1<\/p>\n
Stricter visa rules for Russians<\/p>\n
The E.U. has further tightened its rules for issuing Schengen visas to\u00a0Russian nationals, the European Commission announced<\/a> on\u00a0November 7. The issuance of\u00a0multiple-entry visas, valid for up\u00a0to\u00a0five years, will effectively be\u00a0suspended, except in\u00a0some humanitarian cases. This means Russian passport-holders will generally only be\u00a0eligible for single-entry Schengen visas.\u00a0<\/p>\n The move comes \u201cin\u00a0view of\u00a0the increased security risks stemming from Russia\u2019s unprovoked and unjustified war of\u00a0aggression against Ukraine,\u201d the E.U. said in\u00a0a\u00a0press release<\/a>. The European Commission cited a\u00a0variety of\u00a0security concerns linked to\u00a0Russian visa applicants, including:\u00a0<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s weaponization of\u00a0migration, acts of\u00a0sabotage on\u00a0the Member States\u2019 territory and on\u00a0the international waters of\u00a0the Baltic Sea, causing cyber and industrial espionage threats, and potential misuse of\u00a0visas for promoting propaganda supporting Russia\u2019s war of\u00a0aggression against Ukraine or\u00a0engaging in\u00a0other subversive activities to\u00a0the detriment of\u00a0the Union.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom now on, [\u2026] Russian nationals will have to\u00a0apply for a\u00a0new visa each time they plan to\u00a0travel to\u00a0the E.U., allowing for close and frequent scrutiny of\u00a0applicants to\u00a0mitigate any potential security risk,\u201d the E.U. press release<\/a> said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The new rules apply to\u00a0Russian nationals residing in\u00a0the Russian Federation and do\u00a0not affect those who also hold E.U. citizenship or\u00a0legal residency in\u00a0a\u00a0member state.<\/p>\n Moreover, the hundreds of\u00a0thousands of\u00a0Russians who fled abroad after Moscow\u2019s full-scale invasion of\u00a0Ukraine and the September 2022 mobilization remain formally eligible to\u00a0apply for multiple-entry visas at\u00a0E.U. consulates abroad. However, Brussels already tightened<\/a> its rules in\u00a0September 2022, making it\u00a0more difficult for Russian citizens to\u00a0apply for Schengen visas in\u00a0third countries such as\u00a0Kazakhstan, Serbia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n The European Commission\u2019s exceptions cover several categories of\u00a0visa applicants, such as:\u00a0<\/p>\n In\u00a0addition, the document states that individual E.U. countries can issue multiple-entry visas \u201cto\u00a0applicants who prove the need or\u00a0justify their intention to\u00a0travel frequently or\u00a0regularly, provided that they prove their integrity and reliability.\u201d This wording implies that Brussels is\u00a0still giving national governments the final call, rather than demanding that all E.U. members comply with a\u00a0blanket ban.\u00a0<\/p>\n The decision also stipulates that E.U. countries can, at\u00a0their discretion, continue issuing multiple-entry visas to\u00a0\u201cdissidents, independent journalists, human rights defenders, representatives of\u00a0civil society organizations, or\u00a0other vulnerable categories, and their close family members.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the decision only affects the rules<\/a> for issuing short-stay visas (including multiple-entry ones), Russian nationals residing in\u00a0Russia will still be\u00a0able to\u00a0apply for long-stay visas (Type D) \u2014 including those for working and studying<\/a> in\u00a0the European Union.<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n So what\u2019s going to\u00a0change exactly? <\/p>\n Some E.U. countries may very well view the European Commission\u2019s decision as\u00a0a\u00a0recommendation rather than a\u00a0directive. On\u00a0November 6, a\u00a0day after Politico reported<\/a> that Brussels planned to\u00a0tighten visa rules for Russians, the French Embassy in\u00a0Moscow told RBC<\/a> that France\u2019s visa policy \u201cremains unchanged.\u201d<\/p>\n After the decision was officially announced, the Russian Travel Industry Union (RST) reported<\/a> that a\u00a0\u201cminimal number\u201d of\u00a0people traveling from Russia to\u00a0Europe receive multiple-entry visas as\u00a0it\u00a0is. \u201cMost often it\u2019s business travelers,\u201d RST said. However, this may be\u00a0a\u00a0more recent trend: of\u00a0the nearly 550,000 Schengen visas granted<\/a> to\u00a0Russian citizens in\u00a02024, more than 41 percent were multiple-entry.<\/p>\n While the new rules are designed to\u00a0make it\u00a0even more difficult for Russian citizens residing in\u00a0Russia to\u00a0obtain Schengen visas, much will depend on\u00a0how national governments approach implementation. As\u00a0The Bell noted<\/a>, when the E.U. tightened visa restrictions in\u00a02023, all Schengen countries got on\u00a0board in\u00a0one way or\u00a0another. Though only 11 went for a\u00a0full ban, the rest increased processing times or\u00a0application fees.\u00a0<\/p>\n The German Foreign Office has already said<\/a> it\u00a0plans to\u00a0comply with the new restrictions on\u00a0issuing multiple-entry visas to\u00a0Russians. However, Germany only issued around 1,200 of\u00a0these visas in\u00a02024. The approach of\u00a0the European bloc\u2019s biggest visa issuers to\u00a0Russians \u2014 Italy, France, Spain, and Greece \u2014 will be\u00a0more consequential.<\/p>\n According to\u00a0European Commission statistics<\/a>, Russians submitted more than 600,000 Schengen visa<\/strong> applications in\u00a02024. The biggest visa issuers were as\u00a0follows:<\/p>\n Russian clients living in\u00a0the E.U. struggle to\u00a0regain banking access after fintech company Revolut freezes accounts<\/a>Russian clients living in\u00a0the E.U. struggle to\u00a0regain banking access after fintech company Revolut freezes accounts<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1 Stricter visa rules for Russians The E.U. has further tightened its rules for issuing Schengen visas to\u00a0Russian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7655],"tags":[332,7888,7883,7886,7875,7868,7880,7870,7881,7887,7876,7864,7871,7865,7873,7874,7866,7869,7867,7885,7879,7872,7884,7882,7878,7877],"class_list":{"0":"post-556159","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-russia","8":"tag-russia","9":"tag-7888","10":"tag-7883","11":"tag-7886","12":"tag-7875","13":"tag-7868","14":"tag-7880","15":"tag-7870","16":"tag-7881","17":"tag-7887","18":"tag-7876","19":"tag-7864","20":"tag-7871","21":"tag-7865","22":"tag-7873","23":"tag-7874","24":"tag-7866","25":"tag-7869","26":"tag-7867","27":"tag-7885","28":"tag-7879","29":"tag-7872","30":"tag-7884","31":"tag-7882","32":"tag-7878","33":"tag-7877"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115511246789787843","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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