Visa to Germany can be obtained through the Internet

Visa to Germany can be obtained through the Internet

But for now, this opportunity will be available only to Russians.

Business circles of Germany, deputies of the Bundestag, public organizations have long advocated the liberalization of the visa regime in relations with Russia.

The German-Russian Forum also launched a number of initiatives to liberalize the visa regime in early February.

In a press release, this NGO proposes to take the example of Australia issuing visas via the Internet, and allow tour operators and travel agencies to deal with visas.

Currently, there are five German consulates general in Russia: in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg.

However, in the second half of 2012 there will be points of reception of visa applications in other cities.

At the moment, tenders are being held for the creation of additional points for receiving applications in Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk.

Later, it will be decided to create additional centers for receiving visa applications in St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Ulyanovsk, Irkutsk and Vladivostok.

In addition, in the new visa application centers, under the current German visa code, the personal presence of the applicant will not be mandatory.

This will allow Russians to entrust visa applications to third parties – tour operators or agencies.

In the near future, it is planned to introduce a long-term visa valid for five years. In more than 60 diplomatic missions of Germany from the summer of 2012 will be introduced non-cash payment of visa fees.


Source: http://www.tourismnews.by/post-1398/