In the first half of the year the number of requests from Russians for visas to Germany increased by 20%

“German consulates in Russia for the first half of 2017 received 136 thousand requests for visas from Russian citizens, which is 20% more than in the same period a year earlier”, - said Sven Janke, Attaché of the German Embassy in Moscow. "There are 19 visa centers in all major cities in Russia from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, where Russians and citizens of CIS countries can apply for a visa. The last center, the 19-th, opened in Arkhangelsk in May, and I can confirm the positive trend in out coming tourism from Russia to Germany. We see an increase in the number of applications for a visa by 20% from January to June 2017. Only in Moscow 91.000 visas were issued, to this figure we have to add 45 thousand applications from other cities of the country", - added S.Janke. He said that the main purpose of travel of Russians to Germany is to visit friends and relatives. On the second place - business trips, on the third - tourism. 6-8% of applications for Schengen visas are filed by people who want to be treated in Germany.