full list can be viewed on the VFS GLOBAL website in the "Contact Information" section.
Required documents for adults
Information about what documents are needed for a visa to Prague can be found in all official sources. To obtain permission, you must provide:
- Passport valid for 3 months longer than the visa;
- Photo of the applicant, size 35mm * 45mm;
- Application form filled in Latin characters;
- Medical insurance for 30,000 euros;
- A copy of the completed pages of the Russian passport;
- Confirmation of the purpose of the trip (hotel reservation, personal invitation, documents from the tour operator);
- Airplane (bus, train) tickets in both directions or driver's license and PTO by car when moving independently. Additionally, you can specify a detailed route;
- Certificate of financial solvency (certificate from work, 2 or 3 personal income tax, traveler's checks with receipts, account statement).
You must personally apply for a visa to Prague. An exception is made by citizens-holders of previously received Schengen visas with a note on the delivery of fingerprints.
Required documents for children
Tourist visa to Prague is required and minor citizens Russia. To obtain it, the parent fills out a questionnaire for the child, draws up insurance against diseases and accidents, makes consent of the other parent if the family is not traveling in full.
Instead of a copy of a Russian passport, a copy of a birth certificate is required. You also need to submit sponsorship letter- evidence of complete financial security child during a trip to Prague.
How much money should be available
For a Prague visa to be approved, a citizen must have a certain amount. It depends on the duration of the independent trip:
Proof of financial security can be provided as an equivalent in another currency.
When calculating the amounts to provide for children (under 18), these values can be divided by two.
Visa fees in 2020
Since the cost of a visa to Prague can change at any time, it is worth tracking the changes yourself on the websites of official sources. While the price of a visa to Prague in 2020 is 60 euros... Of them:
- 35 euros - consular fee;
- 25 euros - service fee.
Some centers provide express clearance service. In this case, the cost increases to 95 euros per person.
Parents for children under 6 years old, disabled people and their accompanying persons can apply for free.
In case of refusal to apply for a Prague visa, the fees will not be refunded.
When to apply
It is necessary to plan to apply for dates between three months and 15 days before the start of the trip. In addition to the all-Russian days off, one should take into account the national Czech holidays when the Prague consulate is closed: April 14 and 17, May 1 and 8, July 5 and 6, September 28, November 17, Catholic Christmas - December 25 and 26.
How long does the review take
The Czech consulate takes 5 to 10 working days (1 to 2 calendar weeks) to review the application and check the documents. Delays are associated with Russian and Czech national holidays, with the work of the delivery service.
If any travel conditions change after receiving permission, the applicant must inform the consular department: provide the route he will follow, the new hotel reservation. Otherwise, the visa may be canceled.
What to do in case of refusal
Most of the refusals are related to living in an area with a high migration demand, the provision of an incomplete package of documents, doubts about the financial stability of the applicant.
In case of refusal, a new package of documents should be submitted, correcting and supplementing it. The main objective - to convince the embassy employees of the uniqueness of tourist intentions and their own solvency... You can provide additional paid tickets for transport (bus, taxi from the airport), income statements, ownership of Russian real estate.
The cost of re-issuing is equal to the first - when submitting an application after a refusal, the service price does not change.
Having collected a convincing package of documents, it is not difficult to obtain an entry permit without the help of travel agents. The bounce rate is negligible compared to the number open visas. Self filing statements will save money, which will come in handy on a trip to the Czech Republic - a country with an interesting culture and amazing national cuisine. Enjoy your travels!
Video: getting a visa yourself
Large flows of Russian tourists, business people, guests invited by the Czech side, students who entered educational courses or universities in the Czech Republic go to the Czech Republic.
Many go to famous Czech resorts, for example, to Karlovy Vary for a spa vacation, someone is married to a Czech citizen or buys real estate in this country.
As practice shows, our countries are closely interconnected, and therefore the flow of Russian citizens willing. And of course, one of the most pressing questions is what is the waiting time.
How long will you have to wait for a visa?
