The Swiss Federal Council will decide to suspend the visa facilitation agreement with Russia “in due course.” This was announced to Izvestia at the country’s State Secretariat for Migration (SEM).
Recently, the media reported that Bern may suspend the visa facilitation agreement with the Russian Federation, by analogy with the EU. As explained in SEM, in this case, it will be more difficult to obtain visas for certain categories of citizens of the Russian Federation.
These include truck drivers and machinists, journalists, scientists, schoolchildren, students and doctoral students, athletes, residents of twin cities and artists.
“However, the suspension of the agreement will not lead to the termination of the issuance of visas. For Russian citizens, the general requirements for entry into the Schengen area will continue to apply, and the relevant visa procedures will return to the normal procedural rules of the Visa Code. Also, these measures will not affect citizens of the Russian Federation who already have a valid Schengen visa, the department emphasized, ”the department added.
Prior to this, in February, Bern had already restricted the entry of Russian officials and businessmen from the sanctions lists into its territory. However, from May 2 to this day, the usual rules and visa requirements for entry into Switzerland apply for citizens of the Russian Federation.
The EU withdrew from the visa facilitation agreement with Russia on 12 September.
Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:
Documents and facts: which European countries issue visas to Russians
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