Lo siento pero está en inglés.
Respecto a lo que se menciona al final, el consulado de España en Moscú (y el que está por abrir en Peter) externaliza lo que es la gestión de la documentación para los visados y será una empresa rusa quién realice esta labor.Visa Regime Eased With 24 Countries
Russia and 24 other European countries took a step toward a visa-free regime Friday by simplifying the process for businesspeople and waiving fees altogether for some travelers.
“This is one of the components of the long-term goal of a visa-free regime,” Mark Franco, head of the European Commission’s delegation to Russia, said at a news conference.
Friday’s change, which was approved at a Russian-EU summit in Sochi in May 2006, waives visa fees for members of official delegations, close relatives, students, disabled people, participants of exchange programs, some researchers, and children under 6, a statement from the European Commission’s Russia office said. The waiver also applies to people who need urgent medical treatment or want to visit an ill relative or attend the funeral of a close relative, it said.
For tourists, short-stay visas will not cost more than 35 euros, although travelers who apply less than 72 hours before entry will have to pay 70 euros.
Businesspeople, reporters, truck drivers and others should find it easier to obtain visas. The number of documents needed to apply for visas has been reduced significantly, and the processing time has been shortened to a maximum of 10 working days.
The new regime applies to a total of 25 countries, including Russia and EU members that have not joined the Schengen zone. But it excludes Britain, Ireland and Denmark, which are currently negotiating similar bilateral agreements with Russia, a spokeswoman for the European Commission’s delegation said. Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, which are not in the European Union but are members of the Schengen zone, also have not negotiated a deal with Russia yet. Andrei Podelyshev, deputy head of the Foreign Ministry’s consular section, said at the news conference that Moscow was close to striking a deal with Denmark, but talks with Britain and Ireland had just begun.
While liberalization of visa procedures is welcome news for many Europeans and Russians, it will cause a problem for residents of the Kaliningrad exclave. Some residents had been issued free visas by Poland and Lithuania, but now they have to pay. Kaliningrad’s regional legislature has appealed to the Kremlin, Interfax reported Friday.
Also Friday, the Spanish Embassy announced that its consular service had outsourced the acceptance and initial processing of visa applications to the Moscow-based company VF Services.
Por lo demás esperamos que se vaya reduciendo el papeleo y los costes para poder movernos de un lado a otro.
Por otro lado en declaraciones del 28 de Mayo del delegado de la Comisión Europea en Rusia:
En fín, y que nosotros lo veamos...Perm (Rusia), 28 de mayo, RIA Novosti. Podrán necesitarse dos años para establecer el régimen sin visado entre Rusia y la Unión Europea, opina el delegado de la Comisión Europea en Rusia, Marc Franco, quien asiste en Perm a la reunión interparlamentaria Rusia-UE.
Explicó que el principal obstáculo para suprimir los visados consiste en que el "régimen sin visado podrá impulsar las actividades de carácter criminal".
"En la situación cuando no existe control alguno, podrían venir a Europa o Rusia personas con intenciones criminales", apuntó.
Entre tanto, el presidente del comité parlamentario ruso para asuntos internacionales, Konstantín Kosachov, aseguró que Rusia ya está preparada "política y técnicamente" para adoptar el régimen sin visado.
"Habíamos hecho un largo camino para simplificar los trámites de visado para viajar a Europa (el acuerdo entra en vigor el 1º de junio) y ahora sólo nos queda dar el ultimo paso y suprimir los visados", declaró Kosachov.