It depends on what type of visa you are applying for. In the Schengen area, which also includes the Czech Republic, there is a unified visa legislation, according to which (in the Czech Republic or any other Schengen country) should take no more than 14 days.
- However, most often the visa can be obtained much earlier, especially for those applicants who live in large Russian cities where the Consulates of the Czech Republic work (the list and contact details of the representations are posted on the official website of the Czech Consulate).
In this case, a visa to the Czech Republic can be ready in 5-7 days.... In the regions, the case is delayed due to the need to send documentation to consular missions... Residents of the regions will have to wait about 10 days if consular employees do not have any questions about the paperwork.
Urgent Czech visa
The Czech side foresees the possibility urgent consideration of the applicant's request and submitted documents - within 3 days(but then it will cost twice as much).
The documents are collected and prepared the same, but the request indicates the need for urgent consideration. But if the package of papers has already been handed over, then there is no way to speed up the process of its consideration.
Finally, there are emergency cases (for example, the death of a close relative), when, according to a document sent confirming the need for an urgent departure, a visa can be provided free of charge on the day of filing.
- If you are applying for a visa of the national variety, then the term for issuing a visa to the Czech Republic will be significantly delayed - there is a special attitude towards applications of this kind, and literally all the information provided is rechecked in this situation. Therefore, it sometimes takes about 30 days to wait for a national visa, and sometimes even longer.
Methods for submitting a request
The waiting time for a visa permit is also influenced by the way you prefer to apply. If this is done in person, through the Czech consulates, then you will have to call there yourself (there is no way to make an appointment for a visit), choose an acceptable date and sign up.
- If you apply through the visa center, then you can sign up at the consulate through the intermediary of visa managers, collect and transfer documents to them, and then just wait for a resolution on your case.
When contacting through travel agencies you can make a request rather quickly, but then there is a risk that some documents (accommodation reservations, tickets) will turn out to be fictitious, and this may be revealed when checking the data by consular officers and will undoubtedly affect your visa reputation. In addition, many travel companies oblige their clients to redeem tours for certain dates.
In any case, you decide for yourself how to submit your visa application.
But be aware, what national visa issued only through consular missions by personal appeal - visa centers are deprived of this competence.
And, in addition, if you were previously refused a visa to the Czech Republic for some reason, then you must organize the second application yourself, not through the visa center, but directly through the consulate.
Risk of rejection of a visa application
If your documents are not all right: the questionnaire was filled out incorrectly or incorrectly, there is a discrepancy between the information entered in the questionnaire and the one presented by the attached documents, or the fact of fictitiousness of the submitted papers was revealed, then the term for issuing a visa to the Czech Republic can be significantly delayed and then you need to urgently provide additional documents, justify the need for your departure (for this, an additional visit of the applicant to the consular mission may be appointed).
- In 2019, the approximate percentage of rejected requests did not decrease, although the Czechs are not distinguished by picky and hostility towards Russians.
What kind of visa do you need to enter the Czech Republic? How to get a Czech visa and what documents are required for this? What are the terms and cost of obtaining a visa to the Czech Republic? Read on the Tour-Calendar!
What kind of visa is needed to the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic attracts tourists with the splendor of medieval architecture, famous resorts, natural resources. Russian travelers who decide to travel to the Czech Republic but do not have a Schengen visa will need to obtain one. The requirements are not much different from the standard Schengen ones. Visa centers of the country are represented on the territory of Russia in large numbers. Representative offices disclose information in sufficient detail regarding the procedure for obtaining a visa, so that problems, even with an independent application for a visa, should not arise in a normal situation.
Important! If you have not gone through the procedure for submitting biometric data, which has become mandatory since September 2015, you will have to provide your personal presence (does not apply to children under 12 years old who are exempted from taking biometrics). The transferred biometric data will be valid for five years for all Schengen countries. After the expiration of the five-year period, the procedure will have to be repeated.
Registration of a Czech visa through a travel agency
Even if a travel agency is applying for a visa on your behalf, you need to be ready to collect specific set documents.
