How to Get a Spain Tourist Visa Explained
If you have been planning a long overdue trip to Spain with your family this summer, the next obvious step for you will be to apply for a Spain tourist visa. Spain is one country in Europe that offers a variety of things to its tourists! Beautiful architecture, rich culture, and of course the delicious food – Spain has something for everyone.
However, if you are not a national of any of the EU countries, UK, USA, Singapore and the Vatican City, it is mandatory for you to apply for a Spain tourist visa to gain entry into the country. But if you are not sure how to go about it, there’s nothing to worry! In this article, we will guide you and help you understand how you can get this visa easily.
The same Schengen visa that gives permission for entry and barrier-free travel through 26 European countries is also valid for the purpose of tourism in Spain. This is typically a short term visa that allows you to travel in the Schengen region for upto 90 days as a tourist. The Spain tourist visa can be obtained by applying to the Spanish embassy nearest to you. This visa can be granted to you only if a Spanish city is your port of entry into the Schengen region or you are planning to spend most of your travel time in the country.
TYPES OF SPANISH VISAS:
Along with understanding the requirements for a Spain tourist visa, it is good to know what are the different categories of visas available for anyone planning to visit Spain.
- Tourist visa
- Business visa
- Visa for cultural activities, sports or film crew
- Student visa
- Transit visa
- Official visit visa
- Work/employment visa
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS FOR SPAIN TOURIST VISA:
Completed application form – The application form is the starting point for this entire process and hence, must be filled accurately. The application form normally asks for information regarding your travel dates, duration and countries you want to travel to.
- Passport size photographs
- Valid passport
- Personal bank statements for the last three months
- Confirmed and valid travel insurance with coverage for emergency medical treatment with a minimum of €30,000
- No objection letter from your company (if employed) or school/university (if student)
- Proof of hotel reservation
- Proof of flight reservation
- Personal covering letter with entire travel plan (itinerary)
HOW TO APPLY FOR A SPAIN TOURIST VISA?
The Spain tourist visa application process is pretty straightforward. All you have to do is ensure that you have all the correct documents and follow the steps explained below.
Prepare visa application – The first step that you need to complete is to fill out your Spain tourist visa application form correctly with all relevant information and collect all necessary documents as listed in the earlier section. You need to ensure that you have secured all the correct documents required for the visa application. From our experience, we have noticed that most travellers face issues with 3 specific documents – proof of accommodation, flight reservation and travel insurance. We will explain how to obtain these documents in the next sections.
Getting an appointment – Once you have all your documents in order, make an appointment with the embassy so you can submit your application. Keep in mind that Spain tourist visa applications are not accepted without prior appointment.
Online submission of Applicant’s information – After you submit the application and it is verified and accepted by the embassy, all your information is entered into the Spanish embassy’s online database. Once this is done, a printed copy of the same is given to you for your approval and signature. This is also the step when you pay up the Spain tourist visa fees. A receipt will be handed to you after payment is completed.
Collection of Biometric Data – This is the final step in the application process where every applicant’s biometric data is collected after submission of application form. Post this, your application is sent off for processing, mostly on the next working day.
In order to apply for a Spain tourist visa, ensure that all the documents you need to submit are in order. If any one of the documents is not correct or is missing, your visa may be rejected. Refer to the previous section to help you make a checklist of the documents you need to submit.
HOW TO GET FLIGHT AND HOTEL RESERVATION FOR SPAIN TOURIST VISA?
Applying for a Spain tourist visa is quite straightforward. However, many travellers feel confused about the flight and hotel reservations for visa application. The reason for the confusion is quite obvious. It may seem that you are required to book your flight tickets and hotel rooms even before your visa has been approved. But this is not entirely correct. We understand that it is quite a gamble at the traveller’s end to pre-purchase flight tickets and pre-book hotel accommodation because you don’t even know for sure if your visa will get approved and on time for you to travel with the tickets you have bought. There are many instances where travellers right away bought air tickets and paid for accommodation but didn’t get a visa, leading to a a lot of disappointment.
On the other hand, the reason embassies ask for confirmed reservations is to confirm if you are a genuine traveller visiting Spain only for tourism purposes. They need to confirm your travel dates and overall itinerary and match it with what you have claimed in your application form. It is fair on their part to do this check so no one tries to bypass law and illegally immigrate to a country.
To help you avoid such disappointing experiences, at Visa Reservation, we provide flight reservation for visa and hotel reservation for visa application that comes at a minimal service charge. Our team will help create authentic flight and hotel reservations for you and your family, as per your travel dates and duration. These are not actual flight tickets or hotel bookings but only reservations to showcase your intent of travel to the embassy. These reservations come with a unique booking ID which can be used by the embassy to verify your reservation. Once your visa gets approved, you can let us know and we will confirm the flights and accommodation on your chosen dates. In case your visa doesn’t come through, these reservations can be easily cancelled or postponed without any loss of money, as opposed to pre-purchased flight tickets and hotel rooms. Therefore, you only pay for your flights and hotel once your visa is approved and your travel plans are confirmed. It’s a win-win for all parties!
If you would like to know more or need our help to apply for a Spain tourist visa, reach out to our team through Contact Us to discuss how we can help you.
