Efforts to introduce visa-free travel between Russia and the European Union took a backward step at the beginning of November when Russia introduced tighter visa requirements for visitors from Germany. The new rules include a requirement for German business travelers to provide details from their employer on their monthly salary and position within the organization. German business owners have to provide registration documents proving they own their company.
The Russian government said the extra red tape is equivalent to what the German government requires of Russian travelers. However, other reports in the English-language Russian press claimed the move was a retaliatory measure against Germany for leading opposition to loosening or even scrapping visa requirements between Russia and the European Union. Russia lobbied hard, and at the highest level, during 2010 to introduce visa waivers. While countries with large tourist industries, including Spain, have supported the waivers, Germany and many other EU states remain highly resistant. Many of their fears revolve around security, especially given Russia's porous borders with other former Soviet Union states, but there are political barriers, as well. Stemming from the poisoning of Russian citizen Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006, the United Kingdom government wants the Russian government to hand over a member of its parliament to stand trial for murder.
News that Russia and E.U. states are retreating to entrenched positions will disappoint the corporate travel industry. Obtaining visas for travel in either direction is legendarily cumbersome and expensive and inhibits commerce between the two blocs. "Every single mentally able person dreams of ending these visa requirements as soon as possible," said Stanislav Kostyashkin, general director of the Moscow-based travel management company Continent Express. "My company is making money from handling all these arrangements, but I would be the first to welcome them being scrapped. I would much rather make money on a logical basis, by selling air bookings and managing travel, than on a medieval basis."
Kostyashkin told The Transnationalthat visa processing for travel in both directions generally has become easier in recent years but that there are still ups and downs. "The devil is in the detail," he said. "In general, the rules do not change but the interpretation does." He cited the U.K. consulate in Moscow as an example. It states that visa applications from Russian passport holders take three to 28 days to process. In the past, a visa would be ready in three days, but this year it has invariably taken the full 28 days. Giving their passports to the U.K. consulate for 28 days means Russian business travelers have to block out travel for four weeks unless they have a second passport. If they use a second passport, they need to ensure they have all the requisite visas for that one as well as their primary passport.
Another problem is the variety of documentation travelers must provide in their visa applications. "The number of documents Russian travelers have to collect is against logic, especially if they have already had a multiple-entry Schengen visa [for everywhere in the EU except the U.K. and Ireland]," said Kostyashkin. "Why should they have to do it all over again?"
Meanwhile, the European Parliament voted last week to scrap visa requirements for visitors from Taiwan to the E.U., and E.U. interior ministers agreed to allow visa-free travel to Schengen countries for passport holders from Albania and Bosnia.