Application form, documents and other requirements for obtaining a visa to the Czech Republic
Visa centers offer services to assist in filling out the questionnaire (the cost of the service is 200 rubles).
- Foreign passport and a photocopy of its page with your personal data. The document must be issued no more than 10 years ago, its validity must be at least three months from the date of the end of the trip. It is worth noting that photographs of all entered children must be pasted into the passport.
- Photo, 3.5 cm by 4.5 cm. The photo must be in color, taken on a light background without corners, frames, retouching.
- A photocopy of the first page and the page with the registration of the Russian passport.
- A document confirming the purpose of the trip, which in this case will be an agreement with the tour operator on the organization and maintenance of the trip.
- Consent to the processing of personal data.
- Proof of payment of the visa fee.
Financial guarantees
The financial support of the trip must be confirmed by the presentation of the original of one of the following documents:
- Statement from a current or deposit bank account. The statement must be drawn up on the official letterhead of the credit institution, contain information about the account holder, certified by the seal of the bank and the signature of the person in charge, and reflect the state of the account for at least three months preceding the application for a visa.
- Help from work with indication wages... This document is also drawn up on the official letterhead of the employer, certified by the signature of the head and the seal (pensioners provide a pension certificate, students, schoolchildren - a document confirming their student status (certificate educational institution and student ID).
- Help on the 2-NDFL form (individual entrepreneurs provide a certificate on the 3-NDFL form with a seal tax authority, as well as a USRR certificate).
- Traveler's checks (indicating their owner), receipts for their purchase.
If your trip is provided by another person (sponsor), in addition to the listed documents, a sponsorship letter is provided. The letter of commitment to ensure the trip is written in free form and is presented with a photocopy of the page with the sponsor's personal data from his general or foreign passport.
Important! When traveling to the country (when crossing the border), you must be ready to confirm that you have enough Money... The minimum amount of funds is determined at the rate of CZK 1,100 per day of stay per person (when traveling for a period of less than 30 days). For children under 18, this amount is halved.
When participating in the tour, a child under 18 years old
If a child under 18 years old participates in the tour, you will additionally have to present a photocopy of his birth certificate.
If parents traveling with a child do not simultaneously request a visa permit, copies of their valid Schengen visas must be presented.
In the event that a child goes on a trip with one of the parents, or accompanied by other persons, the notarized consent of the parents not participating in the trip for the child's departure is required.
Important! To cross the border, you will also need either the original or a notarized copy of the permit, so it is better to worry in advance about the availability of the required number of copies of the permit.
How to get a visa to the Czech Republic on your own
When organizing a trip to the Czech Republic on your own, get ready to attach additional documents to your visa application:
- Proof of place of residence. This can be a hotel reservation, hotel voucher, apartment rental agreement. An invitation of a person officially residing in the Czech Republic, certified by the Czech Police for Foreigners, is also considered as proof of residence.
- Booking tickets, or the tickets themselves, confirming the possibility of travel there and back. In the case of a trip on your own vehicle, a driver's license and a registration certificate for the car are presented.
- Medical insurance, which is valid on the territory of all Schengen countries with an amount of insurance coverage of at least EUR 30,000 (original and copy of the policy are required).
The cost of a visa to the Czech Republic
Rate consular fee the same for all countries applying for a Schengen visa - 35 EURO for a regular visa and 70 EURO in case urgent registration visas. For residents of Belarus and Kazakhstan, the visa fee is 60 EURO. Payment is made in rubles at the exchange rate simultaneously with the application for a visa. Service centers are asked to pay the fee, if possible, without change.
Children under 6 years old, disabled people and one person accompanying the disabled person are exempted from paying the consular fee. The same categories of persons are exempt from paying the service fee. visa centers.
The cost of standard services of the centers is 25 EURO for each application.
Prices are as of November 2017.
Terms of issuing a Czech visa
Usually Czech visa is ready within 5-10 working days. Urgent visa is paid in double amount and is issued if tickets are available 3 days in advance.
