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France Becomes Fourth EU Nation to Restrict Visa Rules for Russian Citizens
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France has become the fourth European Union nation to introduce more stringent visa issuance procedures for Russian citizens.
Visa operator VFS Global announced that starting July 15, the French visa center in Russia will stop accepting Schengen visa applications from third-party representatives who are not immediate family members, according to The Moscow Times on June 30.
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Under these updated guidelines, applications can only be submitted by the applicants themselves, or by parents and guardians on behalf of children under 18. Spouses, children, and parents may also submit documents with original proof of relationship, provided the applicant has completed biometric registration within the last 59 months. Biometric data remains mandatory for all applicants older than 12, and application forms must be signed in person.
This shift follows similar moves by other EU states, with Spain’s BLS visa center extending its application review period up to 45 days, and Italy’s VMS operator expanding its window to 60 days.
Additionally, on June 29, Hungary halted visa document reception at its centers in Kazan, Samara, and Ufa without clarifying the reasons, ending a system where applications were processed within 15 working days and appointments were readily available for recent dates.
These combined restrictions target a travel corridor that saw Russians secure over 620,000 Schengen visas throughout 2025, with nearly three-quarters of that total granted by Spain, Italy, and France alone.
The adjustments take place amid a broader European debate regarding a complete entry ban for Russian nationals. On June 4, eleven Schengen Area countries submitted a joint letter to the European Commission requesting a tourist entry ban.
One week later, on June 11, European Parliament members from the German CDU/CSU bloc backed a total prohibition on tourist Schengen visas for citizens of Russia, stating that vacationing in EU countries is "a privilege, not a right."
European Commission representative Markus Lammert noted that Brussels is exploring further regulatory tightening as early as the beginning of 2027.
In response to the mounting European restrictions, Iraqi Ambassador to Moscow Abdul-Karim Hashim Mustafa expressed readiness to expand tourism cooperation with Russia. He emphasized that travel to Iraq is safe and highlighted that the two nations currently operate two direct weekly flights.
Previously, French officials faced increased scrutiny over the circumstances in which Xenia Fedorova, a Russian national and former head of the state-owned RT France, was granted a ten-year residence permit in 2024.
The case raised questions at the highest levels of the French state, as officials provided differing accounts of how the long-term residence card was issued to a figure whose professional activities had repeatedly drawn criticism.
Although the European Union banned RT following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 due to continuous propaganda actions, and French authorities rejected thousands of applications from individuals deemed a potential threat to public order, Fedorova still secured her renewal.
The Paris Police Prefecture and the Interior Ministry later described the procedure as purely administrative and automatic, though internal verification procedures were eventually launched after the permit’s existence became public.
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