In 2019, every fourth Schengen in the world was issued in Russia. Unlike citizens of other states, the Russians are rarely denied a visa, and the chance to get a multiple visa is quite high.
According to the European Commission (EC), last year the consulates of the Schengen countries received a total of almost 17 million visa applications worldwide (+ 5,9% compared to 2018).
The TOP-3 countries, in terms of the number of applications, includes the Russian Federation, China (3 million, + 5.2%) and India (more than 1 million, + 5.6%). As it was noted in the EC materials, according to the results of 2019, for the first time over five years, Russia overcame the mark of 4 million applications (4 133 100). Against 2018, the number of visa requests from citizens of the Russian Federation in 2019 increased by 11,8%.
Last year, the number of applications for a Schengen visa also increased in Turkey, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Indonesia. According to EC forecasts, in 2020 due to "unprecedented global travel restrictions" the demand for Schengen visas around the world will "drop sharply."
In 2019, the countries of the Schengen zone issued a little more than 15 million visas, of which 8,9 million were multiple (59%). The indicators of multi-visas in the Russian Federation are among the highest. Almost 83% of Schengen visas issued to Russians are multiple. For comparison, only every third applicant from China receives a multi-visa, and in India - only two out of three applicants.
In total, 4 054 685 Schengen visas were issued to Russians in 2019. The visa was denied for less than 62 thousand applicants. More than 3,35 million citizens of the Russian Federation received multivisa.
Thus, Russia accounts for 26% of the total number of all Schengen visas issued last year.
Most of the visa work is at the Consulate General of Finland in St. Petersburg. The Finnish diplomatic mission received 644 858 visa requests (+ 19% by 2018) over the past year.
In the second place in the Russian Federation in terms of the number of applications is the Consulate of Spain in Moscow (546 511 applications) and in the third place is the Consulate of Italy in Moscow (518 540 applications). Visa services of consulates of France (498 851 applications), Greece (366 037 applications) and Germany (227 163 applications) also actively worked in Moscow.