Information about visa centers and consulates issuing Czech visas, visa processing times
You can apply for a visa directly at the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Moscow, or St. Petersburg (by appointment), or at one of the visa centers located throughout Russia.
Prepare visa documents in accordance with the list on the website. Transfer them to our office in person, through your representative or through any courier service (Major-Express, Courier-Service-Express, Dimex, SDEK, DHL or other). You need to send documents to our address: 125009, Moscow, st. Tverskaya, 20, office 301, Kalinka Service LLC, + 7495-228-0807.
Please note that the date of receipt of the documents is not included in the processing time. The term for issuing a visa is counted from the next working day, if the documents are received by us before 13-00 Moscow time, for visas to some countries until 14-00, 15-00, 18-00 hours (if necessary, this time can be obtained from the manager).
Upon receipt of the documents, our manager will check them and create an order, about which you will receive a notification by e-mail.
Pay for your order
You must pay for the order before the start of the paperwork, in rubles at the exchange rate on the date of receipt of the documents. Payment can be made in cash. If you send documents to us by courier services, check with the manager about the possibilities of remote payment.
Fingerprints
Since September 14, 2015, the Schengen countries have introduced a mandatory fingerprinting procedure.
If you have not yet submitted your fingerprints, our manager will contact you to clarify the date and time of your visit to the visa center.
At the agreed time, you must independently come to the Visa Application Center to take your fingerprints.
Visa Application Center address: m. Nagatinskaya, Kashirskoe highway, 3, building 2, p. 9 (business center "Sirius Park"), the time for submitting fingerprints is from 14:00 to 16:00.
Get documents
When all ordered documents are ready, you will receive an SMS notification from Kalinka Service and / or an e-mail notification of the receipt of documents for issuance. This means that ready-made documents can be obtained from our office.
You can pick up documents at the office in person or through your representative. To obtain documents at the office, you must name the country of destination and the full names of all tourists.
You can order a courier service to collect documents from us (
So friends, ahead of us is a trip to the Czech Republic. The country is part of the Schengen area. Therefore, for the duration of the trip, we have to apply for a Schengen visa.
There are two options.
First- contact a company that will do it for you. Ask the price - you may not need to rack your brains, and you will save time.
Second option- get a visa yourself. For this you have to work a little. Now I will tell you about my experience. Hope you find it useful.
The first three times my wife and I went to Prague through a travel agency, and the most difficult thing in collecting the documents was to get the photo taken correctly. For the fourth time decided to travel like an adult and organized the trip ourselves- six of us went with children and parents. It turned out to be not so difficult.
Consulate or Visa Application Center?
You can independently make a visa through:
- Czech Visa Application Center- you can come here on any weekday without an appointment, and the entire set of documents when submitting here is checked for compliance with the requirements of the consulate, and if something is wrong, you can immediately correct, rewrite, photocopy, print, re-photograph on the spot ... For this airbag, you need to pay a service fee of 22 euros (for children under 6 years old, the services of the center are free). This is a kind of intermediary organization, but we have chosen this method of registration.
- Consular Section at the Embassy of the Czech Republic- when submitting directly (it is here that they will make a decision for you), you simply submit all documents without verification at your own peril and risk. To visit the embassy, you need to make an appointment in advance. There is no service fee.
The cost of the visa itself is 35 euros - both there and here. In the case of express registration (in 3 days) - 70 euros.
Both here and there you need to collect the same set of documents.
List of documents for a visa to the Czech Republic in 2017
If you are traveling to the Czech Republic as a tourist, then you can be guided by the list of documents presented below. However, if the purpose of your next visit is suddenly business, study or something else, check the relevant list on the website of the Embassy of the Czech Republic.
A complete list of documents for obtaining a tourist Schengen visa to the Czech Republic looks like this:
- International passport. Its validity period should expire no earlier than 3 months after the end of the planned trip, at the same time check if there are any empty sheets left in it for sticking a visa.
- Photocopy of the first sheet of the passport(main spread, with a photograph) containing the applicant's data.
