Long-term visas for Russians down two-thirds – Left Party criticises policy
Since the war began, Germany has issued far fewer long-stay visas to Russian citizens. Left Party MP Clara Bünger calls the restrictive approach wrong.
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Germany has issued significantly fewer visas to Russian nationals for stays of more than 90 days since the start of the war in Ukraine. Citing the federal government's answer to a parliamentary question from Left Party MP Clara Bünger, the Funke media group reported that the number of national visas fell by about two-thirds, from roughly 13,000 in 2022 to an expected 4,500 or so by the end of 2026. For work and family visas, which numbered about 4,550 in 2022, the decline is more than 90 percent, while the government expects student visas to drop by about 40 percent.
The figures exclude visas for humanitarian admission and for particularly vulnerable people. These are distinct from Schengen visas, for example for tourists, which allow stays of up to 90 days. Bünger suspects the German embassy in Moscow is handling applications more restrictively because of the war and considers this approach fundamentally wrong. She says she receives numerous letters from people in Russia who oppose the war and can no longer cope with the repressive climate there.