The hunt to change visas

Eastern Europe and the Baltics join the Schengen agreements

Nine new countries will soon join the Schengen agreement. From December 21, European countries such as Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Malta will abolish border controls within the Schengen zone. In November 2008, as it became known recently, the list will also be replenished with Switzerland.

Currently, the Schengen area is formed by 15 states. The agreement, named after the Luxembourg town of Schengen, where it was signed in 1985, provides for the free movement of citizens and foreign tourists from third countries within the entire Schengen area.

For Russians traveling to the countries of the European Union, the expansion of the Schengen space should not at all cause additional worries. On the contrary, moving around Europe will be much easier. As Vremya Novostey was told at the consulates of the Baltic countries, as well as Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland, the list of documents will remain unchanged, since in all countries joining the agreement, it was previously brought into line with the standards of the Schengen agreement. This information was confirmed by the capital’s travel agencies.

The price of a tourist visa for Russian citizens will also remain the same - from 35 to 70 euros, depending on the country of entry. One of the mandatory conditions for obtaining a visa is the absence of a ban on entry into any of the Schengen states. If, for example, a Russian was declared an undesirable person in Portugal, then he will not be able to enter Germany.

But those who have already received national visas from the nine countries listed above should not worry. National visas remain valid for the period specified on them. As the Czech Consulate told Vremya Novostey, such rules apply in all nine new Schengen countries, and acceptance of documents for new visas in Russia will begin on January 9. The Baltic embassies are ready to accept documents for unified visas as early as December 21, but you still shouldn’t count on receiving the document soon. The processing time for a Schengen visa at any consulate is at least six working days, and employees have rest on both their national and Russian holidays. In the last ten days of December there are more days off in embassies than working days: Europe celebrates Christmas. Russia is on vacation at the beginning of January.

The second secretary of the Estonian Embassy in Moscow, Kairi Leivo, told Vremya Novostey about another nuance: “From December 21, only land and sea borders within the Schengen space will open for Russians, and it will be possible to travel by plane, having Schengen visas in hand, only from 30 March 2008, when all technical preparations at the airports are completed.”

The Schengen Agreement also articulates the principle of a “responsible state”. This means that a citizen must obtain a visa from the consular service of the country that will be crossed first when entering the Schengen area. Bulgaria, Great Britain, Ireland, Cyprus, Romania and several other European countries still remain outside the Schengen agreement.

Nikolay GOLYGIN