Overview
- Long-term multiple-entry visas are now confined to two categories: close family of EU citizens or Russian legal residents in the EU and certain transport workers, both subject to prior-use conditions and shorter validity.
- Close family may receive a one-year multi-entry visa only if they previously obtained and properly used three visas within two years, while transport workers may receive a nine-month visa after two such visas in two years.
- The measures apply solely to Russian citizens residing in Russia who file applications at EU consulates there, not to other foreign nationals living in Russia without a Russian passport.
- Most travelers will need to apply for a new visa for each trip as the Commission mandates deeper verification and more frequent checks by national consulates.
- Member states can grant justified exceptions for dissidents, independent journalists, human-rights defenders and other vulnerable cases, as overall issuance has already fallen since 2022 and practices vary, with Hungary approving relatively more visas.