Cyprus: visa requirements for tourists from Russia have become stricter

The Cyprus Consulate has updated the “List of documents required to apply for a short-term visa in the Russian Federation”, effectively equating the requirements to Schengen ones.

This was reported by ATOR – the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, citing a document sent out by the Cyprus Consulate. They say there writes GreekReporter:

“Obtaining a visa to the Republic of Cyprus will become somewhat more difficult and longer than before. In fact, now the visa requirements for Russians are the same as the Schengen ones, although the Cyprus visa remains not Schengen, but purely national.”

According to ATOR, Now a visa application will be processed in approximately 15 dayspreviously this process took 3-4 days. Also an extract from the Social Fund of the Russian Federation for the last ten years with a digital signature and bank account statements with all transactions for the last three months have become necessary. Moreover, they now request information about the employer’s salary for the last six months and a copy of all pages of the Russian passport. With reference to Space Travel, ATOR notes:

“The tightening of visa procedures, of course, will have a negative impact on the tourist flow to Cyprus, however, even now the destination is very far from the tourist flow indicators that it had during direct flights to the island. It is worth noting that even before the update of visa rules, obtaining a Cyprus visa was a rather complicated procedure, which in itself significantly limited the flow of tourists along with the lack of direct transportation.”

According to the association, it is already difficult for Russians to get to Cyprus. Air transportation to the republic is limited, the most popular option is through Yerevan. But this is not enough to ensure significant tourist flow. Transit through Istanbul is also excluded, leaving Dubai and Doha, from where flights are operated on a limited basis.

Previously we talked about how Greece has introduced new requirements for obtaining visas for Russians.

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