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Visas

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Visa Office handles the issuance of visas allowing applicants entrance into Italy and other Schengen Area countries; please check the complete list below. All foreigners intending to enter must provide the documentation required to justify the reasons and duration of their stay as well as, in most of the cases, the availability of adequate economic means and lodging.

The Schengen Visa, together with a valid travel document and, in case of long stay, a residency permit issued by a Schengen country, allows the holder to travel freely within Italy and in any of the other Schengen countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland).

Please note the four European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, are not members of the EU, but have signed agreements in association with the Schengen Agreement. In addition, three European microstates – Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican City – maintain open borders for passenger traffic with their neighbours, and are therefore considered de facto members of the Schengen Area due to the practical impossibility of travelling to or from them without transiting through at least one Schengen member country.

If you intend to visit more than one Schengen Area country during a single trip, you must apply for a visa at the Consulate of the country you will be residing in for most of the travelling days. This will be your main destination.

Only in case you do not have a main destination, you should apply at the Consulate of the country that is your first port of entry.

Should Malta be the main trip destination, foreign citizens residing in our consular jurisdiction may apply for C-type/Schengen visas through us, as we represent Malta for visa processing purposes.

 

ENTERING ITALY: DO YOU NEED A VISA?

Visit this link (click here) to find out whether, depending on your citizenship, country of long-term residence, and the duration and reasons for your stay, you need a visa to enter Italy.

Special provisions and/or limitations apply to holders of Canada-issued (blue cover) Refugee Travel Document, also commonly called a 1951 Convention travel document or Geneva passport (sample here). We would like to confirm its holders do not need a visa for a short-term stay (e.g. for tourism, business, and select other purposes) for up to 90 days in a 180-day period in Italy. However, we advise the holders to check very carefully the visa requirements in case the intended trip includes other Schengen Area countries beside Italy, even if in transit only. It is just Italy and a handful of other countries that have extended visa-free privileges to travellers with the above-mentioned refugee status.

If Italy is the sole destination, we suggest booking a direct non-stop flight from Canada to Italy and back, without any international transit connections.

If the document holder does not have a confirmed PR status in Canada, please reach out to the Canadian authorities for a definite guidance on the re-entry to Canada without a valid PR card. You may be denied boarding the plane on the way back to Canada, if you do not have a valid PR card in hand.

 

I AM A CANADIAN CITIZEN: DO I NEED TO TAKE CARE OF ETIAS?

To learn more about the current status of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System implementation, please click here.

 

MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE VISA OFFICE

You are welcome to apply in this Consular district provided you are a Canadian citizen, a Permanent Resident of Canada or hold a valid Canadian long-term permit of stay (for work, study, or a 6 month++ visitor record for religious purposes, or for minor/s and/or accompanying parent/s). Such permit, with the accompanying Canadian re-entry visa, or the PR card itself, shall be valid at least three (3) months beyond the intended departure date from the Schengen Area country/re-entry to Canada; Furthermore, you shall be deemed resident of our consular district (AB, BC, SK & YT) with a local provincial ID to prove it.

We would like to clarify we do not process those who are considered simple visitors to Canada, even if they are holders of the so-called “super-visas”, or are WA state residents, for example.

 

Please be advised that our visa offices receive by previously-scheduled appointment only and that applicants must personally attend the interview with the visa officer.

We do not accept drop-ins, run waitlists, nor accept unscheduled mailed-in visa applications.

 

This Visa Office strongly advises against making any non-refundable travel bookings and/or reservations prior to securing the actual visa interview slot. The actual supporting documentation shall be submitted in physical copies on the day of the visa interview itself. In any case, fully prepaid flight and/or other trip-related arrangements DO NOT guarantee the visa is issued anyway. In fact, applying for a visa is only the first step – it does not necessarily mean that it would actually be granted/issued. Visa officers have the discretionary right to reject the applications that are considered incomplete and/or unacceptable.

The visa appointment slot date you select shall be no more than 180 days from the intended arrival date in the Schengen Area country. On the other hand, please make sure there is a two-week buffer between the interview slot and the departure date from Canada if you are processing the visa at the main office in Vancouver; and at least a three-week buffer if you are processing the visa at the Branch Office in Edmonton.

Under certain circumstances, the statutory Italian National/D-visa processing may take up to 90/120 days.

In any case, the actual visa processing times may vary, in consideration of the complexity of a given case that may arise. We apologise in advance, but there are no visa application status tracking tools available to the public at this moment.

WHERE SHOULD I SUBMIT MY VISA APPLICATION?

► Residents of Alberta & Saskatchewan interested in short-term Schengen Area/C-type visas shall apply in person, by appointment, to the Consular Services Branch in Edmonton. To request an appointment, please email: visa.edmonton@esteri.it .