- Questionnaire, filled by hand in capital letters or on a computer. You can download the application form here. If you have any questions about filling out, look for the answer to them in our guide article, or call the Czech Visa Application Center - they will kindly help you.
- Medical insurance, valid in the Schengen area. The sum insured according to the standard must be at least 30 thousand euros. ... We need the simplest one - a medical tourist one.
You can go anywhere for it and you don't even have to call. The problem is now being solved quickly - we took out insurance via the Internet. After payment by card, an insurance policy is sent to the post office with a seal in a standard form, which is accepted by all visa centers and consulates. The policy only needs to be printed.
- Document containing confirmation of the purpose of the trip (for example, a hotel reservation). In our case, it was a printout of the hotel booking confirmation, moreover, unpaid, from booking.com.
- One photo size 35 × 45 mm. It should be colored, made on a light background, the image and print should be of high quality (without grain, noise, etc. - they really look at the quality of the photo, so do not save on the photographer), not contain decorative elements (ovals or corners), face should take up about 70% of the photo space, and the top of the shoulders should be visible (ICAO drafting standard). If you apply at the visa center, you can take a picture right here for 200 rubles and for sure.
- Photocopies of the pages of the civil passport- a spread with a photo and registration information.
- A document confirming your financial solvency. The consulate must be sure that you have sufficient funds to stay in the Czech Republic during the entire duration of your trip. You can provide a statement from your bank account or a certificate from work about your salary in free form, but, if possible, in the form of 2-NDFL. A complete list of acceptable papers can be found on the website of the same embassy. According to calculations, you should get at least 50 euros per day per adult, and half of this amount for each of the underage children (they will also want to have a little fun).
- Printout of purchased e-tickets by plane or train or booking confirmation of tickets.
The difference in prices for insurance companies is due, as I understand it, to their fame and reputation. We chose the average for the money, so as not to overpay, besides, we have been insuring their car for several years.
If you nevertheless decide to take minor children with you on a trip, for each of them you will need to bring:
- A copy of the birth certificate.
- Written consent of your dearest soul mate if you intend to travel with children, but without her.
- Copies of parent (s) valid Schengen visa.
So, all the necessary papers have been collected. So what do you intend to do now with this "waste paper collector's dream"? Do not know? Ok, read on.
What? Have you decided to go for a week to see for yourself? Have you even bought plane tickets and made hotel reservations for yourself and your whole family? Have you forgotten anything, get a visa, for example? After all, the Czech Republic is located on the territory of the Schengen zone and every arriving foreigner (from any country outside the Schengen zone) must have a Schengen visa. But don't be in a hurry to get upset. It can be easily obtained through a trans agency. Do you want to overpay to intermediaries and are afraid of deception? Well, then apply for a visa yourself, here they certainly will not be deceived! Don't know how to do this, then let's figure it out.
Choosing the type of visa
Before you run somewhere and arrange something, decide exactly how long you plan to visit this picturesque country, and whether your plans include crossing the internal borders of the Schengen zone.
Those who have enough 5 days to rest, and who, if possible, want to visit other countries of the Schengen zone, as a rule, opt for a type B visa - " transit visa borders ". True, there is one small "but": you can cross the border only by some type of ground transport.
Do you think that five days to see all the sights will not be enough? Well, then a visa of the C1 subtype type C will be just right for you. If you have one, you will be allowed to stay in the country for a whole month. Believe me, this is definitely enough to look at the locks, to drink beer, and even to buy all your friends in the package of famous sausages as souvenirs.
According to statistics, most of the Russian tourists in the Czech Republic have a type C visa in their passport.
So it seems that we have decided on the type of visa, it's time to start collecting documents. How is it, what documents? And those, without which you will not see a visa, like your ears.
We are going to get a Czech visa
Now your path lies straight to the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Russian Federation located in Moscow. Is it too far to go? No problem. You can also submit documents at the consulates located in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Khanty-Mansiysk. Doesn't fit too? Well, then there are still 18 visa centers scattered throughout Russia. The addresses of their location, as well as the days and hours of reception, are easy to find on the respective sites.