{"id":16108,"date":"2026-05-14T20:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T20:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/16108\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T20:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T20:20:08","slug":"italys-embassy-says-it-continues-to-accept-visa-applications-from-russians-through-intermediaries-russias-tour-operators-association-had-said-the-practice-was-banned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/16108\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy\u2019s embassy says it\u00a0continues to\u00a0accept visa applications from Russians through intermediaries. Russia\u2019s tour operators association had said the practice was banned."},"content":{"rendered":"

Italy\u2019s embassy in\u00a0Russia has not changed its procedures for Russians submitting visa applications through intermediaries, the Italian diplomatic mission told the Russian business news outlet RBC.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo\u00a0changes have been made to\u00a0our visa application processing procedures. They can be\u00a0reviewed on\u00a0the websites of\u00a0our consulates general in\u00a0Moscow and\u00a0St. Petersburg,\u201d the embassy said.<\/p>\n

The AlmavivA visa center, responding to\u00a0a\u00a0press inquiry, directed journalists to\u00a0the Italian Consulate General in\u00a0Moscow, which sets the rules for accepting documents. The VMS visa center had not responded to\u00a0RBC\u2019s inquiry at\u00a0the time of\u00a0publication.<\/p>\n

The day before, the Association of\u00a0Tour Operators of\u00a0Russia (ATOR) reported<\/a> that VMS and AlmavivA had stopped accepting visa documents through third parties as\u00a0of\u00a0May 12 \u2014 meaning agents, couriers, authorized representatives, notaries, and lawyers can no\u00a0longer submit applications on\u00a0behalf of\u00a0travelers.<\/p>\n

ATOR warned the change would lead to\u00a0longer wait times for visa appointment slots, linking the new rules to\u00a0a\u00a0case involving the illegal issuance of\u00a0Schengen visas to\u00a0Russian citizens in\u00a0Tashkent.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0European Union data cited<\/a> by\u00a0Euractiv, Russians submitted more than 670,000 Schengen visa applications in\u00a02025 \u2014 up\u00a08% from 2024. Some 620,000 visas were issued to\u00a0them, a\u00a010.2% increase from the previous year. Nearly three-quarters of\u00a0all visa applications from Russians came from France, Italy, and Spain.<\/p>\n

At\u00a0Meduza, we\u00a0are committed to\u00a0transparency about our use of\u00a0artificial intelligence in\u00a0the newsroom. The story you\u2019re reading was written by\u00a0one of\u00a0our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an\u00a0AI\u00a0model configured to\u00a0follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is\u00a0the result of\u00a0extensive testing and refinements to\u00a0ensure our English-language coverage is\u00a0timely and accurate. A\u00a0Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.<\/p>\n

If\u00a0you find any errors in\u00a0this translation, please contact us\u00a0at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To\u00a0read Meduza\u2019s exclusive content in\u00a0English, please subscribe to\u00a0our newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Italy\u2019s embassy in\u00a0Russia has not changed its procedures for Russians submitting visa applications through intermediaries, the Italian diplomatic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5,6605,6600,6603,6592,6585,6597,6587,6598,6604,6593,6581,6588,6582,6590,6591,6583,6586,6584,6602,6596,6589,6601,6599,6595,6594],"class_list":{"0":"post-16108","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-italy","8":"tag-italy","9":"tag-6605","10":"tag-6600","11":"tag-6603","12":"tag-6592","13":"tag-6585","14":"tag-6597","15":"tag-6587","16":"tag-6598","17":"tag-6604","18":"tag-6593","19":"tag-6581","20":"tag-6588","21":"tag-6582","22":"tag-6590","23":"tag-6591","24":"tag-6583","25":"tag-6586","26":"tag-6584","27":"tag-6602","28":"tag-6596","29":"tag-6589","30":"tag-6601","31":"tag-6599","32":"tag-6595","33":"tag-6594"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}