Slovakia issues tourist visas to Russians again: what is known
29 August 2025 02:26
Slovakia has started accepting tourist visa applications from Russian citizens again. This is the first time in almost three years that Russians have been given the opportunity to obtain visas for tourist travel. This was reported by the visa center of the country in Russia, "Komersant Ukrainian" informs
What is known about the changes?
The visa center’s website has posted a message about the acceptance of visa applications.
“The Consulate of Slovakia in Russia is accepting applications for visas for tourism purposes,” reads the text, which appeared as a moving line.
However, the exact date of the start of accepting documents is not specified.
Background to the restrictions
In September 2022, a number of European countries – Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands – stopped accepting documents from Russians for tourist visas in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
For almost three years, visa centers in Slovakia have limited the acceptance of documents to certain categories:
- relatives of EU citizens and residence permit holders,
- medical workers,
- shift workers and agricultural workers,
- international drivers,
- diplomats and highly qualified specialists.
What’s next?
There are no official reasons for the resumption of tourist visas for Russian citizens. It is also not known whether Slovakia plans to expand the number of available categories or impose additional restrictions on tourist trips for Russians.
