Germany currently has no plans to resume issuing visas to Russian tourists. On February 12, RIA Novosti was told about this at the embassy of this country in Moscow.
The date of the resumption of the issuance of visas for Russians in the diplomatic mission was not named.
“This significantly depends on the further development of the coronavirus pandemic in the European Union and in Russia, as well as its assessment by the federal government,” the embassy noted.
Since June 29, Germany has banned Russians from entering the country due to the spread of coronavirus mutations. Then the authorities of the country included Russia and Portugal in the list of countries where dangerous mutations of COVID-19 are spreading. It is noted that 14 more countries were included in this list, including Brazil, Great Britain, India, Portugal and South Africa.
At the same time, from June 1, the German representations in Russia began to accept applications for the issuance of Schengen visas. The press service of the German Embassy noted that in order to apply, it is necessary that a person previously had a visa with a validity period of at least two years, so that the previous visa was issued by one of the foreign representations of Germany, and its validity period ended no earlier than April 1, 2020 and also that the purpose of the trip was not tourism.
Currently, the German Embassy in Moscow issues visas to Russians only in exceptional cases. They can be obtained, in particular, by seasonal workers, seafarers in order to travel to the port of departure of the ship, medical and scientific-medical personnel, representatives of professions related to the care of the elderly.
A visa for a private trip can be obtained by the spouse of a citizen permanently residing in Germany or by a person for an urgent family reason.