“The visa process has seriously tightened both in terms of terms and in terms of required documents.

But the most unpleasant thing is the short period of visas issued, ”Interfax reports.

According to the agency, now a multiple-entry visa is issued for a maximum of a year or six months.

Citizens with a weak visa history can only count on a single entry visa for the duration of the trip.

At the same time, according to travel companies, the validity of a visa does not depend, as it was before, on the visa history.

“A person can have several long-term visas in their passport and a good visa history.

But he will be issued a new visa for only six months.

Others may have had two “short” visas in the past, but they will eventually receive a one-year multivisa,” ATOR explained.

According to travel companies, it will take about two to three weeks to obtain Schengen visas in Moscow.

Applications are accepted by Austria, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Hungary, Slovenia, Switzerland. 

Long-term visas are more likely to be issued by Italy and France.

Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Yevgeny Ivanov said that some countries put forward obviously impossible conditions for obtaining entry permits for tourists.

On December 19, the press service of the German Foreign Ministry stated that Germany is guided by the unified EU rules when deciding on the issuance of visas to Russian citizens and the applications of Russians associated with organizations from the sanctions list will be rejected.

On January 11, it became known that Switzerland would stop issuing visas to holders of passports issued in the new territories of Russia.