European Union/Russia: Schengen Visas Will Be Increasingly More Difficult to Secure for Russian Citizens
September 1, 2022
The EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs have decided to fully suspend the Visa Facilitation Agreement with Russia from 2007 (partial suspension for certain categories has already been in effect since March 2022), extending the current suspension to all Russian citizens. This suspension will make acquiring a Schengen visa as a Russian citizen more expensive (EUR 80 instead of EUR 35), burdensome, and slower. Russian citizens will still be able to apply for a Schengen visa but they can anticipate stricter approval requirements (for instance, a very limited number of approvals for visas requested for touristic purposes, but more exceptions for visiting family members); additional document requests; and long appointment waiting times (the 10-day processing time mentioned in the visa facilitation agreement will probably be extended to at least 15 days, but likely up to 30-60 days). This decision follows several EU Member States initiating visa suspensions for Russian citizens, which we reported on in our alert. EU countries may also choose to further suspend long-stay visa issuance for Russian citizens. The European Commission is expected to issue its guidance on the topic, which would provide more details about its entry into force, though it is not clear when this would occur. We will issue an alert at that time.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].
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