The same in-person appointment in Edmonton requirement applies to AB & SK residents interested in the following Italian National/D-type visas:

  • Working Holiday/Canada-Italy Youth Experience;
  • Salaried work employee (with the official SUI Nulla Osta/no objection approval on file);
  • Salaried athlete (with the official CONI Nulla Osta/no objection approval on file);
  • Mission (with the official ministerial Nota Verbale on file);
  • Family Reasons (with the official SUI Nulla Osta/no objection approval on file);
  • Family Reasons for spouses, or other eligible family members, of Italian or other EU-member state citizens;
  • Re-entry (with the official Questura Nulla Osta/no objection approval on file);
  • Research (with the official SUI Nulla Osta/no objection approval on file);
  • Investors (with the official ministerial Nulla Osta/no objection approval on file).

► Residents of British Columbia & Yukon interested in a short-term Schengen Area/C-type visa must apply through the Consulate General of Italy in Vancouver.

The same requirement applies to BC & YT residents who are interested in applying for any of the Italian National/D-type visas, or AB & SK residents interested in any of the Italian National/D-type visas NOT expressly listed in the paragraph above.

 

Visit this link (click here) to access the automated Prenot@Mi system which allows you to book an in-person appointment slot with the Visa Office in Vancouver. Please be kindly aware our main Visa Office in Vancouver is experiencing constant heightened interest in visas to Italy regardless of the time of the year. Therefore, if you encounter a pop-up message on the booking platform, this means there is no interview slots availability within the next twelve-week calendar range at this moment.

Please kindly refrain from emailing the Visa Office in Vancouver in order to secure an appointment.

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE

The Consulate General of Italy – VISA Office wishes to remind all users that the Prenot@Mi booking system is entirely FREE OF CHARGE. Users will never be asked to pay any fee in order to book an appointment at the Consulate General.

We would recommend all users to refrain from accepting any offer made by websites, agencies or other individuals or services claiming to be able to book an early appointment on your behalf, provided that you pay a fee. Please immediately report any such services to this Consulate General by sending an email to visa.vancouver@esteri.it

The Consulate General wishes to stress that there is no connection at all between the Consulate itself and such websites, agencies or individuals and reserves its right to take action where appropriate.

 

VISA FORMS AND REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

Visit this webpage (click here) to check and download the required visa forms, documents, and guides.

 

VISA FEES

Visa fees are payable in Canadian currency by cash, bank draft, or money order, payable to “Consulate General of Italy in Vancouver”. We apologize that credit cards, debit cards, EFTS, wires and personal cheques are not accepted at this time. The visa fee is a non-refundable processing charge collected at the time of application. Visa fees vary depending upon the type of visa, duration of stay and exchange rate. For the corresponding values in Canadian Dollars of the visas, please consult our Table of Consular Fees under “Forms“.

 

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Please be advised that… 

  1. Visas are issued at the discretion of the Consulate General. Presentation of the documentation requested does not necessarily ensure issuance of the visa. The visa office reserves the right to request further documentation.
  2. Please remember the visa processing time takes NO LESS than 15 days from the day of receipt of the application form and all required documents (subject to variation based on category of visa and citizenship of applicant). It is not possible to rush processing time because the system is wholly automated.
  3. Within eight (8) business days of entry in Italy, the holder of a long term/national visa must request a “Permesso di soggiorno” (residence permit) from the “Questura” (Italian provincial police headquarters) of the Italian city in which he or she intends to reside. Foreigners who stay in Italy for visits, business, tourism or study for periods not exceeding 3 months are not required to apply for a residence permit. Instead, they must report their presence in the country, following one of the procedures mentioned below:
    • aliens arriving from a non-Schengen country must report their presence to the border authorities and obtain a Schengen stamp in their travel document on the day of arrival. This stamp is considered the equivalent of the declaration of presence;
    • aliens arriving from countries which apply the Schengen Agreement must report their presence to the local Questura (central police HQ in the province) filling out the relevant dichiarazione di presenza form within eight (8) business days of their arrival; for those staying in hotels or other reception facilities the registration form submitted to the hotel management upon check-in, signed by the foreign guest on arrival, constitutes the declaration of presence. The hotel will provide a copy of this form to the foreign guest who can show it to police officers, if requested.
  4. The border authorities may refuse entry to a foreign national who does not have adequate financial means or is unable to provide full details regarding the purpose of his/her stay in Italy, or for reasons of security or public order. Make sure to have with you copy of the visa supporting documents.
  5. The Consulate General does not make photocopies. Please make sure you bring physical copies of all the original documents you need to keep for yourself, such as, but not limited to, a copy of the main pages of your passport, Canadian provincial IDS, PR cards, study or work permit, your airplane ticket, etc.

Last update on December 11, 2024

This update on January 5, 2025