MOSCOW – Russian passports issued in Crimea by Russian authorities are not accepted for applications for Schengen visa, but Crimean residents can obtain Schengen visas at EU member states consulates in Ukraine, EU Ambassador to Russia Markus Ederer said.
“The EU has never recognized and will not recognize Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol. This means that Russian passports issued in Crimea by Russian authorities after the annexation shall not be recognized and shall not be accepted for applications for Schengen visa,” Ederer said in an interview with Interfax.
Crimean residents still can obtain a Schengen visa, he said. “For that they would need either travel documents issued there by the Russian authorities before the illegal annexation or Ukrainian travel documents. In both cases, their application for a Schengen visa must be presented to EU Member States consulates in Ukraine, not in Russia,” he said.
“By the way, if a Crimean resident holds a Ukrainian biometric passport, he/she can travel visa-free to the Schengen area, because there is visa freedom for Ukrainians with biometric Ukrainian passports since 2017,” he said.
